Transferring is a long, tedious, and meticulous process - but one that is worth the rewards if successful. You must "really want it" to embark on the journey and put in the effort to balance your existing academic workload while working on transfer college apps. However, if you are able to transfer into the college you hoped for and graduate as one of their alumni, it is well worth the effort put in.

My Journey

I started my Freshman year at Stony Brook University in Long Island, NY where I majored in Electrical Engineering. Stony Brook is an amazing school for STEM and you are surrounded by brilliant students and professors alike. However, my dream school had always been Cornell University. The academics, campus life, and opportunities it provides were what I wanted to pursue (great campus dining helped too)...Cornell had always been my #1 school - and my sister went there as well.

I applied to Cornell as a Senior in High School but was rejected. I knew I wanted to try applying again or would regret it for the rest of my life. Even prior to Day 1 at Stony Brook, I had already decided that I will apply for transfer after gaining some more experience in college.

I wanted to improve my chances as best as I can - working hard to gain a high GPA in Electrical Engineering, joining different clubs, working a 3D printing summer internship between Freshman/Sophomore year, and taking online business courses as part of Harvard Business School Online.

During course selection Freshman year, I was already looking at course curriculums at Cornell and other colleges I was planning to apply to transfer to to make sure my courses aligned to theirs and I could graduate on time if I did get in.

When Sophomore year came around, I started writing transfer college apps and spent many hours revising them as I balanced college apps and finishing school work. I ultimately applied to 4 school's EE program: Cornell, UMich, UIUC, and MIT (ultimately getting in everywhere besides MIT).

Although I knew the acceptance rate for transferring into Cornell's College of Engineering was very low, it didn't bother me since I knew I gave it 100% and would not regret not putting in enough work if I did not get in.

Luckily, I was accepted and spent an amazing 2 years there!

*I eventually found out from my Cornell ECE transfer advisor that 100+ students applied to transfer to the ECE program and only 12 got in!

Advice for Applying to Transfer Colleges

• You need to "really want it" since you will be balancing college apps and college coursework
• Start early and plan! Make sure the courses you take at your current school aligns with the courses at your target schools
• Make good connections with your professors so they will write you good recommendation letters
• Don't try to "impress" the admissions committee with your essays - be honest, genuine, and show your personality (I made a joke about NYC's subway in my Cornell essay)
• Usual college application stuff - good grades, internships, extracurriculars, etc...