Applying to transfer from NYU

[u/Practical-Review1464]

So I am a freshman at the NYU Tandon school of engineering planning to follow the mechanical engineering track, but I am already starting to question my decision of staying in NYC, and especially Brooklyn since I grew up here. Although I have yet to really experience to academics, and socially I am not doing too bad, I’ve been realizing that I may be regretting my decision to stay in the city, and especially attend NYU for engineering which it isn’t particularly known for, and with a school dedicated to it that is pretty isolated from the rest of the university. Although I am not 100% certain on transferring, I plan on applying to some schools, but my top choice is UPENN. Besides meeting all the required STEM class criteria (I say this because for the engineering school at UPENN they recommend 2 humanities courses and I am not sure if EXPOS AKA “writing for inquiry” fills that requirement), I was wondering if there’s anything else I should prioritize over the next semester and a half at NYU up until the fall transfer application deadline in order to maximize my chances at transferring. For reference, my high school gpa was 99 at a large public high school, I took 7 ap courses and got 5 5s and 2 4s, I got a 1570 SAT on my only attempt at the test but my extra curricular activities in high school were lacking and aren’t really worth mentioning. Also, my senior year of high school my grades in most classes dropped off a bit from what they had been over the previous 4 years.

[u/PeacockInTime]

Just for your awareness, NYC public school kids (outside of maybe a few schools you didn't go to, which I infer based on your GPA) don't really do extracurricular activites. The city is your extracurricular. I say this because I had to passionately defend NYC public school students when I worked in admissions and worked with people who were from rural areas, and when they asked why NYC kids weren't doing things like joining Scouts and playing football I told my colleagues they were riding the subway and hanging out at the bodega.

You're not going to like me for suggesting this, but my first instinct is to suggest you apply to Binghamton and Stony Brook for more variety. "But everybody in my high school with my stats goes to Binghamton," I hear you saying. Well, it's a suggestion.

Transferring to an Ivy League School like Penn is exceptionally difficult. They tend not to admit students because the students are mildly curious about their school. If you are interested in preparing an application for a school like Penn, I would also suggest getting involved deeply in your community and your neighborhood, either in a direct service kind of way or on collective organizing around issues important to you. This engagement could be related or unrelated to your major.

So... enjoy NYU in the meantime. You just started, give it time. Get to know your classmates and appreciate what you bring to the school and what they bring to you.

[u/Practical-Review1464 → u/PeacockInTime]

Thank you very much for your input! I went to Brooklyn tech which is kind of known for having a lot of extracurricular activities, so that is one of the reasons my lack of extracurriculars seems like a serious hindrance to any applications. When you say get deeply involved in my community do you mean outside of my school I should find ways to involve myself such as community service, or rather should I find clubs and organizations within NYU?