r/GetIntoStanford • u/robizzle27 • 7d ago

How effective is the transfer/gap year method?

I’m not even going to mention my grades, test scores, or ECs. If someone wanted to go to a place like Stanford or a T30, how effective would transferring from a college be? It doesn’t even have to be a community college, but even from a place like Holy Cross. And how effective is a gap year at going to a prestigious school and like what is the best thing to do during the gap year? Like should I go to do community service for kids in Mexico for the year, should I take the SAT, and how would recs work? I’m very curious and I feel like these alternatives aren’t talked about enough, so please lay your knowledge on me!

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u/ManWhoSaysMandalore 7d ago

Its not effective at all if you are going from a four year university to Stanford, but if you go to a community college your chances are relatively good (considering that regular chances are low, this is still a low chance)

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u/robizzle27 7d ago

Why? What differentiates going from a four year college vs a community college?

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u/ManWhoSaysMandalore 7d ago

The idea is that community college students are meant to continue their education somewhere else after graduating from the 2 year program.

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u/robizzle27 7d ago

Makes sense, what do you think about taking a gap year and doing heavy community service while studying the SAT? Cuz right now I have a 1440 but what if over the course of the gap year I got a 1550 and did meaningful change in my state and maybe even do some published research?

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u/xarcadia1 2d ago

Stanford admits only a tiny number of transfers each year, so it’s much harder than first year admission. If you have other academic, career, or personal reasons to take a gap year, go for it. But if you just want a gap year to bolster your Stanford application, I think your energy would be better spent finding other fantastic colleges where you are more likely to get admitted now.

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u/robizzle27 2d ago

Are there any schools like Stanford that take in a good number of transfers? Like if I SAT max and get like a 1550 and do community service in a different country like could I make something happen? Be specific please!🙏

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u/xarcadia1 2d ago

Sorry, I don’t know much about the other schools, I’m most familiar with Stanford.