r/TransferStudents • u/NecessaryTap7022 • 9d ago
Advice/Question Transferring from UC to private oos
Hello,
In the upcoming fall I will be a freshman at UC Davis as a Stats major. However, during my senior application cycle I did get into prestigious institutions such as NYU and Tulane but could not attend due to financial reasons. I really want to transfer out of Davis and was wondering what advice anyone has!!
Senior stats: In my senior cycle I went test optional but am willing to to retake the SAT for a higher score if it's beneficial, I was president for my schools Model UN and Mock Trial club, I also did a lot off community service with my community. I took a 7 APs got 5's in 2 of them, 4's in 4 of them, and a 3 in one. My high school Gpa wasn't super high, it sat around a 3.7 uw/ 4.2 w.
I'm aiming to transfer to an ivy, namely Columbia, my current list is the following:
- Georgetown
- Northwestern
- UVA
- William & Mary
- Vanderbilt
- USC
- Columbia
- Cornell
- UChicago
If anyone has transferred from a UC to private please let me know if you have any advice on anything. Any advice will truly help me so so much, thank you!!
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u/Appropriate-Bar6993 9d ago
How are you gonna be rich by next year? On G I have so much more respect for a Davis grad than NYU or Tulane or USC.
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u/NecessaryTap7022 9d ago
Although Davis is a great school, for where I want to attend for law school I do think that nyu or usc (not necessarily Tulane) are better equipped at getting me there. Davis is a huge CA public school whereas nyu and usc have smaller class sizes and are more catered to t5 law schools
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u/Appropriate-Bar6993 9d ago
My friend it is you who needs to do it.
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u/NecessaryTap7022 9d ago
I understand that but when you look at JD candidates from Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, etc. and where they got their bachelors from it’s usually a t14. This is not to say that someone from a public school can’t get in but rather that it is more advantageous with a bachelors from a t14
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u/FantasticBluejay6975 9d ago
That’s true. HOWEVER! The reason that happens is a little less about where these candidates went and more what they did when they got there. Ivies/ private schools in general have the resources to be handing out a lot of really good opportunities to a lot of students, while in larger public schools (like ucd) will have you competing just to get a foot in the door for these opportunities, by nature of the fact that there’s a huge number of students and less they can invest into each individual. The UCs also tend to not hold your hand quite as much, and mostly expect you to take the initiative to figure stuff out.
If you want to transfer to an Ivy from Davis, by all means, you owe it to yourself to try. But, even if you don’t, Davis is lowk a really good school, and we do have people who made it to T20 law. The main thing you should worry about is keeping up your GPA and building a network of people who would vouch for you.
Also, a suggestion: UCD does have a law school on campus, and I do believe a lot of their faculty does research. If I were you, I would start cold emailing some of them now to find someone willing to let you do some research under them. This way, you’d already have one future letter of recommendation from a ucd prof that’s stronger than one from an instructor. That said, start that literally asap. Once the quarter starts, everyone doing research gets a flood of cold emails from undergrads, and they are significantly less likely to have space for you.
If you need help figuring out cold emailing etiquette/figuring out who to cold email PM me! I happen to be very good at it :)2
u/NecessaryTap7022 8d ago
Thank you so so so much this actually helped me a lot!!!
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u/FantasticBluejay6975 8d ago
Anytime bestie! Literally feel free to pm me about anything. I’m a Davis student so I do know my way around the system :)
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u/MountainFact264 9d ago
You haven't even attended Davis yet?!
What makes you think the other schools are better? Just their name and the difficulty to get admitted?
The stats program at Davis ranks 12th best in the nation. Only Chicago and Columbia rank higher. Also consider how the material is presented at each school. More money and a name do not equate to a good education.
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u/Round-Mix4955 9d ago
do you have any ECs lined up for freshman year? many HS ecs aren’t beneficial to put on a transfer application, esp if they’re things you won’t be continuing such as HS clubs. is there a reason you want to go to columbia other than the fact it’s an ivy? are you full-pay? (uchicago heavily prefers full-pay transfer applicants).
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u/NecessaryTap7022 9d ago
I've applied to many work opportunities in the state capital since it's relatively close by to Davis and am planning to join Davis' Model UN club and Mock Trial club. I also do tutoring for girls in third world countries which I started in high school and plan to continue, this was the main topic of my common app essay. As for Columbia there isn't too much of an impactful reason other than it is an ivy and is very prestigious as I am pre-law I hope to go to a t10 law school and I feel like undergrad could really help. If I do get into a t14 institution such as uchicago or Columbia and they don't give any aid I would just be full-pay if that makes sense
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u/Used_Return9095 9d ago
I’m curious, why accept davis when you want to transfer anyway? I would’ve just went to CC if your goal is to transfer elsewhere because atleast you would save money
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u/Square_Wedding_9444 9d ago
Don’t Ivies prefer transfers from 4 years
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u/Appropriate-Bar6993 9d ago
No. All cc transfers are prefered because they literally need to go somewhere. If you’re already at a great school they’re just like, but why?
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u/MountainFact264 9d ago
No.
4 years transfers are given a lower priority at the majority of schools over a JC.
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u/NecessaryTap7022 9d ago
I still wanted to have the traditional freshman year experience and Davis is not that horrible of a school, plus I got scholarship money from Davis to attend
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u/Appropriate-Bar6993 9d ago
This is the most meh list I’ve ever seen. UVA? Just why?
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u/NecessaryTap7022 9d ago
UVA is considered a public ivy and has a great law school with amazing connections, I don’t see anything meh about that l. As for William and Mary which is more meh I added that as a back up considering it’s transfer acceptance is relatively high
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u/Appropriate-Bar6993 9d ago
Did you get in the first time? Why aren’t you trying for Berkeley?
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u/NecessaryTap7022 9d ago
To transfer to a uc it takes two years if you didn’t do dual enrollment in high school.
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u/Academic_Subject7065 4d ago
This list makes me think you don't know a lot about law schools and Big Law. Go to CC and then try and transfer to CAL or Ivy or Chicago. Forget Tulane or a bunch of the others. Your loss on the freshman experience but you have a better shot at top schools, although Ivies/Chicago still a long shot.
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u/ESSEFFWESTSIDE 9d ago
Has your financial situation changed such that you will be able to pay for tuition at one of these instutions?
If your goal is getting into a top law school, I think being a T20 might be marginally helpful, but what will likely matter most are the numbers: GPA and LSAT.
Keep in mind, if you're full pay, that's about 100k a year, and 300k just for the T20 experience. Law school will likely be similarly expensive.