I have a guaranteed transfer to Cornell and right now I'm attending Binghamton, but I don't know what to do. I don't want to transfer and see that I can't compete with the rest of the student body and ruin my chances at getting into a dental school. I've already completed my intro bio courses, intro chemistry and the organic chemistry courses, so I only need to be concerned about Physics, biochem, and perhaps a few upper level bios. I would go into the college of human ecology most likely so I understand that apart from the classes that are required and recommended for dental school I would be taking mostly social science classes, which is a plus since I seem to do better in my non science classes. If anyone would like to try and give me more insight that would be great, I just want to know what would benefit me more when applying to dental schools. A side note is that tuition doesn't matter to me at this point I just want to make the most advantageous move.
Cornell or stay at Binghamton?
- Thread starter Ollie2488
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Don't worry about the competition. I transferred into a top business school and graduated with honors. If you met me in high school, you would have called me an idiot. If you are smart enough to transfer, you are smart enough to do well. Good luck!
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Stay where you are, Cornell is known for grade deflation. Your goal is dentistry! to get in to dentistry you want high gpa, high DAT, no where on your application will Cornell be factored in. I can guarantee you that if you go to Cornell your GPA will drop.
And remember, once you have a strong gpa, what you get on your DAT doesn't really affect your application, as long as you make 19AA. 3.6 and 19AA looks mighty competitive, whereas a 3.3 from Cornell won't look as competitive even with a 21AA on your DAT (Case would not even take a second look at your app with a 3.3 GPA even if you are from MIT).
You will probably save on tuition if you stay where you are considering Cornell is a private school.
And remember, once you have a strong gpa, what you get on your DAT doesn't really affect your application, as long as you make 19AA. 3.6 and 19AA looks mighty competitive, whereas a 3.3 from Cornell won't look as competitive even with a 21AA on your DAT (Case would not even take a second look at your app with a 3.3 GPA even if you are from MIT).
You will probably save on tuition if you stay where you are considering Cornell is a private school.
I would be most worried about being comfortable in your new school. Transferring is tough for many people, because you leave your freshman-sophomore friends. By the time u enter cornell- everyone would already have their cliques made, and you don't really have time to go out and meet new people (since you'll be studying higher division bios/chems/dats). Plus that "freshman" experience is already gone...so it will be harder to make new friends.
From a friends perspective, I would reconsider. For ME, personal happiness is the most important factor. I know I can get good grades in my classes; however, if I am unhappy, I tend to do poorly. I dunno- thats just me.
Gl with your choice!🙂
From a friends perspective, I would reconsider. For ME, personal happiness is the most important factor. I know I can get good grades in my classes; however, if I am unhappy, I tend to do poorly. I dunno- thats just me.
Gl with your choice!🙂
You've pretty much finished all the pre-reqs. In my opinion, I think it's a little too late to transfer and settle into another school. I'm sure upper-div classes are Cornell are no joke - and you'll be in there with students who made it through biology, organic chem, and gchem successfully, so the bar for competition is already set really high. Now, if you're confident to handle competition at a significant level, then go; but if you're content at the school you're currently at, stay.
So my honest and caring opinion would be to finish strong at Bing! Good luck with everything.
Oh and...thumbs up on the advice in this thread.
So my honest and caring opinion would be to finish strong at Bing! Good luck with everything.
Oh and...thumbs up on the advice in this thread.
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binghamton is so much cheaper if you're a nys resident and still a wonderful school. sure, its not ivy but its one of the better suny schools. if money really aint a thang, i can understand the temptation of cornell, but if this transfer involves taking out any loans that would amount to more than what binghamton is costing, don't do it.
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Something else you may want to consider is your pre-health advisor. Seeing how you have both chemistry and o-chem completed I assume after this semester you are entering your spring semester of your junior year. So this is your application year. If you transfer to Cornell you will only have 1 semester under your belt by the time you apply.
I am also assuming you have been meeting with your pre-health advisor for scheduling and advice. This is the same advisor that will be preparing your committee letter. While it may not increase or decrease the quality of your committee LOR. I personally feel you will always receive a better recommendation from someone you have known for 3 years vs. less then 1 semester.
Again it may not matter either way but it is just something else to factor into your decision.
I am also assuming you have been meeting with your pre-health advisor for scheduling and advice. This is the same advisor that will be preparing your committee letter. While it may not increase or decrease the quality of your committee LOR. I personally feel you will always receive a better recommendation from someone you have known for 3 years vs. less then 1 semester.
Again it may not matter either way but it is just something else to factor into your decision.
I'm wondering why you wanted to transfer in the first place. If you're unhappy at your current school and this is what made you seek to transfer, then I would transfer. If you're miserable in your current school, it can have an adverse effect on your grades and recommendation letters.
While there is some truth to the above post, specifically in reference to dental school admittance being somewhat of a "numbers" game...you should probably consider why you put in for a possible transfer to Cornell in the first place...to ace non-sciences at an Ivy? Or are you trying to maximize your overall college experience?
Bottom line, each applicant brings something unique to the table - if your "edge" is a few non-science classes and physics from Cornell...then you may want to think things through a bit more...
Also, just like 75% of the posts on here...you could simply schedule a meeting with your pre-health advisor or call up your top prospective dental schools and ask them the same question. Best of luck!
i graduated from cornell recently, from arts n science school.
first of all, human ecology school is awful, and social science classes are pretty useless...and sometimes doesnt count towards ur science gpa.
secondly, whenever i talked to health career advisors, they always mention how cornell pre-med or pre-dents get screwed over because there are so much competition and high number of students applying to same schools compare to bing. stay at bing, party it up, save money on tuition, n keep up ur gpa
Right now I'm a Sophomore and I would transfer to Cornell for Sophomore spring semester. Does that change anything? I would have 5 semesters at Cornell (if i went) and 3 semesters at Bing. I wanted to transfer just because I loved the atmosphere I felt when i visited Cornell and how driven so many people were I felt that it would encourage me to step up my game constantly. I loved the campus and it seemed like they offered a lot of opportunities many schools don't, but I do like Binghamton. Also, cost wise the difference is about 6,000 a year compared to what I'm paying at Binghamton and my parents basically said to figure out what I wanted to do and if going to Cornell is my best bet then they'll pay the extra money.
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coming from a kid who went to state school and ivy.
there isnt much difference in difficulty. the hard part is GETTING IN.
and this isnt even a decision. go to cornell. you will then be attached to an ivy the rest of your life which opens doors.
there isnt much difference in difficulty. the hard part is GETTING IN.
and this isnt even a decision. go to cornell. you will then be attached to an ivy the rest of your life which opens doors.
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OP
If you want my honest opinion on what I think you should do, based on these few posts I have read of yours. I say transfer to Cornell. While I do not personally see much additional gain. It seems to me you are looking for a confirmation from your peers. Is Cornell a great school, is it nationally known, would I be proud to say I go there (ok ok maybe brag a little) of course. You are in a position where I see no drawbacks to transferring. You have enough time to complete any university requirements of minimal credit hours for graduation. But most importantly it seems you are very excited for the opportunity to transfer to cornell. Dont let your self have a what if moment 3 years from now for not transferring. Do it, bust a** and dont look back. Just make sure you request any LOR's prior to leaving from your core courses and have your pre-health advisor hold onto them (2 copies 1 for the pre-health advisor 1 to be kept unopened) and good luck...
Here is a link you might find interesting about other members opinions about how dental admins view different universities.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=688422
If you want my honest opinion on what I think you should do, based on these few posts I have read of yours. I say transfer to Cornell. While I do not personally see much additional gain. It seems to me you are looking for a confirmation from your peers. Is Cornell a great school, is it nationally known, would I be proud to say I go there (ok ok maybe brag a little) of course. You are in a position where I see no drawbacks to transferring. You have enough time to complete any university requirements of minimal credit hours for graduation. But most importantly it seems you are very excited for the opportunity to transfer to cornell. Dont let your self have a what if moment 3 years from now for not transferring. Do it, bust a** and dont look back. Just make sure you request any LOR's prior to leaving from your core courses and have your pre-health advisor hold onto them (2 copies 1 for the pre-health advisor 1 to be kept unopened) and good luck...
Here is a link you might find interesting about other members opinions about how dental admins view different universities.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=688422
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Hey Ollie,
My boyfriend was in the same boat as you are in now. He had a guaranteed transfer his sophomore year but chose to stay at binghamton and had about 9 interviews and 9 acceptances. I'm from binghamton myself and I have one interview (granted my stats aren't as good as his were). I absolutely loved binghamton for undergrad, and it is definitely notorious for its biology department (as is cornell) but you'll probably end up doing a lot less work than you'd be doing at cornell and still enjoy your time as a college student. good luck with your decision!
My boyfriend was in the same boat as you are in now. He had a guaranteed transfer his sophomore year but chose to stay at binghamton and had about 9 interviews and 9 acceptances. I'm from binghamton myself and I have one interview (granted my stats aren't as good as his were). I absolutely loved binghamton for undergrad, and it is definitely notorious for its biology department (as is cornell) but you'll probably end up doing a lot less work than you'd be doing at cornell and still enjoy your time as a college student. good luck with your decision!
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i have absolutely NO IDEA what ivshow is talking about. i'm in human ecology, a human development major (you mentioned non-science... and i assume you're not DEA/FSAD so you're probably HD or PAM?), and i love it. the pre-health advisors have NEVER mentioned anything about it being difficult for cornellians to get into dental school; in fact, quite the opposite. one issue is that you need to take either orgo or physics here to get a committee letter, so if you have both of those done, that's something to keep in mind. you also have what many people would kill for: guaranteed acceptance to an ivy league school! that's nothing to sneeze at, so i would very seriously consider visiting or something to make your final decision. there are a lot of GTs who come from binghamton and other SUNYs, because, as i'm sure you know, humec is one of the contract colleges which also means reduced tuition for NYers.
PM me if you want any more info about being pre-dental here or about humec or anything like that 🙂
PM me if you want any more info about being pre-dental here or about humec or anything like that 🙂
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I'm at Binghamton and I planned on transferring to Cornell but I stayed and have never thought twice about my decision. Binghamton is awesome and much cheaper, and if you keep a high GPA and do well on your DAT you will have no more trouble getting into dental school from here compared to Cornell. I think the main things to consider are cost (if your paying for undergrad and grad by yourself with loans it would be a hugeee mistake, Binghamton is so much cheaper), friends - I really didn't want to leave mine and start all over, and lastly the fact that you can say you "went to an ivy" (but if its really that important to you, you can go to an ivy for dental school and save yourself the money while in undergrad).
