Transfer to T20 school in a year, or State School now?

[USCTrojanzzzz]

I’m a CC student, and I’ve been accepted into multiple T20 schools. Problem is, my family’s current financial situation (at least, in 2017), means that it would be impossible for me to attend this year. However, I would be able to comfortably pay for the CSU that is near to my house (as I would commute.)

If I were to wait until next year, my family’s financial situation is going to be significantly better, and I would be able to go to whatever college I got into.

In my gap year, I would volunteer, start studying for the MCAT and try to find research at a nearby college. I have lots of connections through my professors, that would hopefully lead to a decent research position.

I also plan on taking a gap year once I finish undergrad, in order to beef up my extracurriculars.

My question is; should I take the year off, and defer my enrollment at the T20 undergrad, or go to my state school now?

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[gyngyn]

Isn't there a UC nearby?

 

[USCTrojanzzzz]

@gyngyn UC Davis is about an hour away, but it’s probably my least favorite school of those I’ve visited. I don’t think that I’d be particularly happy there, vs most of the other colleges I’ve seen.

 

[gyngyn]

@gyngyn UC Davis is about an hour away, but it’s probably my least favorite school of those I’ve visited. I don’t think that I’d be particularly happy there, vs most of the other colleges I’ve seen.

That's too bad...

 

[fdgjfg]

I think it depends on your personality and values; personally, I think I would take the gap year and start at the T20 in a year.

The T20 vs starting now is unlikely to have that large of a practical impact on med school admissions later on, so I wouldn't worry about that angle so much.

However, from the qualitative side, there's a huge difference between the experience of being a commuting student at a place you feel "meh" about and then maybe transferring, vs. going four years at a school you love. A lot of friendships and connections are made early on, and there are a lot of fun experiences that happen during that time as well. There are also much different vibes and student cultures between T20s and state schools; if you've always wanted to have a student culture where all your peers are on a comparable level of academic achievement/interest to you, that's more specific to the T20. For those reasons, I think I'd do the gap year. The only reason to ignore these factors would be if you're more introverted or academically oriented and don't care as much about social connections.

I think I'd also maybe try to reach out to the financial aid office at the T20 and see if you could explain your situation; they sometimes are able to make adjustments in catastrophic situations like if a parent loses an income or something.

You should also maybe try to reach out to see if you can get credits to transfer from your local school to the T20 - you could present your situation and ask for a deferred enrollment due to financial reasons, and see if you could knock out some intro classes like gen chem/gen bio/gen physics in the meantime.