Halfway through this cycle I decided to start Happinessmaxxing, so I committed to UNC.
In 2023, I started a company that grew from an Etsy store to over $1 million in revenue last year. As part of my ambition to grow the company, I want to transfer to a larger university that would be more supportive of my entrepreneurial aspirations.
I was accepted to Duke, Cornell, NYU, Berkeley, JHU, UNC, and a couple of others. I had a 3.0 GPA in high school and accumulated over 170 absences my senior year, trying to kick this company off the floor. In the end, I realized that I wasn't applying to these colleges with the intent of actually excelling at them. I was applying to complete this narrative of redemption, from a mid-academic student to an Ivy League admit.
So I kinda realized halfway through that lowkey? I would be fucking MISERABLE at any of these colleges. Part of being in the startup space is constantly rubbing shoulders with these stuck-up, entitled, wannabe big-time B2B SaaS kids from name universities who cannot fathom nor accept failure. I'd have to move the company and my team across the country, and attempt to balance an egregious course load with running an 8-person hardware startup, only to be outshadowed by my unfathomably talented peers and compete brutally for recognition.
Onto UNC: I have friends there, a girlfriend there, cheap space to expand the company, and the Research Triangle, a mile away, with all the resources I need to be like a kid in a LEGO room. When I toured the business school, the director of admissions personally walked me and 2 other direct transfer admits around their brand new building. I met at least 5 people in passing as I simply walked around after her tour, striking up conversations about what they thought about the school. It's well-funded, the professors truly seem to care about students, and most importantly, I saw myself happier there than in the wintry abyss of Ithaca or something. There was a sense of community.
TLDR: Being the top 1% at a large school > Being middle-of-the-pack noise at a T10. But more importantly, finding joy in being there > anything else.
Good luck with the rest of your applications.