(Source: Vanderbilt University)

So you want to attend [top choice] university but you think your grades and scores aren't quite up to snuff. What to do? Well, according to this piece in the New York Times, you might think about sneaking in through the back door. That is, enroll in a less-competitive school or major within the university and attempt to transfer internally after your freshman year.

Here it is:

As a way onto a selective campus, apply to an underexposed program; once in, transfer to the desired one.

THE REALITY

The University of California at Berkeley puts out a flier listing commonly asked questions, including: "If I don't think I will be admitted into the college or major I want, can I apply to another one and switch after I'm on campus?" The answer is tentative: "It may be possible" but "it may be very difficult." But one thing is certain: selectivity varies. At Berkeley, the combined SAT average score of this fall's freshmen was 1953 for the College of Letters and Science; 1892 for the College of Environmental Design; and 1842 in the College of Natural Resources.

For Cornell this fall, 90 percent of freshmen admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences placed in the top 10 percent of their high school class; 75 percent ranked that high for Agriculture and Life Sciences. Gender matters, too. A woman had a 20 percent chance of getting into Arts and Sciences but a 49 percent chance of getting into the College of Engineering.

HOW TO

Although universities generally report only a campuswide set of statistics, most admissions offices will break them down by individual program if you ask.

Once on campus, you can typically apply for transfer after one year - if you've taken appropriate courses and maintained a solid grade point average (around a 3.0 at Cornell and Berkeley; 1.8 at Vanderbilt and the University of Virginia). Cornell wants students to resubmit their college applications and write a statement outlining their academic plans.

CAVEATS

To be admitted to a specialized program in lieu of liberal arts, you need to have demonstrated some proficiency in the field, and before senior year. Howard Greene, a consultant in Westport, Conn., encourages students looking at Vanderbilt to consider the education or music school. In 2005, the two had a 44 percent admittance rate compared with 31 percent for liberal arts. "The cute phrase they use down there is chopin-ing your way in," he says. But, he warns, do this only if you have a genuine interest in music or teaching.

Risks include having to do a fifth year to make up credits, or getting stuck in the wrong program. Mr. Greene has had clients enroll in the University of Pennsylvania's nursing school with the intention of moving out, only to struggle with the science curriculum. "The parents called and said, 'We wish we would have known.' You better be darn sure you know what you're getting into."

SUCCESS RATE

Moving within a university is easier than entering it. "It's not automatic, but if they can make a good argument for themselves, it will eventually happen," says Vivian Geller, director of Cornell's internal transfer division. She says 90 percent of those who ask to make a change do. "It's difficult to ask 18-year-olds to commit to a particular field."

While colleges welcome experimentation, they work hard to sniff out anything that smacks of false pretense. The University of Michigan has introduced supplemental admissions essays for each of its six freshman programs, in part to prevent "backdooring the system," says Theodore L. Spencer, director of undergraduate admissions. "It's a troubling occurrence but not as troubling as one might think." Last year only 268 students transferred internally. "Here's a statistic that does not exist," he says. "How many students enter a program with every intention of changing and then accidentally end up with the best fit?"