I had some students taking the first 1 or 2 terms, then apply for the distinguished university and switch (if granted). I can't say for sure if they got the exact same result as if they took all terms at the preferred university, but I think it worked well. I also think it's better to switch early, not sure if it would affect anything.
Why this works (some times) is that the sim builds skills during the first term and on. Better skills gives a higher chance to get accepted. Especially sims that comes directly from cas will face problems getting accepted by the distinguished university, because of low skills.
