So currently I am a senior in High School (International Student) and pretty sure I will be attending Clarkson University this Fall. Clarkson is not rlly my dream college, but I am thinking to=of transferring to another college at the end of my freshman year and not later.
Major: Data Science (P.S also tell me if its worth studying Data Science at Clarkson)
I really don’t know ANYTHING about the transfer process and I thought I should start preparing from now. Will I be given permission to transfer? Are there any conditions to transfer? Do I have to inform Clarkson before I apply for transfer or after I get admitted to a good college for transfer admission? What documents/supplements will I need? Do I need to write any essays? Most of all, do Transfer students get Financial Aid?
Like literally everything. Hope you can help me out with this. It’d be of GREAT help.
For most colleges you can use the common app for transfers, some also accept the coalition app. Depending on the schools you are considering, the transfer acceptance rate can be better or worse than the freshman acceptance rate.
You are allowed to transfer, no permission from your current school required. There will be a number of forms you will need from your current school. You will need to submit a college report that confirms you are in good standing with your current school. Your current school also have to submit your transcript Do any schools you’re applying to. At some point you may also need to submit a midterm report which will give the grades in the courses you’re taking second semester. That form is completed and signed by professor for each course.
You should be aware that if you are going to try and transfer by the end of your freshman year your applications will be due somewhere between February 1 and April 1 depending on the schools you are interested in transferring to. In addition if you are transferring during your freshman year colleges will look at your high school transcript and because you will only have one full college semester completed at the time that you apply your high school transcript will still be given a lot of weight. You also will not have much time to get to know your professors so they can write you a good letters of recommendation. You also will not have as much opportunity to get involved in clubs or research. Both of which can help supplement and enhance your transfer essay.
Most schools will require one essay discussing why you want to transfer and some may have additional supplemental essays and when you choose the schools in the common app you can see whether additional supplements are required.
You should also be aware that most schools are need aware for transfers. If you received financial aid for the school you are currently attending you may not receive the same level of financial aid or any financial aid from the transfer school. For example Vanderbilt university explicitly states that if you are an international student they will not accept you if you cannot pay to attend.
You should also pay attention to any prerequisites to transferring into specific schools at the universities you’re considering. Some will have a list of courses that they expect you to have completed before you attempt to transfer. Or for example if you want to transfer into a business school they may require that you’ve had calculus one and micro and macro economics. You just want to make sure that you are meeting those requirements. Some schools will also have minimum credit requirements. For example you’ll have to have taken at least 12 credit hours or 24 credit hours in order to be considered for transfer.
You would only have to notify your current school that you’re leaving once you were accepted to a new school and you give your deposit to enroll. You would still sign up for classes for the following fall, you would still participate in the housing lottery etc…In case you don’t get into a school that you want to transfer to.
In general I think it is a terrible idea to start one college with the intent of transferring out. This will stand in the way of your making meaningful friendships, developing relationships with professors, and getting involved on campus. Then if your transfer doesn’t work out as planned you will be really stuck. Keep in mind that merit aid is very hard to get as a transfer student. I’d go to the college you enrolled in with the intent of staying all four years. It is fine to throw in a couple of transfer applications but don’t count on it working out.
I also think it’s not a good idea to transfer especially given that you will be an international transfer student, which is the “bottom of the barrel” for priority admission and funding.
You haven’t even been to the school yet and you’re already planning on transferring? Is there anyway you can go to the schools where you were accepted, and accept their admission? There is still time. The NACAC (National association for college admission counseling) has their list of schools that are still accepting new applicants, and some have financial aid. The list typically comes out May 1 but I just took a glance and some of the schools have already posted. You may want to try that first: College Openings Update - National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)
Also, I noticed that you hope to work in New York after graduation. There’s a problem, in that, when you are accepted into a US university, it does not correlate with working in the US.
Immigration rules are very, very strict. US companies have to hire US employees first, before they can even consider sponsorship of a non-citizen. The universities will educate you, but you are expected to return to your country after graduation and, after your OPT is finished. There are no guarantees that anyone will sponsor you. Especially within the next couple years as US citizens tried to regain lost employment from the pandemic. Some jobs do require security clearances. If you’re not a US citizen you won’t be able to gain a clearance. The reason I mention the above is because as you consider your US education you have to consider how marketable you will be in your own country.
Thank you so much for sharing that link, but I didn’t find a college that I really wanted to enroll at. BTW, I am attending Clarkson University, if I hadn’t said that earlier.
I mean is it really that bad to transfer? I know I will find it hard to adjust into the new community, have to make new friends and all that but I feel as if transferring to another college is going to be much more better. I clearly don’t have experience with this. Please share whatever you feel is necessary for me to know.
Look at where you want to attend. Then read the transfer guidelines. Every school is different.
You can take a gap year. This means you don’t go to school at all and you don’t take any classes at Clarkson. This is important: If you haven’t started at any university, you can redo the application process and apply to different schools in the fall. You would still be considered a freshman and would qualify for decent aid, but only if you DON’T begin at Clarkson or any other college in the FALL. Yes you will lose your deposit but that can happen often with students that change their mind.
The minute you begin taking courses, after high school, anywhere, a large number of schools will consider you as a transfer student. Transfers get really LOUSY or limited aid and you have to HOPE that there are open spots in their transfer class to admit you.
There is a finite number of seats at each university, be it freshman or transfers. For proof, please read all of the posts, on this website, that are from students on the waitlists, who didn’t get in to their desired schools. If the schools don’t have the room, then they wont admit you.
For you, this means that you would take a “gap year”, apply to schools this Fall again, with the same paperwork process, and select a new set of schools that you think you would want to attend. Work for a year, during the gap, and save up some money because you will need it in the US. It’s expensive. If you reapply to the schools that originally rejected you, they will reject you again. The schools don’t like to be told that they made a mistake.
Remember that you are a guest of the US. As an international student, sponsorship for work visas in the future, is limited by US immigration laws. Good luck!