I will be a sophomore at NYU’s school of Engineering in Fall 2016, and will apply for transfer to universities during that year for Fall 2017. First year, I will have completed 30 credits so I can apply as soon as the applications for the universities begin. Some universities have transfer application periods beginning before I’ll be done with the Fall 2016 semester. So the question is, should I apply before by Fall 2016 semester grades are out i.e. I have 30 credits, or should I apply after that when I will have 45 completed credits? Which one will improve my chances? I’ll complete those credits either way so it’s only a question of when I apply. I’ll hopefully have a GPA around 3.5-3.6 this year.
If you are planning to begin at the new place in Fall 2017, then wait until second semester. You will need to send those grades eventually anyway.
If you are planning to begin at the new place in Spring 2017, then you need to get the applications out as soon as you can in the fall.
If the school specifies how many credits you can apply with, follow its requirements.
If the school has rolling admissions, it is often favorable to apply early, since admission standards can be raised if the school, or the major you are interested in, fills up (the same can apply to scholarships, though there are fewer scholarships for transfers than frosh).