Hi everyone!
I was wondering what your input on this scenario is:
-Student is accepted into great, but pricey school
-Student does not receive enough aid and does not want to suffer through crazy loans
-Student decides to go to community college for a year (but will be done with two years because of AP and concurrent credit) then tries to transfer
*Would the college that the student is accepted to, then turns down be less likely to accept the student again because they were turned down before?
Thank you!
It’s a sensible plan but it depends on the school your chances of getting back in. Oftentimes, scholarships and grants to first years are not available to transfers, so if these were part of your puny aid package, you should ask them what will happen to your financial aid situation if you go to CC first. I think anyone would understand that this is a smart thing to do if they didn’t meet your full need. Make sure, when you withdraw their application, that they know why, and that you plan to transfer in the next year. Then remind them when you apply again.
It’s harder to get into a selective college as a transfer than as a freshman. Some private universities don’t even admit any (or a literal handful, typically “lateral” transfers ie., from peer institutions). The exception would be the UCs and other state flagship, as long as the CC is in the same state as the flagship.
In addition, if you get scholarships as a freshman, you can forget them as a transfer.
In short, your odds at admission and financial aid are better as a freshamn at holistic and private universities, but can be fine at a public university.
You have to indicate whether you applied before. For some universities, yes, it can matter. For others, no it doesn’t .
Have you run the Net Price Calculator on every university website before you applied?
What universities and amounts are you talking about?
(There’s also the matter of value.)
So the student is only saving money for one year of CC? How will the student pay for the last 2 years when they may be full pay? Can you please lay out the actual costs?
There are a lot of “it depends” in your questions. Some schools are transfer-friendly (e.g. many state universities). Some are not very transfer-friendly (admit relatively few transfers), or are not very friendly to community college transfer applicants. Some admit no transfers at all.
The transfer-friendly state universities are more likely to offer need-based financial aid to transfers on the same basis as to juniors and seniors who started as frosh, although how good such financial aid is to in-state students varies significantly by state (e.g. CA is much better than PA in this respect). Some of the less transfer-friendly schools give worse need-based financial aid to transfers. Merit scholarships are generally less available to transfers than to frosh.
Also, I’d speak to the admissions counselor at the college you want to transfer to, and explain your specific situation. S/he may recommend specific courses to take, and give you overall suggestions.
You might also want to talk to the community college guidance office wherever you plan to attend about where students transfer to from their school and what kind of financial aid they receive.
Before making the decision you should talk to the school’s financial aid office to see how grants would look for you if Family income/assets don’t change if you were to go there to finish off your studies. At my school, they usually give more aid to first years and also transferring out of CC won’t be as smooth as you think. Sometimes you can’t get the classes you need which would then prolong the amount of time you are there. You have to also keep in mind that the college that accepted you won’t necessarily accept you again when you re apply. When you re apply they will use your CC grades and extra circulars to determine whether they grant you admission again not your HS stats so just keep that mind when making your decision.
I think if you are going to go the CC route, you should look at your state colleges for the last two years.
@MYOS1634 I have, and I’m thinking of schools like USC, Pepperdine, and NYU.
NYU and Pepperdine are polar opposites… If you’re into NYU’s liberal scene, you wont be able to sign the commitment required by Pepperdine. Pepperdine is for kids who are religious, conservative, and serious about growing in their faith.
California CC -> USC or any UC = relatively easy path.
NYC CC-> NYU = really, really arduous path (not sure it can be done because of the academic level at the CCs there, many classes are HIGHLY remedial work even if the “pathways” classes transfer to the 4-year CUNYs once you’ve managed to complete the core).
If you don’t receive enough aid as a freshman applicant to go to College X, it is almost certain that you won’t receive enough aid to attend College X as a transfer. So kick College X to the curb and move on.
If you aren’t admitted anywhere that proves to be affordable, you need to make a new application list. You may still have decent options for the fall, you might need to take a gap year, or you might decide to start at a CC.
Financial aid is indeed lousy for transfers, even at schools known to be generous for freshmen, and it’s even worse at schools that have bad financial aid packages for freshmen to start with.