My freshman wants to transfer out of his IVy school. What should he put as his reason for transferring. He was diagnosed with OCD during his first semester and is really not having a good experience. He does not like the college town environment nor the is satisfied with the support system that the school has (virtually none until you breakdown, then they react, and forget about the next semester. He managed to get good grades on a reduced load the first semester, but does not think this will be the case for the second semester. He wants to go to a school in a major city, preferable on the small side and where he can get better support within and outside the school.
He is struggling with how to answer application questions as to why he wants to transfer. He does not want to talk about his OCD, and it will look strange that he is transferring out of an Ivy while his GPA is still high. Any advice?
Whatâs wrong with simply saying it isnât a good fit? People transfer out of Ivy League schools every year. It wonât look good, bad, or indifferent. All that will matter is what he does where ever he lands. Best of luck to him!
Thank you, he definitely believes it is not a good fit. But did not know if this was a sufficiently good reason to put on an application.
People transfer out of any college for reasons that are just as unique as the reasons they choose to enroll. They are all valid: location, money, campus culture, major⊠all can be summed up by âfitâ. Go with that for starters. He can always elaborate if asked in the future. Likely, he wonât be asked.
It is better if he has an academic reason for transfer (major, focus of prof research not aligning with his interests, etc), rather than just âfitâ.
If he doesnât want to talk about his OCD dx and how that has impacted his college experience(which would be ok IMO) and doesnât have an academic reason, itâs a tougher case to make. Perhaps a desire to be closer to home (if the target school is closer to home)?
He has missed a lot of transfer deadlines, has he already sent in any apps?
Just curiousâŠwhy? Isnât it his prerogative as the consumer to do what he chooses without reason?
Itâs not weird to transfer if the fit isnât good, but he needs to do some homework so he can articulate a few reasons. Sure, one simply can be the campus environment - if itâs a clear country to city type environment, that will be understandable, esp if he is originally is from a more urban place or thereâs a reason he would feel more comfortable there culturally. However, he will want also to have a specific school-driven reason or two for that school to be his particular target among all the schools out there that are in cities. That could be academic or extracurricular, maybe they offer something he canât do at his current program, and why that matters. In other words, he needs to present that he is not so much running FROM something, but running TO somethingâŠthe school will want to be reassured that he will be happy in his new environment and has done his homework and thought about why. One word of caution though - many schools are not all that great about mental health, and itâs a time of high demand for that support, so he should really do some investigation that the new school will have good help for him there - or that heâll be able to get it elsewhere to make his new environment work for him. I imagine too that with OCD, he should also look carefully into schoolsâ housing situations, that they have options that will be a good fit for his needs. Wishing him the best of luck!!
I hear you, but college admissions arenât a typical consumer driven market, at least for some proportion of the consumers (students).
The issue is in a transfer app essay you have to focus on what about the new school makes it a better fitâŠan applicant canât waste words on why the current school isnât a fit. Non-academic fit factors are difficult to discern as an outsider.
So, if you canât make friends, or didnât get the sorority you wanted, or think the students are snotty or insert complaint about current school, how do you know it will be different at the new school? You donât and canât.
Academic reasons/arguments are less subjective. I am also talking about relatively more selective schools, if OP is transferring to a non-selective institution it will be less of an issueâŠmaybe the app wonât even have an essay requirement.
If itâs Cornell, people will understand.
Whatâs his major? Where is he considering transferring? Even though he has missed the deadline at a lot of places, there are still good schools that have rolling admissions.
Thank you all for the great info. He is applying to one selective school and one safety.
He was previously accepted by the selective school and was even offered to join their honer program. Both are in big cities, which is what he is looking for.
Ideally he should have applied for more, but he was trying to give himself as much time as possible for things to workout, but it does not seem to be working.
Ideally, he wanted to spend one more year as that will open many other schools for him, especially near LA where we can offer him a better support system. But he wanted to have options for this summer.
Thank you all again.
Sounds good. Has he called the transfer admission person at the selective school that accepted him last year? Itâs probably a good idea (some schools even have a different application pathway for these students).
In this case, beyond his reasons for transfer, he could say something like it was such a tough decision for me last year, but itâs now clear I made the wrong decision and wanted to begin the steps to transfer. Also, itâs reasonable for him to ask if he can get honors college again.
Good luck!
Why will people understand if itâs Cornell or were you joking?
The focus should be on the childâs well being and mental health. Not how to impress a transfer institution.
Having never done that myself or with a kid, that makes total sense. I thought it was a reason to get out, when in reality itâs a reason why the next step will be better.
OP, you should ignore my advice and follow that of @Mwfan1921. 
Yes it is 
and he is in Dyson studying a mix of business and economics.