Ok so i go to a small liberal arts college with good academics but the acceptance rate is about 60%. I hate the location and size and want to transfer. I went on a medical leave for my first semester so I did not receive any grades or credits.
Do I transfer to my state school Rutgers or do I wait until next year after I have grades from my current school and can transfer to a better school?
Do I just transfer to Rutgers now and transfer again later to a better school if I want to or does that look bad?
If I wait until next year for the better schools, should i apply in spring or wait until next Fall so I have a greater chance of being accepted/ getting financial aid?
Do you want to go to Rutgers? If so, try to transfer in for fall, if possible. If not, wait for a year of grades and try for a different college.
Transferring all over the place is not going to give you the greatest college experience, is it? If your goal is to go somewhere more selective, no, multiple transfers doesn’t look good. Think about it: they want your revenue for your remaining time in college. A very selective school is not likely to want to give up a seat to someone who has already transferred out of one school and now wants to transfer again. You’re showing a pattern. (An exception might be if you attend community college. Is that of interest to you? You would have to see if the college of interest will accept those credits, which will also be true of your current school.)
It’s harder to transfer in spring because colleges typically don’t have many transfer events for those students. Some colleges only accept fall transfers. Also, while there are schools that will give merit aid to transfers, many will not. You need a very high GPA and good letters of rec. Letters of rec are better when you know your professors. Make time to get to know them.
I suggest you spend more time thinking through your options. I’m inclined to think that in your desperation to leave, you’re not considering many factors. A gap semester or gap year to work for a while and save money (you need this, right?) will give you time to plan.
Edit: Financial aid is separate from merit aid and should be available if you are accepted and they determine that you have financial need.
I do not think that I would transfer to Rutgers just with the intention to transfer again a semester or two later.
However, you may be underestimating both your current college and Rutgers. Certainly the Rutgers graduates that I have worked with and/or studied with (in graduate school) made the university look very good. I went to a well regarded graduate school (Stanford) and several of the strongest students in the same program were relatively recent Rutgers graduates.
Also, at least in high tech (where I have worked for decades) graduates from Rutgers and U.Mass work alongside graduates from MIT and Stanford and no one cares where anyone got their degree.
Of course with 49,000 undergraduate students Rutgers will be quite different from a small liberal arts college.
Do not assume that a higher ranked LAC will be either a better fit or give you a better education. I am a bit concerned that your post sounds a bit like you regret not being accepted to a higher ranked school. However, you can get a great undergraduate education at any one of a long list of universities.