Angst of a Transfer

Transfer Students
1

<p>I'm a freshman now, and I want to transfer.</p>

<p>I did ED to a private liberal arts college, which was a huge mistake. I think the thing I regret the most is not taking a shot at merit based aid at other top-tier schools, like Rice and Wash U and Northwestern, which I'm now considering as a transfer. Thing is, I don't think that many schools offer merit aid for transfers, and I do want to go somewhere where I can get a quality education. I think I really had a shot last year, with a near perfect SAT score, 8 APs, almost straight As, and a good mix of extracurriculars. </p>

<p>I don't qualify for any financial aid, even though my family isn't particularly wealthy or anything, and now I feel like that is an issue because I've decided that I want to go to graduate school (a Master's) without having to take a load of debt. </p>

<p>I'm trying to save as much money as possible. I don't want to sound too calculating, but one semester isn't cheap. So what I'm thinking is that I want to study abroad for the fall semester and then come back in the spring, when I would send in transfer apps. I'm not sure if that would be looked upon well by colleges I want to go to.</p>

<p>An additional complication-- first semester was pass/fail, and I got all B's. My school is known for its academic rigor, but I don't think places I'm applying to will be very forgiving. So with that in mind, and the fact that I probably will be getting at least a semester's worth of AP credits, I'm not sure how I should go about doing this. I might take a gap year before transferring, so colleges can see my spring semester grades, which will most likely be much stronger than my first semester ones. </p>

<p>I know that was long, and I apologize. I'm really not sure who I can talk to about my issue and all the things that are going on in my head right now. I hope my explanation of things wasn't too confusing also.</p>

<p>Does anyone have advice on how colleges view transfers who didn't go through a normal first two years of college, but rather split it up and took time off? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I transferred to Northwestern last year. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Northwestern offers almost no merit based aid to even incoming freshmen or current students. The list of scholarships can be found [here[/URL</a>]. Wash U St. Louis offers a [URL=&lt;a href=“http://ucollege.wustl.edu/files/ucollege/Transfer_Student_Scholarship_-_revised_Nov_2011-web.pdf]transfer”&gt;http://ucollege.wustl.edu/files/ucollege/Transfer_Student_Scholarship_-_revised_Nov_2011-web.pdf]transfer</a> scholarship](<a href=“http://ug-finaid.northwestern.edu/topics/prospective/scholarships_grants.html]here[/URL”>http://ug-finaid.northwestern.edu/topics/prospective/scholarships_grants.html), however, it’s valued at only 1,000-3,500 a year - not exactly a full ride. You won’t miss out on much by transferring to either of these two, as there’s really no merit aid available to even incoming freshmen. Rice, on the other hand, does offer a fair deal of merit aid opportunities to incoming freshman, but does not offer any merit aid opportunities to [transfers</a> (#9).](<a href=“Office of Admission | Rice University”>Office of Admission | Rice University)</p>

3

<p>You are in a tough place. Very few schools offer significant merit aid to transfers.</p>

<p>I think many kids over think this. 3 more years at a good college where the price is right will just require figuring out how to make the best of it.</p>