Hello,
I currently attend one of the Top 25 Public Schools, studying in the college of Engineering/Compsci/Applied Sciences. I previously attended an unranked public school, and was a member of the honors college, but transferred to my current institution after a semester due to the fact that one of my majors was not offered. (Double major in Compsci and languages) I do like my school, but they continue to increase tuition exponentially every semester, and I am also considered out of state.
I was told when I was accepted that I could get instate tuition after a year as long as I held a job and could pay 50% of my rent partition. I deferred my enrollment for a semester so I could start establishing residency, and have been continually employed. I even have an apartment in my name. However, after I already enrolled and paid my tuition, financial aid suddenly changed their policy that nonresident students could not establish residency. This applies to all students. I am willing to stick it out another year, because I do have money saved in a college fund, but I would like to transfer.
Will this raise a “red flag” to adcoms? I do have some valid academic reasons, like wanting to double major (which is seen as something near impossible at my current school, not very many students double major due to engineering college reqs) I would also like more internship and employment opportunities, as these aren’t really any available here. Students have to travel to other states to get internships in tech. I didn’t realize the student body was going to be this big either. It’s easy to feel like just a number sometimes, and I would like to have a closer relationship with professors.
At my old school I had around a 3.4/3.5 GPA. I took a summer class at CC and got a 4.0 GPA. I am working towards achieving a 4.0 GPA at my current school in a wide variety of subjects. I have a 30 ACT, but will be retaking. I will also be taking subject tests. My only “hooks” are being on a research team for a major tech company in the US, and developing a human rights commitment for a certain national organization that is lead by a president.
My biggest reaches are Northwestern, Brown, Cornell, and Uchicago. Should I iust give up because this will be my second transfer?
Transferring because of unexpected cost increases is perfectly reasonable. Would the places on your list be cheaper than where you are now?
I also transferring is a decent option for you. You don’t need to retake your ACT. Regarding your statement about how you were told that you could get instate tuition after a year, there are so many people who believe this can be done easily who don’t understand how difficult it is in most states.
Were you told this by the school or by someone who didn’t know what they were talking about?
Yes, wondering the same. There are very few states that would allow this to establish residency, so I wonder if you got bad info somewhere (vs a sudden policy change).
@TomSrOfBoston Employees at school. It was also on their website that you could appeal after a year, and your chances would be increased if you met certain criteria. For example, being able to pay 50% of your expenses/living costs, registering your car in the state, having housing in your name that is not a dormitory, etc.
@happymomof1 I’m looking at schools that offer a lot of need based aid, like bigger private schools. My EFC on FAFSA is around 2-3k due to the fact that I am employed. If I don’t get into any of my reaches, I would be alright going to my state school UNC, or NC State, as the instate tuition won’t be very hefty. But I have been waitlisted at UNC twice now so I don’t know if I can count on it.
So you were not told that you would get in state rates, you were told that you could appeal. Big difference. Those conditions often include that you not be enrolled at a college for that year.
Ah, I’m not sure if it is different in other states. We don’t have to delay enrollment in South Carolina, but you do have 90 days to get your driver’s licence and registration established or else your residency request will be delayed. It’s not a 100% guarantee that you will get instate tuition, but I was told that rates of acceptance are quite high if you meet all criteria. However, these new policies are specific to my school. The other large public schools in South Carolina have not established this policy yet, to my knowledge.
An unexpected increase in the cost of attendance seems to me to be one of the most valid and legitimate reasons to transfer. While this seems quite inconvenient for you personally, I don’t see a problem with respect to your future prospects for work or graduate school.
With a double major in computer science and languages, I don’t think that I would focus quite so much on transferring to a “big name” university. Graduating from a “pretty good” university in computer science makes a person very employable. I know multiple MIT graduates who work alongside many U.Mass Amherst graduates and no one cares where anyone went to university. Similarly, for human languages the point is to speak the language. If you are bilingual or trilingual people might or might not care that you speak the languages well, but won’t care so much how you learned them.