Confused potential transfer (help please!)

Transfer Students
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Hi!

I’m a first-year college student and I’ve been considering transferring pretty much since school started. I really feel like I settled in terms of applying for colleges my senior year, and feel sort of stuck where I am (at an extremely small, lightly competitive liberal arts school in Northeast).

That said, I am entirely clueless about the transfer process. And to make it worse my current college is pretty good at making us want to stay–I have a much better financial aid package than any other school offered me, my school offers a 2-in-1 accelerated Master’s program, and our credit system is so wacky I genuinely cannot figure out how many credits I would actually have at another university.

Despite all of this I want to explore transfer options–I just don’t feel super happy at my school, and as a hopeful political science/history major I want to be at a school known for these programs!! For context, after one semester I have a 3.8 GPA and I took 4 classes (plus one half-credit course over the summer, but I’m sure that doesn’t really count for anything). I also passed 5 AP exams with a 4 or 5 score in high school, if that helps at all?

Given all this, if anyone could answer some questions I have (or could bluntly tell me whether transferring is actually worth it), please let me know! :slight_smile:

-Do transfer students actually get comparable financial aid? Would my college GPA assist in getting institutional aid from a more prestigious university than my current?

-I’m thinking about transferring by Fall 2022, but honestly the timeline confuses me a bit. What time would you recommend so that I have the most transfer credits and could potentially study abroad? Is studying abroad even an option with these considerations?

-My school offers a practically free Master’s degree, but I know some other colleges offer a similar program. Are there any colleges you know of which may have a comparable program available to transfers?

-Additionally, I’m worried that my current college’s obscure courses/flexible liberal arts curriculum requirements might hurt me in this process. I really don’t want to lose credits–is this even a chance when, by the end of my first year, I’ll have taken just political science, history, language, philosophy, and art classes?

Thank you all so much for any help you can provide–and anything helps!! I haven’t had a chance to talk to anyone really about this, so I appreciate your time and any information you might have. I am eager to explore the possibility of going to a larger school more focused on political science and history, however am open to the idea that this might be an unrealistic goal given my expectations for financial aid, graduate school, and studying abroad. Thanks so much!!

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Yes, as long as you get accepted to a college that meets the full, demonstrated financial need for all students.

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Is this true for transfer students ?

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@prose 12 you have only been at your school for a few months. Even in normal times, many students want to change or leave at this point in freshman year- and you are dealing with COVID. Unless the courses in your area of interest are really not satisfactory, I would give it more time. Your aid and the accessible master’s are good arguments for staying. Congratulations on your good work so far.

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Yes. The financial aid package for transfer students will be awarded on a basis equivalent to that for first-year students at most highly selective private colleges as well as at some less selective schools. Unfortunately, this has been under-recognized in these forums.

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@prose12

Hi What you are going through is extremely common. It would be helpful for you to really think about what you would like to major in and where you would like to attend school (at least consider several). Also, it is ok if your school has obscure courses, but be advised some schools (like undergraduate business schools) do require certain pre-requisites for transfers. If you do not have them it will decrease or eliminate your chances at a particular school for a particular major. Do you want a liberal arts degree or a pre-professional one? A mid-sized or large school, public or private? Your credits will be figured out by the college you transfer into- so do not worry about that. The other comments here are correct- FA should be similar if your financial situation is the same. Definitely better to apply to schools now, if you are sure about transferring and if you also want to study abroad. Grades are HUGE and a 3.8 is great, so keep it up!

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Over the past few years, I have read that some most selective schools award need based financial aid to transfer students only if funds remain available after awards made to incoming freshmen.

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You mean Most Selective, like TOP 20 Universities and LAC’s? Did you read something published by the schools themselves or just online chatter? I would like to see it because I have never heard of that before (if you have a link, please provide it).

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From each school’s admissions office. I do not have specific links. Best to research each school individually that you are considering.

(I have only researched or dealt with top 25 LACs & Top 50 or so National Universities.)

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How many credits are required to graduate with a bachelor’s degree? Divide that number by 120 to get how many of that college’s credits are equivalent to 1 semester credit hour as is commonly used by many colleges.

Transfer credit is likely to be denied if the courses are remedial level or not in a subject considered “academic” by the receiving college (some colleges deny credit if they do not offer courses in that subject). However, it is also possible for transfer credit to be accepted as credit, but not considered equivalent to a specific course (subject credit), so they can only be used to fulfill general credits or sometimes requirements like “a history course” (for a prior-college history course that is accepted for credit but not equivalent to any of the current college’s history courses).

Given the type of courses you list, it is unlikely that you will lose credit, but you may not get full subject credit for them.

Others can help you better if you name the college and the courses.

AP scores will be re-evaluated by the new college using its AP credit policy if you transfer.

Depends on the college. Note that merit scholarships tend to be less available for transfer students than frosh. Many (but probably not all) colleges do offer need-based aid on a similar basis for transfers and frosh, but if your current financial aid package is merit scholarship based or semi-merit based (including preferential packaging of nominally need-based financial aid), you may find that colleges you transfer to will offer less.

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Each school will determine what classes/credits they will accept and give credit for and that determines where you are as far as sophomore, junior etc…

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I will believe it when I see it. I’m not saying you’re wrong, just saying that I haven’t seen it. But it should be pretty easy to find if you’re saying they’re just the top 25 schools but I can’t find any info like that (Even if we’re true I find it hard to believe they would publish that information). The PR would kill transfer admission.

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You should be able to find this information.

Will not “kill transfer admission” to elite schools. Might make transfer unfeasible however.

P.S. Does anyone believe or know of any school which has a separate financial aid budget for transfer students ?

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May not be applicable to the OP, but Columbia claims to “meet need” for frosh and most transfers, but does not do so for Combined Plan (3+2 engineering with Columbia as the “2” school) transfers.
https://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/how/aid/works
https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/transfer
https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/combined-plan

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I checked three schools.

Brown University states that transfer students who apply for need based financial aid will be reviewed “need aware”, not “need blind”, for transfer applicants.

Vanderbilt University just notes that international transfer applicants seeking financial aid will not be offered admission.

Over the years, I have seen financial aid policies from various schools place qualified transfer applicants in need of financial aid on the wait-list if budgeted financial aid funds have been exhausted, while other schools place transfer applicants at the back of the line for financial aid so that if aid is depleted, then transfer students may be admitted but not offered financial aid.

I hesitate to name schools as policies change for both institutional and sometimes for governmental reasons.

If in need of financial aid as a domestic transfer student, then apply as all schools seem to indicate that transfer students are eligible to apply for financial aid. Whether that means review under a need-aware basis or a back-of-the-line approach or both should be examined on an institution by institution basis.

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Would like to know which school offers 2 in 1 accelerated masters degree. Are you comfortable sharing this information ?