<p>I go to a top five liberal arts school on a full scholarship, and I've just finished my first year with a 3.5. From that, everything would seem good, but I'm unhappy here. I knew when I ended high school that I wasn't the type of person who could feel good in a small LAC--the problem is that a full-ride was so enticing that I decided to try it out. Right now, I want to give my school another year to see whether or not I still want to leave. I only really had two schools in mind: USC and Stanford. However, if I were to be accepted, would they be as generous with aid? If it came down to it, I could just suck it up at my current school because I have a really good deal right now; on the other hand, I still want to do what's best for me. What should I do?</p>
<p>It would be very difficult to be admitted as a transfer to Stanford (much more so than being admitted as a freshman but you could definitely get into USC with your 3.5, which is competitive for both sophomore and junior transfer. However, you might be losing out on merit aid that you may have received as a freshman unless your application is strong enough to merit one of thier few transfer awards (many of which are aimed towards 2-year college students.</p>
<p>If you really find yourself unhappy, you can transfer and maybe give me your full ride. I don’t think you can expect anywhere near that much money from most schools as a transfer and many schools that are difficult to gain admission into as freshmen have even more abysmal transfer rates that scare the best applicants.</p>
<p>How desperately do you need that full-ride? Is it the only way you can get your education, or was it just the final deciding factor?</p>
<p>If you really need the big scholarship, you will probably have to stay where you are. The chances are slim-to-none that you could get an equivalent package anywhere else.</p>
<p>If you don’t need the big scholarship, and can make it work with just a reasonable amount of financial aid, then if you still dislike your current school next year, go ahead and apply to transfer. But you also ought to expand your transfer-to list. Depending on your major and your career goals, there may be many more options than you are considering right now.</p>
<p>In general, it doesn’t look like there’s anything close to the “full ride” that you’re currently receiving. The Transfer scholarship “varies” in amount, but it also goes to students with an average of a 3.7 gpa.</p>
<p>For need based FA for both USC and S (which doesn’t have merit money), the amount you will be offered depends on your family’s financial information, so we can’t predict that.</p>
<p>Is what you have a merit scholarship or need based aid? Most of the top LACs only give need based aid but I think one gives merit scholarships.</p>
<p>If it’s merit and you don’t qualify for need, neither will be as generous. If you’re talking about need based grants Stanford probably will be and USC might be. Don’t know if USC gives merit scholarships to many transfers.</p>