<p>I'm not sure if I will be in the same position you guys were/are in now, but I guess I want to be in on the know if the time comes...</p>
<ul>
<li>When did you start prepping to apply as a transfer?</li>
<li>What kind of reactions did you get from your professors who wrote your
recommendations? (slam doors, open arms)</li>
<li>How involved were you during your freshman year? </li>
</ul>
<p>Anything you can share about your experience would be appreciated. Tips, etc. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I started preparing as soon as I got rejected (not recommended by many). I knew that If I was going to have a legitimate shot at transferring, I'd need a reason for the Admissions Committee to accept me. I managed to get an internship at the school that I wanted to go to, immersed myself in work, got a great recommendation from the professor I worked for, and that's probably what got me in. </p>
<p>My professors wondered why I wanted to transfer but were ultimately happy to write my letters of recommendation. </p>
<p>I was on the track club and in the orchestra, nothing huge though. I was busy enough with my classes.</p>
<p>I started to prepare as soon as I got rejected too. However, all that I did before Feb of this year was to see the pre-req courses reqd for transfer admission.</p>
<p>I got the teacher reco's and other forms out of the way in Feb. The prof were quite cool. They did ask why do u wanna leave the univ but that was just out of personal curiosity. They were quite helpful because they probably don't have to write a lot of reco letters (unlike HS teachers).</p>
<p>I spent my March writing essays and mailing stuff.</p>
<p>I was quite involved inside and outside classroom in my freshman year (18 credits/sem and 15 hrs/week of non-academic commitments).</p>
<p>Tip #1: Get to know your prof !!! One prof simply told me she didnt know me and couldnt write a reco letter (u cant blame her - i was 1 in a class of 350). Go to their office hours and get to know them better !!</p>
<p>I didn't really plan on transferring... it took me a couple semesters at my current school to realize that I needed to go to a better institution, primarily for research and more variability in classes. So last November I just filled out the applications and got into UCLA.</p>
<p>Some things I did:</p>
<p>1) Maintained a 4.0 GPA
2) Lots of meaningful community service (created some large scale programs in the health arena)
3) Established a significant reason for transferring (Research, my research needs are not being met by the resources of my current institution)</p>
<p>What seems to be resonating is that everyone had very solid reasons for transferring. It can't just be "I really really hate my current school".</p>