I’ll be starting undergrad next year at a 4-year college, but I want to transfer to a better school. I want to apply as a transfer applicant to UCB, UCLA, USC, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Vanderbilt, UChicago, Stanford, and Rice (this is just a tentative list). I have a few questions on transfer admissions because I have no idea how they work.
-Can I transfer, and enter the new school as a sophomore (as in I leave my undergrad after my freshman year)?
-How do high school grades and test scores affect the outcome of transfer admissions? I’m 99% sure I can get good grades at my undergrad school.
-What do I have to do in college to get into a good transfer school?
UCB/UCLA only accepts Junior level transfers with a minimum 60 semester/90 quarter units. HS grades and test scores are not considered only your college GPA and personal statement. You should never start one school with the intent to transfer. If you are interested in UCLA/UCB and are a California resident, the CCC route is the best way to go for these schools.
@Gumbymom Thanks! The reason why I want to transfer is because I have to go to college closer to home for this year because of some family and personal emotional problems. I understand college and higher education in general are both gifts that should not be taken for granted, and I have appreciated every acceptance I have gotten from this application cycle.
Some places require HS transcripts, some don’t. You need to check the websites of your target universities and find out what each of them specifically requires.
Some places will accept transfers after the freshman year, others will only admit transfers after the sophomore year. Again, you need to check each place separately.
You need excellent grades and excellent letters of recommendation if you want to transfer. Focus on those first.
I’m actually really curious about a lot of things here too. I have an academic probation on my transcript due to a stupid thing I did in sophomore year, which I believe is a huge reason in why I was rejected from so many of my match and even some safety schools. I heard that this probation won’t follow me to college, which is why I want to try to transfer again after freshman year. Does anyone know how this works?
Your odds of getting into any of these schools as a transfer student are LOWER than as an incoming freshman. Are your high school stats competitive for Stanford? For Chicago?
The UCs save most of their transfer spots for CC students; you would have to be rather extraordinary for them to accept you during your freshman year.
You can go ahead and try - it’s your application money - but your odds are very, very low.
I only know about Columbia & Cornell because I applied to transfer to both schools for Fall 2016. You can apply as a sophomore or a junior at C & C because you will have earned at least 12 college credits at your current school. High school grades are required for all transfers and they do look at them. However, the longer college transcript you have the less significance high school grades and test scores have.
Think about it this way: if you apply as a freshman you only have high school grades and test scores. If you apply as a sophomore you have roughly 1 year of college grades which isn’t enough to prove you can handle the academics so they judge your high school stats. Now if you apply as a junior, you have about 2 years of college credits which will keep the focus on that and give little importance to high school stats…although, they STILL keep them in mind. Do keep in mind that transfer admissions into C & C are significantly more competitive than freshman admissions because they don’t have as many spots.
What you need to do in college in order to transfer to a good school is simply do what you love and focus on what you care about. I see tons of people here in CC with ECs everywhere and with TONS of volunteering at random places that it just screams out the wrong impression. Don’t try to mold yourself into a school by doing what you think the admissions committee will like. Simply be yourself and forget about doing every single activity or leadership role. Remember quality vs. quantity. Focus on few ECs that you TRULY care about and volunteer in places you truly believe in. Take the classes you enjoy and that challenge you that go towards your major. Don’t just take random classes that look good because this isn’t high school, everything should go towards your major and towards what you care about.
Colleges will want to see maturity and responsibility in a transfer student’s application because they have already lived at least a year in a college setting, so they will expect you to know what your plans are and you need to have good, specific reasons of why you want to transfer. Not liking a college is not reason enough. Now, if your current college doesn’t fit your needs or doesn’t have an area of study you want to pursue then that is fine. Mainly, they want you to convince them they need you and that you will fit in their school. You must be very specific in this.
If you do all of these things you will be a competitive transfer applicant if the time comes and you will have the values that top colleges look for. Many students focus too much on ECs or tests scores and they fail to realize that what separates 2 perfect applications (in terms of ECs/scores/grades) ends up being values and personality.