Help! My son is finishing up his first year at Wake Forest and is looking to transfer for Spring semester 2024. He wanted to wait until the end of the first year to make sure it was the right decision and to have a full year of classes/grades. He will likely end the year with a 3.85 or better. Wake was too exclusive socially and too Greek. He loves the classes, campus and access to professors and smallish class size. But, he is looking for a school that is competitive academically, classes taught by professors (not TAs), good pre law track, but also has a vibrant social scene that is inclusive (read not greek) or close to or in a city. If not in a city, the campus should have a really fun social culture that is not hard to break into. So far we are thinking of BC, BU, Northeastern, Middlebury, NYU, Wesleyan? Please share any advice or add to the list!
From what Iâve picked up from hanging around CC these past ten years or so, the colleges on your current list check all the boxes, although some would argue that Middleburyâs proximity to Portland (ME) may not constitute being close to a city. But having just left a deep-dive into the relative merits of New Haven (CT) and Poughkeepsie (NY), Iâm reluctant to split hairs. 
Iâm not knowledgeable about the odds of transferring but maybe Georgetown, Emory or Vanderbilt? Maybe take a shot at an Ivy?
Thank you. Middlebury is remote, but I thought he might like the campus, intellectual component and the non Greek vibe. He likes the outdoors, he likes to âpartyâ but is also somewhat of an introvert who chooses extroverted friends. And Middlebury isnât one of those âtinyâ LACs-more midsized.
VanderbiltâŚNashville is a fun city and easily accessible from campus, Greek life is there but by no means the sole driver of the social scene and because they welcome a large transfer class each year they host a well run orientation week which provides many avenues for transfers to weave themselves into campus life. My D transferred Fall â21 and her experience there has been phenomenal.
ETA: To clarify your son is looking to start Jan 2024 or Fall 2024? Vanderbilt only does transfers for Fall so please disregard my post if itâs not applicable for your timeline.
I think a January transfer is feasible only for the big schools on the list.
Middlebury and Wes, excellent schools that they are, are not near cities. Middletown, CT, is a town. Middlebury is really quite isolated. There is nothing remotely city-like anywhere near, unless you count Burlington as a city.
BC is probably his best bet. NYU, BU, and NE are very urban. Plus, they will have large classes with TAs. I think your son should do a bit more investigating into the type of environment he is looking for.
Rice is one thought I had. Thereâs no Greek life, there are residential colleges to have an in-built affiliation, and itâs great academically and in a lovely part of Houston.
Yes, Boston schools seem like a good fit. Was thinking that if Middlebury and Wes have a good non greek social scene they might check the boxes even though not close to a city. Heâs looking for a social life that would have options for house/dorm/apartment parties, a few bars, maybe music etc. I know BC and NYU have a Nov 1 deadline but have not checked others. Good point.
Rice is one I hadnât thought of! I will suggest that to him. Thanks
I thought Vanderbilt was pretty Greek? Wonder what it is like for boys who are non greek.
Most of these schools have no Greek life. For those that do, I donât think it is a dominant social force like it can be at schools with high percentages of participants and/or located in the south. All of these, I believe, have a January start available.
⢠Case Western (OH) - 40% transfer admission rate
⢠Clark (MA) - 70% transfer admission rate
⢠College of the Holy Cross (MA) - 34% transfer admission rate
⢠Connecticut College - 31% transfer admission rate
⢠Fairfield (CT) - 45% transfer admission rate
⢠Lake Forest (IL) - 59% transfer admission rate
⢠Lewis & Clark (OR) - 61% transfer admission rate
⢠Reed (OR) - 15% transfer admission rate
⢠St. Johnâs (MD or NM) - 34% transfer admission rate
⢠Sarah Lawrence (NY) - 54% transfer admission rate
⢠Seattle U. (WA) - 59% transfer admission rate
⢠U. of Rochester (NY) - 42% transfer admission rate
ETA: Added transfer rates, as some schoolâs transfer rates can be significantly different than the collegeâs freshmen admit rates. Also, Rice has a 4% transfer admit rate. Just like when applying to colleges as a first year applicant, a balanced list of schools to apply to is important for a transfer student.
You will have to check which schools allow spring transfersâŚWesleyan does not, Bowdoin (in the tags of your post) rarely does.
Vandy is a good idea, I donât think itâs greek influence is too great, but realize thatâs subjective. I know a number of kids who have transferred there and it was the right decision. Some went Greek, some didnât.
What about Northwestern?
Do you have budget constraints or will he be full pay?
The other issue is that, for many more selective private colleges, transfer admission competitiveness information is less available and/or less transparent than frosh admission competitiveness information, so assessing reach/match/likely/safety can be more difficult for transfer than frosh admission (e.g. âhow difficult is it to transfer to Rice with a 3.85 college GPA?â). Public colleges, on the other hand, may have more transfer admission transparency through assured admission programs, though often only or mainly for students at same-state community colleges.
Many colleges are set up to take most new students (frosh and transfers) in the fall semester, so the student may have to consider applying to transfer for fall 2024 at colleges that do not offer application to start in spring 2024.
Also, transferring after 3 semesters is in-between 2 semesters (where high school stuff is still significantly relevant) and 4 semesters (where high school stuff is usually much less relevant or sometimes not considered at all, due to the applicant having enough of a college record). How a college that accepts spring transfer applications considered how relevant high school stuff is for such an applicant depends on the college.
We will be full pay. While he does want a top tier school, the social life is crucial as that is what is causing him to leave Wake. Heâs up for working hard, as long as he can blow off steam and have a good time with relative ease.
Bates has no Greek life. It is friendly and relaxed, but academically rigorous. Itâs in Lewiston, a small city, and there are restaurants and bars. Portland is 40 minutes away and has a lot of great music and food. Probably no January start date though.
My son loved Wake Forest when we visited - he loved the size, the classes, the focus on undergraduates, but had concerns about the social life there and the lack of diversity. He ended up applying ED to Rice and attending Rice. He loves Rice for the same reasons he loved Wake Forest but also for the diversity (both economic and ethnic) and how collaborative and supporting the environment is.
You didnât mention anything in the Midwest, but we just toured Macalaster last week with D23 and it might tick all of your boxes. It is a small LAC with a deliberately and proudly diverse population of serious students, and nestled in St. Paul with easy (free) access to Minneapolis. It isnât the right school for my DS (he wants a more rural environment), but we came away very impressed.
It reminded me a lot of Vassar if youâve looked there.
I can ask my daughter about current Greek culture there. She wasnât interested in Greek life when she made her list of schools for transfer but what she found in her research was Greek life wasnât as big as in the past and having Nashville right there was a huge plus in her mind. She has quite a few guy friends who are not in fraternities. She joined a sorority because she wanted to âtry it outâ but itâs turned out to be a very minor part of her social life. Sororities canât host parties and only officers of the sorority or fraternity are permitted to live in the house.
If youâre going to look at Bowdoin abd Midd, you probably want to include Bates and Colby.
But having said that, I think Tufts might be a better fit given what heâs looking for, and iirc, they do have spring transfers.
Oh yes, Tufts is a great suggestion! Brandeis too.