I’ve been taking time off, and the longer I’ve been away from Amherst the more I’ve realized how much I don’t want to go back there. It wasn’t the place for me. It’s so small it often felt claustrophobic and suffocating. The community is very tight-knit, and since I never found my clique I was on the outside of everything. Many of the students came from very privileged backgrounds and I often felt out of place. It’s a fine school but just not for me.
My last semester there I received some poor grades that I’m going to petition be removed. But before that I had As and two Bs. I turned down two Ivies for Amherst but I’m in a different position than I was before. What are my chances of being able to transfer to a college or university of equal caliber?
I didn’t go through the trouble of getting into a selective institution just so that I can go take classes at a less selective one. I’m not a fan of the five college consortium. I really just want to leave that whole western Massachusets environment behind anyway. Would my odds be good transferring from Amherst to universities like UPENN or UVA?
If you are an URM, or first gen or low SES, you can likely still transfer to an ivy due to the fact they need good students with those demographics.
I think that you should rethink what you want in a university. As an example:
“Many of the students came from very privileged backgrounds”
This is something that occurred to us also when we visited some of the highly ranked LACs in the northeast of the US (my younger daughter was primarily looking at smaller schools and did very well in high school). Just because a student is academically strong enough to get into Amherst or Colby or Bowdoin or Dartmouth and also comes from a family that could somehow pay for any of the above does not necessarily say that the student would be comfortable with the social life there.
There are a large number of very smart students at many universities, including UMass Amherst and UVM and a wide range of very good schools that don’t have the same “prestige” factor as Amherst college or an Ivy League school. If your goal is to go somewhere with smart students and good professors then you don’t have to go to a “prestigious” school, you just have to go to a “very good” school, and there are hundreds of those.
We don’t have your complete record and even if we did it would be difficult or impossible to accurately predict where you might get in and where you might not get in. However, you should be able to get into a very good school. Whether you could still be accepted to a school with the perception of “prestige” that you get from Amherst or an Ivy League school is hard to say. However, I think that you should also think about whether you want to. This perception of “prestige” also has an affect on the type of student who goes there and on the social life.
It’s funny because I actually had this conversation with a recent friend of mine that just graduated. He also transferred out of Amherst to William & Mary for similar reasons that you listed above, most of it having to do with the size of the school and the privileged backgrounds, which translates into certain students’ attitudes. If you keep your grades up, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to transfer to another school that you would be more comfortable at.
If one of the issues it not fitting in with those from privileged families, you’re not going to find the situation different at any of the Ivy Leagues.
You’ll need current strong stats to transfer to a highly competitive college. And a strong reason for “time off” that makes sense to the transfer college targets, plus something of value you did, while away. Sounds like petitioning for removal may leave a gap in your record? And be certain you would get any financial aid you would need.
Penn accepts about 200 transfers out of 2000 apps. VA takes a larger number but half are from their instate comm college guaranteed transfer program.Be informed to understand your choices and eligibility.
I agree with @anxiousenior1, especially since Amherst focuses so much on diversity for an elite school. I do think you should transfer if it’s not the right place for you, but your comment about privileged backgrounds makes me think you’ve only interacted with a subset of Amherst’s population. Almost all of my friends, for example, are first-generation or Questbridge scholars. It might be that your specific interests or hobbies are causing you to meet people from privileged backgrounds; if this is the case, you will probably have the same problem at other schools.
Transferring can be very competitive, but I think you will have a good shot if you aim at schools a little less selective than Amherst/Ivies.
Pot . . . . . . . Kettle . . . . . . Black
It doesn’t matter that you’re URM and gay. If you put out the same arrogant vibes, you’re going to get the same back. Transfer students have less “selective” choices because there have to be available open seats for you at the colleges. You are vying for seats from students who drop or transfer out, just like you’re planning to do. So you would be lucky to get in to a “selective” school. You will no longer have the “freshman” clout.
If you decide to attend another “selective institution”, you will get the same types, as @anxiousenior1 has indicated.
I disagree with all the parent naysayers. I think Amherst just wasn’t foryou. Amherst is small and provincial. Other larger ivies will have more diversity and you will feel more comfortable among your peers with similar academic talent and interests. You can get into a good ivy. Move ahead and don’t look back. You don’t have to settle for less than what you deserve.
You mention you have poor grades the last semester you were at Amhurst. That will be a limiting factor in transferring. Why on earth would a college delete grades? Maybe Amhurst does this but does not sound fair to other students.
@preppedparent It doesn’t matter who has “the faith.” OP isn’t showing us he has the record to transfer “into a good Ivy.”
He has some poor grades. Even if they’re removed, that leaves an academic gap in his record. We don’t know why he took time off or what positive he did during that break, that will impress highly competitive adcoms.
And not sure why he thinks gay is a hook.
First hint that his issues are social and top colleges are going to question how he’ll integrate on their campuses.
And if this is about a small elite being claustrophobic and having some proportion of privileged kids, why not aim for one of his state publics, which offer both variety in types and a large potential for anonymity?
If there’s more to this, OP hasn’t told us.
I disagree. For URMs, there are no “rules.” If OP has been a great student, they remain a great student. If ivies accepted as a freshman applicant, I’d contact them and apply to transfer.
Of course there are standards for URMs. Diversity won’t trump without the record showing potential to make it through. Regardless of a prior admit, since hs, he tells us there’s a big blip. Academic, social, and maybe personal. If theres more, we dont know.
I’m going to wait for more detail from OP.
Will I need to retake the SAT you think?
@lookingforward What more details do you need? I just need to transfer to a different college, hopefully one of similar caliber but larger, less isolated, and more diverse.
And I intend to use everything that makes me different to my advantage along with my skills and prior experiences.
No, you haven’t been out that long, but contact Admissions, if you have any concerns.