***IMPORTANT COLLEGE TRANSFER RELATED QUESTIONS***

Transfer Students
1

Hello, I have been considering transferring to some other college for quite some time. And so these questions have popped up on my mind. Can you guys please help me with them?

  1. Is it a good idea to apply to an ivy league (or any other college) for transfer, which rejected you previously when you applied for freshmen year?
  2. I see most transfer students come from community colleges. Are you going to be at a disadvantage if you apply to transfer from a reputed college?
  3. How many colleges should one ideally apply for transfer?
  4. How important are AP and SAT scores when transferring? Are they as important as they are for students applying for freshmen year?
  5. Please feel free to tell me anything significant you think I should know.

Thank you.

2

I can answer 3 - 5.

3 You should apply to the schools where you desire to transfer. If you are going to a four year from a 2 year look for guaranteed administration [Schools who just want you to take certain classes and will automatically enroll you once those courses/units are complete] Basically apply to your reach and safe schools.

4 SAT and AP scores are considered not important for a transfer. The only thing colleges will look at is your GPA at the 2 year.

5 Aim for a GPA of 3.0 - 3.8 to be competitive. Stay involved during your 2 year. You will still be required to fill out an essay proportion when applying.

3

I agree with everything @Kidzfun has said!

5 --

Additionally, make sure that your essays reflect grounded reasons for wanting to transfer, rather than prestige etc. (Ex: your current school doesn’t have the major you want and abc university has an amazing study abroad opportunity for that etc) Be sure to be specific about what that school in particular can offer you that your current one can’t.
On a similar note of specificity, admissions prefer 2 or 3 ECs with in-depth involvement that reflects your passions, rather than 10 ECs you are only somewhat invested in.
Also keep in mind, which you may already be aware of, that applications take a LONGGG time and being enrolled in college makes completing them somewhat difficult, so plan ahead! It’s also expensive, so make sure you put in that effort to make submitting those applications worth it. I started working on my apps as soon as I realized I wanted to transfer in October.

2 --

Overall, I don’t think coming from a prestigious university would in any way harm your application so long as you have those grounded reasons. I don’t think it disadvantages you, it may just be harder to explain why specifically you want to transfer. (The UCs and Princeton are two exceptions I know of; Princeton states on their website that they seek applicants with unique backgrounds to foster greater diversity and the UCs look for transfers predominantly from California community colleges.)

1 --

I think applying to schools that previously rejected you is fine if you changed your application a lot. And if you are applying for junior admission, I wouldn’t worry about it too much because then they weight your college performance more heavily than HS performance.

Hope this helps! If you have any questions about my own process applying to transfer schools, feel free to PM me :slight_smile:

4

I would love to hear your advice about academic insecurity since I go to a CC where there aren’t research opportunities etc. :slight_smile: