<p>All of these comments are missing the most important thing--prerequisites.</p>
<p>Whatever college you plan to transfer to and whatever major you plan to go into at that college, the college will put out a list of what the prerequisites are you have to (as well as should consider) taking in order to transfer in.</p>
<p>At most good schools, the acceptance rate is about 15 to 25% for transfers. About half of those who don't get accepted as transfers do so because they have failed to take the required (or suggested) courses the school tells you to take. The others don't get in either because of weak courseload, poor grades, being unlikely to be able to afford it financially, they had too many "W"s on their record or because their essays, test scores and ECs are not up to standards.</p>
<p>Which brings up another topic--if you are planning to transfer as a freshman (for sophomore acceptance), then the school will look at your SATs and at your high school grades at least a bit also. You can't do anything about your high school grades, but you can boost those SAT scores if the school accepts SATs taken after you are in college (about 3/4rds or so of the schools do). So if your test scores aren't at least at the averages, then get out that test booklet and start studying--especially in the summertime when you aren't already taking classes.</p>
<p>These two things--(1)checking out and enrolling in prerequisites for the transfer school and program, and (2) boosting the SAT/ACT scores are the two I'd say you should be doing right now. Once you are in school, then getting the grades (getting the GPA required) should be your main concern.</p>
<p>Excellent advice on this thread from scarolina22 and calcruzer, along with entomom. I recommend you read post #13 over and over and over again along with calcruzer's advice above.</p>
<p>Read Transfer Admissions 101 sticky. </p>
<p>If you follow the advice by those posters and by entomom, you will be in good stead. Does NOT mean you will get into Ivies that you didn't get into before, but if you follow ALL of the advice and target schools that fit you in a range of selectivity, you will find a good fit. Or, as some have pointed out, you may find that your safety school is a great fit and allows you to shine, work closely with professors and prepare yourself admirably for career and or further study.</p>
<p>oh and btw, rmatai, as far as research positions go, your university should have an office of undergraduate research website. chances are, they keep databases of professors that are looking for an undergrad to help data collection, prelim analysis, etc. research positions ARE within your reach, you just have to keep an eye out for them. you could even find go talk to professor for one of your classes that you find interesting, and even if that professor doesn't have a space open in their lab, more often than not they would be glad to ask around for you. i got my position by email a professor in the department i was interested in and submitting my resume to her. she called me the next day for a phone interview and i worked with her and her doctoral students all year. anther misconception is that labs aren't willing to take freshman, which is completely not true. one chemistry professor i had said, "it's not that freshmen don't have the knowledge, it's that the majority of them are not aware of all the safety precautions because they've never been in this type of enviornment before." as long as you can demonstrate that you're a mature and hardworking individual, professors will be glad to let you into their lab. personally, i'm a huge fan of doing undergrad research. it's a completely different atmosphere, and the exposure into the wonderful world of academia will change how you look at college.</p>
<p>I have one quick but really important question.</p>
<p>When talking to the college adviser (the one that helps you build up your schedule) how do you go around talking to her/him about asking which classes can you take that are transferable without offending them?
It would be such a betrayal to flatly ask that to their face?
Do we just contact the other adviser at the college we plan to go to or does that also offends them because they think we're going their for the prestige? </p>
<p>Javous, you heard wrong--there is a very long thread on here (like 95 pages or so) put out by xiggi discussing this and other stuff where it becomes clear that the schools don't care how many times you take the SAT/ACT. You can find it at the top of the SAT study section.</p>
<p>aubrey, my suggestion would be that you figure out which schools you are interested in as possible transfer schools, then go to their "transfer admissions" websites and see which courses they require that would also meet the requirements at your new school. Take those courses first. For example, if you are a business major, the basic microeconomics and macroeconomics courses are usually required by almost all schools. For CALS majors (college of letters and sciences), you usually have classes in stuff like english composition, foreign language, psychology, american government or history, etc. that will overlap at both your current school and the school where you might transfer. Start off with these, since then you know you are "covering your bases" whether you decide to stay at your current school or whether you decide to transfer (and also if you are rejected as a transfer and have to stay).</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have one quick but really important question.</p>
<p>When talking to the college adviser (the one that helps you build up your schedule) how do you go around talking to her/him about asking which classes can you take that are transferable without offending them?
It would be such a betrayal to flatly ask that to their face?
Do we just contact the other adviser at the college we plan to go to or does that also offends them because they think we're going their for the prestige? </p>
<p>Thanksssssssssssss
[/quote]
Your advisor would not know which classes are transferable, so it would be unwise to ask her this. Only the schools to which you are applying would be able to tell you this.</p>
<p>I think your best bet regarding course selection, if you are considering "prestigious" schools, is to take rigorous classes liberally across the disciplines (i.e. natural/physical science with labs, calculus, history, philosophy, languages). Selective schools usually like to see both breadth and rigor. Don't wall yourself in by taking courses that only fulfil the prereqs of one school--especially if that one school is very selective.</p>
<p>to scarolina22,
thank you so much for your reply!
to calcruzer,
what do you mean by "transfer as a freshman (for sophomore acceptance)"?
does it mean to give up all college credits?what kinds of students would benefit from this action?</p>
<p>Thank you all for the thoughtful advice and comments posted so far! I wish to ask a few practical questions and appreciate everyones input and especially the opinions of those who (been there and done that) had successful transfer experiences. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Which colleges give good financial aid (merit or need-based) to transfer students? </p></li>
<li><p>To transfer as a rising sophomore, one has to apply in the fall of this year or early next year. This means you have little time to get to know your professors and develop a good relationship. I am concern that they may not provide an enthusiastic recommendation, seeing a student who is in their school not even a term/semester but already thinks of jumping the boat. How would you approach a professor who does not know you well and ask for a letter of recommendation? </p></li>
<li><p>Unfortunately, some colleges will ask for the secondary school report again from transfer applicants. When you go back to your high school guidance counselors again, I think that they may not react positively since they just provided the secondary school report last year. Also, they may not remember you anymore with hundreds of students graduating each year in a large high school. What would be a better way to handle this request? Ask for the copies of secondary school report in sealed envelops right now? Not all colleges use Common App., some of them use their own form of secondary school report. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you in advance for any ideas and wisdom!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Compared to freshman admissions, there are very few merit scholarships for transfers. There are some out there, but they are rare. For need based FA, in general, those schools that are good for freshmen are good for transfers. However, some have transfer specific rules, so you really have to check out the individual college websites. It also is going to depend on your personal situation, FA is even more difficult to predict than admissions results IMO.</p></li>
<li><p>You are right about the short amount of time you have to get LORs from your profs/TAs if you are applying as a sop transfer. Thus the need for you to do excellent work and get to know your instructors the first qt/sem in college. The point is, you should not be asking for LORs from instructors that you don't know well. You should be making an impression from early on so that after you finish the class you can request that they write you a letter. </p></li>
<li><p>Transferring happens, just ask your HS for copies of your records from the year before, it's part of their job.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>thanks calliebotte and calcuzer for answering my question.</p>
<p>i'm so lucky i don't have to worry about financial aid since i have a full ride scholarship that follows wherever i go!
on less thing on my mind.</p>
<p>No, it doesn't mean that you lose any credits.
What I meant was that there are (generally) two years in which students apply as transfers:</p>
<p>You either apply
(1) about the halfway point of your freshman year (for admittance during the following Fall--which will be the start of your sophomore year), or
(2) about the halfway point of your sophomore year (for admittance during the following Fall--which will be the start of your junior year).</p>
<p>In situation (1) above, the school will always look at your high school grades and SAT scores in addition to your college grades so far. (The reason is because at this point, when you apply, you will have completed only one semester of college so far).</p>
<p>In situation (2) above, the school may look at your high school grades and SAT scores in addition to your college grades, but will rely on them much less, since you will now have completed 3 semesters of college work at the time that you apply to transfer.</p>
<p>Occasionally, you can apply to a college during the junior year for admittance at the start of the senior year--but this can almost never be done at a college ranked in the USNW top 100 list.</p>
<p>oh, and to aubrey, thanks for the thanks--and best of luck with your transfer plans.</p>