My kid is in his first semester fresh year of a top tier (less than 10% acceptance rate)school. He is away from home and loves the city but he does not feel connected with his peers and he doesn’t feel challenged enough at his current university. He is in a small liberal arts school and probably wants to study law or journalism. I know a lot of freshman have trouble. But this feels different. he is very outgoing, he keeps putting himself out there and without sharing too much has accomplished quite a bit in such a short time. Any other parents who can offer guidance about transferring from a top tier university to another? I think he’d maybe be happier in a larger environment but he learned the UC schools of interest either only do transfers for juniors and UCLA doesn’t have the majors of interest. Thanks in advance for any tips or words of wisdom.
I’m sorry to hear that he is unhappy.
You mentioned the UCs. Are you a CA resident?
Yes, UC’s only take Junior level transfers but a school like USC could be an option since they accept Sophomore level transfers. Since it is already late November, he may want to jump on this sooner than later.
USC Transfer Deadline: February 15: Transfer deadline for scholarship and regular consideration.
I’m from CA, so we’ve spent a lot of time there and he’s familiar.
Thanks for the support
Thank you so much for this suggestion. Part of the issue with his current school is that is it a bit of a bubble for the super -elite. The kids don’t even realize how insulated they are and I don’t blame them. And there certainly in nothing inherently wrong with financial success, but there are a lot of students who, according to my son, seem somewhat tone-deaf to the needs of others. We are paying tuition at Tufts, so we consider ourselves very fortunate and I’m sure we have advantages that we sometimes take for granted. All of this to say that we have been hesitant about USC because we fear that it will be going to another bubble where so many kids are not just privileged, but entitled. I’d really love to hear that is not the case. if you have personal experience, I would be very grateful to learn about it. Thank you so much
I sometimes lose objectivity, reason, and perspective when it comes to my own kids. You don’t appear to have that problem. As you wrote, a lot of first years struggle with one thing or another, but also…no one knows your child better than you!
My advice (advice from a random mom who’s been there) is … support his desire to explore other options by completing some transfer apps to larger schools. It will help ease any sense that he is trapped and, if his concerns about his current college dissipate then no harm, no foul.
Hang in there. Parenting is so joyful, but not always easy.
I knew a student who was unhappy at brown, transferred to stanford, where he was much happier. I suggest your kid explore transferring, if the fit is wrong.
Based on your description of what he is looking for and what is currently lacking…Have you considered Jesuit schools? If you like California, maybe University of San Francisco or Santa Clara? See for example:
Thank you for your very kind response. You are right, parenting this dude is such a joy. But this is not an easy time.
We most definitely support him. He has a great head on his shoulders and I think he really knows what he wants. We all are hoping that he might actually find what he wants where he is, as that would be the fastest path to fulfillment. The challenge is finding other universities that take sophomore transfers. I’d love it if he were to apply elsewhere only to decide he wants to stay. But there are limited options.
Thank you for sharing. Stanford and Brown are definitely on his list. But I do not think either university accepts sophomore transfers. If you have insight, I’d like to know what this student considered plusses and minuses of each university.
I think that the issues are particular to the individual student and his interests. However, i think that an issue with small LACs is that there may not be as much variety available as at a large school.
Is he at Tufts? My D23 was accepted to Tufts and declined for fear of the situation you describe. If you are looking at California schools, I second Stanford and USC. Sure, USC has a lot of rich kiddos, but it’s so much larger than the small LAC you describe. He’s more likely to find his peeps. I also like Santa Clara, although it’s small.
Don’t know your thought on WashU (St. Louis, Mo) but they are piloting a brand new transfer program. He could apply now and get a decision by December 21…may just alieviate some stress?
Spring 2024
WashU has announced a pilot transfer admission process for the Spring 2024 semester. This pilot program is open to students who will have completed at least one semester at another college or university and are interested in transferring to the College of Arts & Sciences only. International students interested in applying for Spring 2024 transfer admission must already be studying at a university in the U.S.
Students apply by submitting the Common Application for Transfer Admission and selecting the Spring 2024 semester of entry.
Limited financial assistance is available. Students applying for aid should submit the 2023-2024 FAFSA and CSS Profile by December 11.
University housing will be available. Students who are currently completing their first semester at another college or university will be required to live in university housing.
What do you mean by sophomore transfer? A freshman in college can apply this spring to start at Brown next fall for their sophomore year.
Is he at Tufts or is that another child? Tufts isn’t that small. Its undergrad size is the same as Stanford. He will not get away from the privileged students at any “elite” university. They are all crawling with them.
OMG! I had NO idea. yes, we know of WashU and think very highly of it. Thank you so much for sharing.
He is at Tufts. I’m not bashing the school at all. So many great things and great professors. He has just not connected with peers in the way he’d like to.
I’ve had trepidation about USC like you had about Tufts. I guess kids are so covered up in the winter that you can’t see all the bling and the labels 
Thank you so much for sharing this.
Do you have any students at WashU? Thank you
Yes, transferring to start as a sophomore. Many universities will only accept transfers for starting junior year.
| School | % Pell | % any financial aid | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tufts | 12% | 46% | College Navigator - Tufts University |
| USC | 25% | 76% | College Navigator - University of Southern California |
| WUStL | 17% | 50% | College Navigator - Washington University in St Louis |
Pell grant approximates the bottom half of family income, while any financial aid at an expensive private college approximates the bottom 96% of family income.
Wash U has a very affluent student body as well and relatively little economic diversity
He might want to look at Northwestern. One of D22’s friends transferred there this fall to start her sophomore year. She has found it to be more rigorous than the highly ranked school she came from. And NU’s transfer program is amazing. They have a large corhort that dorms together, great advising, etc.
Most schools accept transfers to start sophomore year. The UCs are the outliers in that regards.
I’d also cast a wide net as far as schools. While most schools accept transfers, the number of applicants they accept varies widely. For example, Stanford and Princeton are single to low double digit and Vanderbilt accepts a few hundred. You can check the numbers in the common data set for schools of interest.