<p>My 2005 guide to transferring:</p>
<p>I. Introduction</p>
<p>II. Picking schools in your range.</p>
<p>III. Forms, forms, forms!</p>
<p>IV. The Application </p>
<p>V. Supplements to the application</p>
<p>VI. Importance of College GPA</p>
<p>Introduction</p>
<p>Hello and welcome to my 2004 guide to college transferring. Transferring can be a tough time in a college students blah, blah, blah. Lets get real, transferring pretty much sucks. Its time consuming, very difficult, and it might or might not be a great decision for you. Only you can decide if your present institution fits your academic and social needs. A few pointers:</p>
<p> Never transfer to solely attend a school of greater prestige. Exceptions to this rule include: You attended a 2-year community college and you must transfer or if you were rejected across the board during freshman admissions and you absolutely hate the school you presently attend.
Try not to consider transferring prior to entering your freshman year (at least give your new school a CHANCE).<br>
Try to consider ALL factors when you decide to transfer. These factors include, but are not limited to, academics, social life, abundance of extracurricular activities, location, and finances.</p>
<p>Picking a selection of target schools</p>
<p>First things first compile a list of your stats (or personal statistics) which include the following: College GPA, SAT scores, SAT II scores (if available), High School GPA and rank. This set of data will be useful in determining which schools are a good fit for you. </p>
<p>Go to USNews.com or Review.com and look up some schools that you might be interested in attending (Review.com has a function called Counselor-O-Matic which purportedly matches you up with schools based on your responses to a series of questions. I find it woefully inaccurate but it might be an OK stepping stone if you have no idea of what constitutes schools in your range). </p>
<p>Once you have a list of schools, compare your SAT score to their median SAT scores.<br>
For example, you scored a 580 Math and a 590 Verbal on your SATs. You are very interested in attending the University of Delaware, which has a median Math score of 550-650 and a median Verbal score of 540-620. Your scores fall somewhere in the middle so this might be a good school for you to consider more closely. Note: Just because your scores fall within this range does not mean youll necessarily be accepted (or denied).<br>
Say you really want to attend George Washington University, but your scores fall below this range. Dont worry, while this school is a reach, or school that might be slightly out of your range, add the school to your list and well tackle reaches later.
I would suggest avoiding schools that might be less academically challenging than your current institution (unless unavoidable for reasons of cost or location).</p>
<p>Ok, youve now compiled a list of potential schools. At this point I would recommend you research each school in depth. Contact their admissions department and ask how many applicants they accept each year versus how many apply. Some admissions offices will even tell you the average SAT score and College GPA of admitted transfers (quite useful in comparing yourself to those previously admitted)! Ask for brochures, schedule an interview (if available) or campus tour to see the school up close and personal. </p>
<p>IMPORTANT: Check if all of your schools offer your major! If youre a business major trying to transfer to a liberal arts school like Haverford College (which offers no business classes) you might lose a lot of credits and most likely they wont admit you after all, why admit someone that would not only lose many credits but is also interested in an education they cannot provide? </p>
<p>I will presume most readers are first-semester freshman or first-semester sophomores. It is imperative that you contact your potential schools to see if they recommend a specific courseload for transfers for a particular major. For example, Johns Hopkins University requires a very strict dose of chemistry and biology for their Biochemistry majors; if you were admitted and had not taken many chemistry or biology courses you could find yourself at a very large deficit (and, again, they most likely will not admit you as a biochemistry major). </p>
<p>Forms, forms, forms!</p>
<p>So, now you have a list of schools (hopefully between 4-6, with one or two reaches) and youre prepared to begin the application process. I suggest compiling the following items before even starting on the actual applications:</p>
<li> Print out your professor recommendation form(s) and give them to the professors you feel know you the best. This can be difficult for freshmen and my only advice is to try and be cordial and visit professors during their office hours. You really need to give the professor ample time to write your recommendation.<br></li>
<li> Request your high school transcripts be sent to the schools to which you are applying. Again, do this early and be prepared to fork over some cash as many high schools will not send transcripts for graduates for free.<br></li>
<li> Call the College Board and have those SAT scores sent to your schools. This may not be necessary for all applicants (especially some 2-year applicants); call your schools and determine if they want your SATs.<br></li>
<li> Give your Deans Report to the Dean of Students. If youre not sure who to give the form to, contact your office of student relations (or something similar) and they should be able to direct you.<br></li>
<li> Most schools will have a mid-year grade report (essentially so they can get your spring semester mid-term grades). Submit these forms after youve received all of your midterm grades OR by the date designated on the form.</li>
<li> Go to your registrars office and request your official collegiate transcripts be sent to your schools (you want this done AFTER your first semester
so around January 1st).<br></li>
</ol>
<p>The Application (Paper or Web?)</p>
<p>This aspect of the college admissions process is probably old hat to most readers, but it doesnt hurt to rehash the basics. </p>
<p>Decide whether you want to submit the application online (either through <a href=“http://www.commonapp.org%5B/url%5D”>www.commonapp.org</a> or the schools website) or via a paper application. Personally, I recommend submitting it online as you don t need to worry about postage fees, the applications being lost in the mail, and some schools even offer free application fees for online applications. </p>
<p>Most applications are separated into a Personal Information section, a major/academic interest and background section (this normally asks you to give them an idea of your major and to list which courses youve taken at your institution), an achievements and extracurricular activities section, and your essays. These are all pretty self-explanatory but the essay portion deserves a bit of a closer look.</p>
<p>Most schools will ask for a Why <fill-in-the-schools-name>? essay. This is your chance to tell the school why you want to attend their institution and, more importantly, to give them in insight into your personality. Many people say this is the section that can make or break an applicant. I only have a few tips for your Why essay:
- Structure your essay. Tell them why youre leaving your current school (albeit briefly and WITHOUT bashing your old school), what you wish to study at your new school, what you can offer the school, and what specifically made you want to attend their school.
- Try to not sound too mechanical. Make it personalized.
- Have someone proofread the essay before you submit it. I cant stress this enough! They WILL catch mistakes you glaze over (if youre on good terms with an English professor, ask him/her to read it!). </fill-in-the-schools-name></p>
<p>After youve filled in all of your application, double and triple check it! Once youre confident youve done your best, submit it. Its better to do it early than to be late and lose your chance for admission! </p>
<p>Supplements</p>
<p>At this point youve had your application, recommendations, Deans Form, mid-year grade report, high school transcripts, college transcripts, and SAT scores forwarded to your schools. What do you do now? In most cases nothing. In addition to the items listed above, you may want to forward some other noteworthy items to the schools (note: This will not apply to most applicants). Some things that might be sent in addition to the standard application are:
- Copy of a newspaper article(s) if you have a featured weekly column.
- Sample of music/artwork if your majors school requests them.</p>
<p>Importance of College GPA</p>
<p>When your application is being reviewed by the admissions counselors, your college GPA will be number one on their list of important aspects of your file. So, in other words, WORK HARD! Keep your GPA high and youll seriously increase your chances at getting into that dream school you might have thought was a reach. </p>
<p>As stated before, you will want to contact your schools to see if they recommend a specific courseload for your major (or potential major). You do not want to get a 4.0 in knitting! This is very important, as courseload difficulty will play a part in the admissions decision. On that note, admissions counselors (adcoms) will understand that freshmen are forced to take many general education classes and this, in most cases, will not count against you. </p>
<p>Many schools require at least a 3.0 GPA to transfer into their school so be cognizant of that fact.</p>