Currently, I’m attending a prestigious liberal arts college in California. However, the liberal arts education and the campus vibe don’t seem to be what I want from a college. I’ve been thinking about Santa Clara now because I applied EA last year (and got in) but went to my ED school (since I got in).
- Would being accepted already help me transfer more easily?
- What is the overall campus vibe like? Specifically, are there Christian groups on campus, and are the groups committed? Is there political diversity on campus? (are there also conservatives there)?
- Would transferring be difficult because RLCs are already in place?
- Would there be an RLC that would fit with a Christian and conservative individual?
My guess is being accepted already would be a plus, it certainly wouldn’t hurt. I believe you could make a good essay on how you came to realize SCU is a better fit now that you have some experience. There has to be Christian groups on campus since most schools do, and this is a Jesuit school, so I would expect some committed groups there. Check the web for organizations. In terms of RLC, I believe Loyola is the one that may be closest to what you are looking for.
http://www.scu.edu/rlc/communities/
I am not sure how you are defining conservative - political, abstinent, no partying or certain indulgences - there are many forms. There are all kinds of students there and they are super friendly and welcoming. I do not think you would have a problem finding your group. My student is a freshman and wants to stay in her RLC on campus housing next year as well. She loves it and it is a good mix of younger and upper classmen/women. Some schools like to house transfers together - not sure about SCU. Why don’t you call and ask for someone in housing, they answer phones at SCU with a real person! Also, try to connect with an admissions rep regarding transferring, even if over email. Good luck!
I can’t comment on whether being accepted already will improve your odds, but I was in a similar situation to yours. I applied to transfer for this fall, but I decided to attend USC instead due to their financial aid package. After about a month into USC, I realized that it wasn’t a fit for me so I sorta begged SCU to readmit me. I sent emails to almost everyone on campus and talked to the dean, but they all told me to reapply for next fall. Luckily, SCU suddenly decided to open up the business major for this winter and I quickly reapplied and rewrote my personal statement, as CADREAMIN said, to reflect on how SCU is the better fit for me. In addition to the new personal statement, I took the free time I had to pursue things that I did not have the time to do while I was in school so maybe that helped. Since I guess you’re still in school, you should be in a good position to add some new things to your application.
Based on my experience and then luckily having SCU show some mercy and admit me for the winter, I think just rewriting your essay to reflect on how SCU may be better and what you have learned from the experience is going to help your application. It probably does help that you got accepted before though, because SCU thought you fit in well with the candidates they were looking for. I hope this helps. Good luck!
Welcome @artyarty! Great business school. Glad you got into your better fit. 