<p>...if you have good grades?</p>
<p>(1) Do (most) schools offer equally good financial aid to its transfer students as it does its non-transfer students?</p>
<p>(2) Would it be easy to transfer to a school ranked in the top 25 (I'm only concerned with rank because rank is highly correlated with goodness of financial aid) if I have above a 3.50 GPA my first semester (or year) at an LAC ranked in the top 60?</p>
<p>(3) Do chances for transfer applicants go significantly up if the applicant maintained a 3.50 GPA an entire year as compared to a 3.50 for just one semester? You can transfer after one semester, can't you?</p>
<p>(By the way, I'm mostly interested in LACs.)</p>
<p>1) No, not all schools offer great financial aid to transfers. Most of the Ivies do though.
2) 3.7 is the unofficial “top notch school” cutoff, but a 3.5+ should do. It is NOT all about grades though. Your essays, recommendations, etc. will matter a WHOLE lot. You need a great reason to transfer and give them a great reason to take you.
3) Some schools (Cornell, for example) accept spring transfers. Check individual websites. In general, yes, a solid year of college work is better than half a year, especially trying to counter a bad HS record.</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick reply.</p>
<p>So, </p>
<p>1) Really? Essentially the only reason I would like to transfer to a better school after my first year is to get better financial aid. Again, I know it likely varies (though I suspect insignificantly) from school to school, but… so most schools that guarantee to meet full demonstrated need for freshman applicants do not guarantee the same for transfers?</p>
<p>2) Ok, so let’s suppose, to be conservative, I have average (relative to my competing transfer applicants at top 25 schools) essays, recs, and EC’s, and let’s suppose I have a 3.50 GPA through one full year of college. Would it be quite likely that I’ll be accepted by a good school (top 25, possibly top 35 if they claim to offer good aid)? What my chances are of getting accepted with those stats is a very important question because it will strongly affect where I choose to go my freshman year of college.</p>
<p>3) Ok, it sounds like maintaining good grades for a year in college will be best for me, as I l had laughably bad grades in high school.</p>
<p>To answer #2, the answer is no, it is never likely. You are not dealing with the same statistics when you enter the Top 25. A 3.5 just means they will generally “consider” your application, as where anything below a 3.5 is difficult to get yourself taken serious, unless you have some extraorindary H.S stats. Just go to the Official Results Thread from last year and notice the countless people with 3.8+ GPA’s denied from the top schools. A 3.5 might put you in the running - but it is not anywhere close to a guarantee.</p>
<p>1) Again, check individual websites. Make some calls. Some schools guarantee to meet 100% demonstrated need for ALL applicants. Some don’t. As far as I know, most (but not all!) top notch schools do this. Again there are exceptions. NYU, for example, is terrible with financial aid.</p>
<p>2) If you want to transfer to an exceptional school, aim for exceptional grades and essays. Really put some work into it. Where you go to college in your freshman year has very little bearing on how your application will be reviewed. Do no take easy classes to get high grades - take classes that you like and work hard in them.</p>
<p>3) Yes. You had better aim for that 3.7+ You might need to shuffle your priorities around and rethink your work ethic, but it’s definitely possible.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks for the reply. If I change my question to top 50 schools, does your answer also change to ‘very likely’, supposing I apply to 5-6 schools? (Surely there are a few in the top 25-50 range that offer really good aid.)</p>
<p>Violaghost, to reply to your second response using the 1, 2, 3 method again, lol…</p>
<p>1) Ok, so there are plenty of schools ranked outside of the top 15 (because I think top 15 would be shooting too high for me, as I only have a 2030 SAT… although I suppose I could retake it and actually prep, but this is sort of irrelevant to our current discussion) that guarantee to meet full need (or at least, very close to full need)?</p>
<p>2) Well, I plan to take rather difficult classes (philosophy, physics, chemistry, advanced calculus, etc. my freshman year) so I sincerely doubt I’ll have a 3.70 or better, but, as you seemed to imply, taking more challenging classes with a slightly worse GPA is far better than having a slightly better GPA in unchallenging classes.</p>
<p>Also, when I ask “is it very likely I’ll get accepted assuming a 3.50 GPA, etc.?” I’m not asking about a specific school. I’m asking what my chances would be of getting accepted by at least one of six to seven schools (maybe more…) that I would apply to in the top 25-50. So would it be highly likely, assuming all the things I asked you to assume, that I would get accepted by at least one school?</p>
<p>I realize you’re looking at rankings not as numbers but as schools correlated with good FA, but you’re certainly coming off as though you are number hunting.</p>
<p>It seems that your first priority is to find a respectable school with great financial aid. Once more, do some research. The top-50 schools are VASTLY different. Work hard - aim to work hard - and your options will be much more numerous. Like I said, many of the top 25 schools (especially the Ivies) offer great financial aid for transfers. Have you considered Cornell?</p>
<p>Moreover, you will need to demonstrate a keen knowledge of the schools you’re applying to, so submitting applications ‘in bulk’ won’t work. Most of the transfers that apply to these sorts of schools are really very much in love with the social atmospheres and the programs, so you will need to show that you really want to be at each of the schools you are applying to.</p>
<p>Well, my first priority is good financial aid. After that, of course I’d rather go to, say, Oberlin than Rhodes, assuming both were equally good ‘fits’ for me.</p>
<p>“The top-50 schools are VASTLY different. Work hard - aim to work hard - and your options will be much more numerous. Like I said, many of the top 25 schools (especially the Ivies) offer great financial aid for transfers.”</p>
<p>Granted that top 50 schools significantly differ with respect to financial aid, are there plenty of schools in the 25-50 range that offer very good? After hearing stewartudall’s post that top 25 schools are ‘never likely’ for transfer students, I think I’m more interested in top 50 schools… assuming there are plenty of top 50 schools that offer very good aid to transfers.</p>
<p>About Cornell, I believe I read that their transfer acceptance rate is inflated because they offer many high school students the guaranteed ability to transfer after a year, right? But it’s obviously still otherwise a very transfer-friendly place, or you wouldn’t have mentioned it. So, yes, I think I would be interested in Cornell because I currently plan to major in something science-related (and likely engineering).</p>
<p>“Most of the transfers that apply to these sorts of schools are really very much in love with the social atmospheres and the programs, so you will need to show that you really want to be at each of the schools you are applying to.”</p>
<p>Define ‘bulk’, lol. Ten or more?</p>
<p>Let me just make something clear - I am not trying to discourage you from applying to “Top 25” schools, I am just warning you that when you enter that realm of competition that you are not guaranteed anything. Just because you have the stats, recs, and essays does not mean you are going to be accepted.</p>
<p>By all means, if there is a specific school you wish to attend in the “Top 25,” please, do yourself a favor and apply. Just understand the reality of the situation if you really want to leave your current school.</p>
<p>I have been admitted to Vanderbilt and UNC- Chapel Hill (out-of state for that matter) for my sophomore year. Vanderbilt is a Top 20 School and UNC is a Top 30 school. </p>
<p>I attend a Top 40 LAC, managed a 3.41 fall term GPA, tutored 10 hours a week at a local middle school in the fall and competed on my school’s baseball team (NCAA D3) in the fall and spring. </p>
<p>I wrote decent essays and got two great professor recommendations/ HS guidance counselor rec. </p>
<p>HS Stats: 3.2 GPA
SAT: 670 V 570 M 600 WR </p>
<p>Don’t listen that you NEED a 3.7 to get into a Top 20 school. If you have a decent GPA (above 3.4) and good EC’s and recs, you have a good chance at any college (maybe not the Ivies), but Vanderbilt is a very respectable school!</p>
<p>Lol… bulk isn’t about numbers, it’s about your familiarity with the schools. If you file a quick and generic application to each of the schools ranked 26-50, that’s applying in bulk. If you apply to six schools and really research each one carefully, that’s not applying in bulk.</p>
<p>Cornell, specifically, both accepts spring transfers (but not for engineering!) and has need-blind admissions AND promises to meet 100% of the demonstrated financial aid.</p>
<p>The top 25 schools are in fact never likely, but if you are willing to work hard (and you seem to keep shying away from it), you’ll have as good a chance as anybody. By setting yourself limits now and saying “I won’t get above a 3.7,” you are just holding yourself back. If you set your mind on Cornell engineering, for example, you’ll need to put everything else aside for next year and really work your butt off. Then, you’ll be in the running.</p>
<p>If you do not want to dedicate yourself to such a commitment, I am sure that there are top-50 schools that are transfer friendly, but you’ll need to research that for yourself.</p>
<p>Either way, understand that in applying for transfer to one of the best schools in the nation, you are tackling something extraordinary, and extraordinary goals require extraordinary effort. You will definitely need to change you approach since HS and shoot for the best possible grades you can possibly get.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>“Define ‘bulk’, lol. Ten or more?” </p>
<p>By “ten or more?” I was asking whether you would qualify applying to ten or more schools as applying ‘in bulk’. But you seemed to answer my question. So instead of applying to 10-12 schools, as many freshman applicants do, you would suggest to apply to a smaller number, about six, as a transfer? Ok.</p>
<p>“The top 25 schools are in fact never likely, but if you are willing to work hard (and you seem to keep shying away from it).”</p>
<p>My brother goes to Williams and spends, so he says, over seventy hours a week studying. He only has a 3.55 after 1.75 semesters. Perhaps I should mention that he’s taking what is perhaps the hardest schedule of any other freshman at Williams, but still… and he said that the average GPA for Williams students is a 3.15. So this kind of gave me the idea that a 3.60-3.70 is really hard to get, which is why I was conservatively estimating, even if I put in hard work, that I would have a 3.50 after one year.</p>
<p>But I suppose I underestimated William’s difficulty, and a 3.70 is easily achievable with hard work at lesser schools? Not necessarily easily achievable, of course, but realistically achievable?</p>
<p>gsweitzer, thanks for the encouraging post, but they used the word ‘unlikely’; not impossible. </p>
<p>…Although, you did get into two good schools which means it was almost certainly not fluke.</p>
<p>Anyways, </p>
<p>"I attend a Top 40 LAC, managed a 3.41 fall term GPA, tutored 10 hours a week at a local middle school in the fall and competed on my school’s baseball team (NCAA D3) in the fall and spring.</p>
<p>I wrote decent essays and got two great professor recommendations/ HS guidance counselor rec.</p>
<p>HS Stats: 3.2 GPA
SAT: 670 V 570 M 600 WR"</p>
<p>This sounds very similar to what I will apply with as a transfer (if I choose to transfer). I’m hoping to have a 3.50 or better GPA, I’ll probably do some sort of volunteering, and I’ll play baseball my freshman year too… and our high school stats are basically equivalent because you made slightly better grades but I had slightly better test scores. We sound pretty similar, so hopefully this means I’ll end up getting accepted by similar schools.</p>
<p>“Applying in bulk” isn’t an official term, it’s just an expression I use for applying to a bunch of schools without getting to know them in detail. You can apply to 10+ schools as you wish, but if you want a decent chance of being accepted, you should really get to know each one individually.</p>
<p>I believe 3.15 (3.2) is the average GPA without inflation at most schools. I don’t mean to jump into specifics with a 3.7+. There are many people who get into schools with a GPA less than that. All I’m trying to do is make you aware of the fact that you will have to work hard to show that you’ve changed since high school and can get better grades than you did then.</p>
<p>A 3.7 is thus not easily achievable at most schools, but that’s fitting to the situation, isn’t it? It is a great feat to transfer into a top 25 school, since most take under 20% of their applicants (with rare exceptions), so you should have to make yourself stand out by working hard.</p>
<p>Don’t let that scare you - just go into your freshman year focused on your studies, and you should be fine.</p>
<p>“A 3.7 is thus not easily achievable at most schools, but that’s fitting to the situation, isn’t it? It is a great feat to transfer into a top 25 school, since most take under 20% of their applicants (with rare exceptions), so you should have to make yourself stand out by working hard.”</p>
<p>I agree, but, in trying to determine where I’m going to college in the fall (if I’ll go at all, as I might take a gap year – long explanation for why I might do that), I’d prefer to look at things as they will likely happen, instead of things that could happen but likely won’t (llike my having above a 3.70 GPA). If it’s really difficult to have a 3.70 or better GPA, then I’d like to stay on the conservative side of things, and assume I’ll end up with around a 3.50 or so.</p>
<p>And from your quote, “If you do not want to dedicate yourself to such a commitment, I am sure that there are top-50 schools that are transfer friendly” and gsweitzer’s post, it seems I’ll have no problems getting into a top 50 school with good financial aid if I have a 3.40 or above.</p>
<p>I will shoot for as high as a GPA I can get, because a higher GPA will obviously secure my chances at top 50 schools, and make myself much more competitive at top 25 schools, but, again, I think it’d be smart to make my current decision (where I choose to go next fall) based on what is most likely to happen.</p>
<p>Sounds reasonable. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thanks. I’ll probably need it, lol.</p>