<p>Hello all, I am a sophomore, out-of-state student thinking of transferring to a college in my home state of Massachusetts. However, I am very unfamiliar with the Transfer process. Do transfer students apply to universities at the same time as high school students normally would? </p>
<p>1) is it advisable for me to transfer schools as a pre-med student? I heard that your GPA resets once switching to a new school
2) is it possible for transfer students to receive financial aid/earn scholarships?
3) are transfer applications binding? (do i have to go to the college if i am accepted?)
thanks for the help</p>
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<li><p>This one I don’t really know. But I would imagine that Medical schools would see all your transcripts.</p></li>
<li><p>Absolutely, but depending on where you apply most of these resources might be allocated towards those who entered in high school. Check their websites and see what their financial aid policy is for transfer students.</p></li>
<li><p>Transfer applications are just like regular decision applications in high school. You can apply to as many as you like and choose from the ones that accept you. There is no binding decision.</p></li>
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<p>GPAs do not “reset” at new schools. You will have an institutional GPA, but your transcript will also include a cumulative GPA that calculates grades from all college-level coursework. The cumulative GPA is what any post-baccalaureate program will care about.</p>
<p>You already have some really good advices on here. As far as financial aid goes, it will really depend on the institution. I’m a recent transfer student and my current university is known for giving really good financial aid to ALL students, which is a big reason why I left my previous university. Transfer students are definitely NOT bound to the institution if accepted, so you have time to receive your financial aid package first and make your decision. Your school will most likely accommodate deadlines since they understand you probably have a lot going on, at least my school was.</p>
<p>I don’t know about others, but my GPA was “reset,” actually. I left with a 3.72 gpa and I’m starting from scratch. Kind of sucks since I like my 3.72…</p>
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<li>Whether or not your gpa resets depends on the college you are transferring to, there is no absolute answer. However, as far as med school, you will list every college course you have ever taken (even in HS) and send transcripts from all colleges you have attended. So it doesn’t matter what your transfer school says your gpa is, AMCAS calculates everybody’s gpas with all classes, including those you retake and earn a higher grade for. </li>
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<p>For how transferring affects med school admissions, go to the Premed Topics forum and do a Search for ‘transfer’, don’t start a thread asking as it’s a FAQ and you will get lots of hits with a Search.</p>
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<li><p>Yes it is possible to receive need based FA and merit scholarships as a transfer. However, while some schools treat transfers like fr admits for need based FA, other schools have less FA for transfers; you need to read the college website for their policies. For merit aid, there are generally fewer scholarships for smaller amounts for transfers. See the Resources sticky thread at the top of this forum for a link to a thread of some merit aid.</p></li>
<li><p>No, transfer admissions are not binding.</p></li>
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