Swarthmore's transfer friendliness?

<p>I was wondering if I could get any insight from students that have transferred into Swarthmore or that are knowledgeable of Swathmore's transfer process; particularly I was wondering how receptive they are of Community College students. I've just completed my first semester and have begun looking at schools to apply to for the fall 2010 semeter and the more I read about Swarthmore, the better it sounds.</p>

<p>Here are two specific questions I have about the transfer application process:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>As of 2009, SAT/ACT score submission is optional. My scores aren't quite up to par (will be retaking though) so it would probably be in my best interest not to submit them, but do you think that omitting them makes it obvious that you didn't do well?</p></li>
<li><p>I noticed that there are optional interviews. Are these just for freshman applicants only or for transfer applicants as well?</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Any other input or general information about the school, specifically the Economics program, is most welcomed and appreciated.</p>

<p>This terrific blog on the Swarthmore website is written by a transfer student from a community college:</p>

<p>[The</a> Transfer Student.](<a href=“Private Site”>http://thetransferstudent.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/)</p>

<p>She posts here from time to time, so maybe she’ll see your questions. Swarthmore definitely gives consideration to community college transfers. The number of transfers is fairly small, so it’s hard to generalize. At one point a few years back, Swat didn’t accept a single transfer and sent everyone their money back. The following year, the admissions dean said that they either had to reserve a reasonable number of slots or just stop offering transfer apps. Since then, they’ve taken fewer freshmen and had a fairy steady, but small, group of transfers each year.</p>

<p>I can’t answer your question about test scores. I didn’t know they were optional for transfers. I don’t know specifically, but I’m sure they would be more than happy to “interview” you as a transfer. Talk to students. Talk to professors. Nobody bites.</p>

<p>The one community college transfer student I knew had never taken the SAT or anything like it. So, yes, you can get in from community college without it.</p>

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<p>That blog looks like a great read; thanks for the link! From skimming it I see that they enrolled 27 transfers in fall 2009… that is a very daunting figure, from what I assume was an applicant pool in the hundreds. I hope that number gets upped a little for next Fall, haha.</p>

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<p>Hearing something like that is great, thanks.</p>

<p>The numbers are in the Common Data Set each year. Swarthmore actually takes a fairly sizeable number of transfer students each year. It’s factored into the number of freshmen they accept. They had just reached the point where Admissions thought they were bordering on being dishonest even offering transfer applications, so they made a policy decision to reserve a reasonable number of slots each year. I don’t know what the average is, but it looks like it’s probably 4% of the new Swatties each year. Their target transfer enrollment for next year is higher – 27 if I recall. They are trying to expand the student body by 16 students to generate some additonal revenue ($519,000 assuming the same mix of financial need as the overall student body) and use up some of the excess dorm beds with the completion of the two new dorms. They have about 30 extra beds without using any of the overflow rooms (lounges that can be used as student rooms, some basement rooms, etc.).</p>

<p>Fall 2008:</p>

<p>161 transfer applicants
28 accepted transfers
17 enrolled transfers</p>

<p>Fall 2007:</p>

<p>189 transfer applicants
26 accepted transfers
13 enrolled transfers</p>

<p>Fall 2006:</p>

<p>174 transfer applicants
30 accepted transfers
16 enrolled transfers</p>

<p>Excellent information, thank you; that ~16-17% rate is still making me a bit nervous though!</p>

<p>Another question that came to mind: For those that have transferred in, how generous was the acceptance of credit from your previous institution? What worries me most about transferring in general is not having the majority of my credit transfer over, delaying graduation with my Bachelor’s.</p>

<p>Hi there, I’m Augusta, author of that blog.</p>

<p>Definitely apply as a transfer, regardless of WHERE you come from. I was accepted out of community college, my SAT scores were decent, and I had been previously rejected. I know of at least two transfers coming in from community college this year.</p>

<p>The figures may seem daunting, but there are far few transfer applicants, so it is actually slightly less difficult to get in as a transfer, by numbers alone. This is probably because it was only in the last few years that admissions began expanding the transfer program. Haverford only takes one to two transfers a year, and fortunately Swarthmore has really begun forming a true transfer community. I can only recommend it, being a transfer is a very cool and unique experience.</p>

<p>Best of luck, let me know if you have any other questions!</p>

<p>TTS</p>

<p>Thank you for the words of encouragement. I do have some questions for you:</p>

<p>How were your stats coming out of CC (if you don’t mind sharing)? How many credits did you earn and how many ended up transferring? Did you schedule an interview as part of your application, and, if so, do you have any specific tips for it?</p>

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>Interviews are not available for transfer students, but I interviewed when i applied for regular admission. I took 9 classes in two semesters at CC, with somewhere between a 3.8 and a 4.0. 6.5 of those transferred, but the political science department has thus far refused to acknowledge any of my 3 political science classes for credit. It varies by department, I would call/email the head of the department(s) you’re interested in and explain your situation.</p>

<p>TTS</p>

<p>I’m trying to transfer to Swat from a top 15 national university (not sure if that’ll help) as well…the school is just too large for me…(intro classes are HUGE…)
Just wondering since Swat is making SAT scores for transfer students optional now, will it hurt my chances of getting in if i do not send my scores?</p>

<p>I expect that the reading of transfer applications is so individualized and wholistic that I wouldn’t even hazard a guess about the importance of test scores for a particular applicant. It’s hard to even know what would be considered “good” or “bad” test scores, because that would be determined in the context of the individual applicant: socio-economic, type of high school, ethnicity, etc.</p>

<p>That’s what I heard: the extremely individualized admission process, because there is a large number of transfer applicant…well, I guess I’ll try to keep my grades up and go ahead an apply.
what would be a competitive GPA? it doesn’t have to be 4.0…right?</p>