Transfer Admissions 101

<p>It sounds like you would have a better shot applying as a junior transfer (if you have a somewhat weak high school record, the more college you've completed, the better).</p>

<p>I posted this in the college admissions thread (didn't know there was a thread for transfer students. Sorry if that's a problem.</p>

<p>I'm applying to a few cal state schools online out of junior college, and I have a couple of questions about the college information section. </p>

<p>1.) I haven't completed all the units I need for an AA yet (I will by next summer in time for transfer.) Under degree, should I put none or AA and put the date I expect to get it?
2.) When it says list all the colleges attended (and this also applies for sending transcipts from all colleges attended.) Could it possibly include a college that I registered for, but never ended up taking a class at? </p>

<p>I'd really appreciate some help on these questions since the deadline for applications are coming up soon and I'm worried about these two things. Thanks.</p>

<p>if you apply for sophmore transfer, get rejected, and remain at your current school is it possible to apply to the same schools for junior year?</p>

<p>Depends on the school</p>

<p>1.) Yes, put that you will have an AA degree and the date.</p>

<p>2.) No, only list and send transcripts to colleges you have actually attended.</p>

<p>
[quote]
if you apply for sophmore transfer, get rejected, and remain at your current school is it possible to apply to the same schools for junior year?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>In general, yes, but like spartan says, there are differences between schools.</p>

<p>How hard is it to transfer after first semester freshman year? Is it better to try and wait until the end of the year before transferring? How early do you need to have in your transfer applications to be accepted and enroll in a new school for the spring?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Some schools do not accept spring transfers, or spring transfer for freshmen. Some do. You'd have to look for the information for each school of interest to you. Ditto with the application deadlines.</p>

<p>I'm currently an International Freshman at Berkeley. If I complete one semester here and drop out for a year and apply to other schools for Spring '10, would I be considered a transfer student or a freshman?</p>

<p>Due to financial difficulties, I can no longer afford Cal so I'll be applying to cheaper schools and for scholarships..</p>

<p>A transfer student. All your college records have to be sent to any colleges you are applying to.</p>

<p>Hey guys, </p>

<p>I'm getting worried. I finally recently decided to transfer out of my current school and start applying in January for other schools (semester Fall '09). Problem is, I realized that I would need letters of recommendations for the schools I'm applying to. Well...I'm going to be honest - this semester I was more focused on adapting to school with things such as time management, trying to make friends and stuff like that. This completely distracted me from approaching my professors (my classes have like 200+ ppl), so I didn't really get to know any of them.
Of course next semester I'm going to approach my teachers and show effort, but I don't think I have enough time to 'bond' with them to be comfortable enough to ask them for a LoR by the time I have to apply...</p>

<p>HA! If that was the only thing I had to worry about!! You will be fine tom1030. I'm still trying to pass those damn math classes.</p>

<p>What about this:</p>

<p>If you apply to transfer to School A at the end of your freshman year but get rejected, can you apply <em>again</em> at the end of sophomore year? Or is the decision final?</p>

<p>Usually you just have to wait a year before you reapply somewhere -- so the answer is most likely, Yes.</p>

<p>I agree with Bourne: if you are unsuccessful at transferring into a school for sophomore status, you can try again to transfer in for junior status.</p>

<p>Wow...
I just got my grades back from my first sem of freshman year, and my gpa is just disappointingly low.......what should I do? Do I still have a chance at transferring out by the end of freshman year, or is this gpa going to hold me back until then? I'm hoping I can get it up as much as possible next semester, but would that make a difference at all?</p>

<p>I'm applying to transfer to a school I was originally waitlisted for. Would they ever bring up my application from last year and look at it? Specifically, the common app main essay. I want to use some of the same sentences and structuring, and was wondering if using a similar personal essay / short answer EC would be noticed? Or do they throw out our applications from when we were in HS...</p>

<p>Some schools keep them; some do not. Whether they would read your essay from a prior application is.... anybody's guess.</p>

<p>However, the most common advice is NOT to reuse essays from your freshman application. Especially if you were not successful in that admission. Most think you would have developed new perspectives, an additional year's worth of experience and maturity, etc.</p>

<p>Best to create new essays unless you're very certain it's a good plan to re-use.</p>

<p>One of the schools I'm looking at has a personal essay prompt stating:</p>

<p>As a residential, liberal arts institution, we place an enormous value on the contributions of our individual members to the educational community. We are deeply interested in learning what we can about you and what you will bring to this community. Please provide information that you feel will give a more complete and accurate picture of yourself, e.g. background, personal philosophy or traits, goals, etc. Be sure to describe the influences of these factors.</p>

<p>This prompt, in my opinion, feels very open-ended. Additionally, there is no suggested word limit. I ended up writing a personal statement that encompasses two experiences that influenced my outlook towards life and my personality, with a general backdrop theme that brings everything together. The thing is, the essay is almost 1500 words--a bit lengthy in my view. My question is, for generalized prompts that lack a suggested word limit, what do you suggest as a limit, if any? </p>

<p>I would appreciate anyone's opinions. Thank you =O)</p>

<p>Personally, I think almost every piece of writing can benefit from editing and shortening. In particular, if the author him/herself thinks it's a bit lengthy... then setting it aside, coming back and editing to tighten is a very wise idea.</p>

<p>I'd suggest 500-1000 words as a limit. Just an opinion.</p>