Transfer Admissions 101

<p>I am applying from a community college; will I be at a disadvantage if I apply as an engineering major? ( I am a female, so I thought this could work in my favor, but do the odds work against me in this situation?)</p>

<p>Why would applying as a female engineering major set the odds against you? If anything, it'd help.</p>

<p>Sorry I did not phrase my question correctly. I am cognizant that being a female engineer works in my favor; but I am coming from a community college so I do not know if the courses I take will be seen in a favorable light. Overall I am wondering if the disadvantage of applying from a community college will outweigh the advantages I have from being a female applicant to engineering programs.</p>

<p>One question (I apologize if this has been asked): Would my prof I am asking a rec from think less of me if I apply for a transfer because it demonstrates wishy-washyness etc. Or say my transfer does not work out, then would that prof not give me as much attention as he used to? Right now I've only just established very good relations with a philosophy professor and I am concerned about scuttling that somewhat with my request for recs.</p>

<p>Thanks for helping.</p>

<p>I don't see why anyone would hold it against you ( and you know him better than anyone on CC so you should be able to tell whether he would hold this sort of rather irrational grudge). Just mention why you want to transfer out and that you will be fine if it doesn't work out ( if not you should apply to some safety schools to ensure you will transfer out). I don't think transferring shows ambivalence at all because you obviously have a concrete reason for wanting out, otherwise you would not want to spend a good amount of time and money dedicated to transfer apps; just state that reason you want to change schools, whether it be the academics, political climate, and so forth.</p>

<p>My son graduated early from HS in 12/08. He has 9 credits from dual enrollment. He plans to attend cc this spring semester and take 12 credits. He wants to apply to colleges for the fall 2009 semester, and start at the same time as his peers. My question is, most colleges I have looked at say he would be a transfer app. not a freshman since he will have more than 12 credits. However, if the transfer apps are due in March, do they wait for the spring semester grades to make a decision. Not sure how all of this works. It seemed like a good idea to do cc and then transfer, but now I am not sure since the acceptance rate will be smaller and it might be harder to get to where he wants to be. AAAARRRRGGGHHH. So confusing.</p>

<p>I think it depends from school to school, linfort. I know someone who took more than 15 credits at a cc and he had the choice of applying as a freshman or transfer at Penn, but he was designated as a transfer at Georgetown ( he got into both).</p>

<p>-linfort
Different colleges have different policies. </p>

<p>Some colleges will not give credit for units taken during high school enrollment (dual enrollment). Others; however, will. The best thing to do is research the individual colleges that your son is interested to attend. Contacting the school through email, or better yet, calling admissions, would be the best way to get your questions answered.</p>

<p>I was just on the Transferring to UVA blog (a very useful resource by the way), and it provides some pertinent information that I thought would be useful to prospective sophomore applicants. </p>

<p>Wahoohopeful asked the following regarding sophomore admission: How much do you look at hs grades vs. 1st semester college grades? I've been told it is 50/50.</p>

<p>The UVA admissions counselor responded: Wahoohopeful, 50/50 is right if you are currently a freshman, but we are not as concerned with SAT/ACT scores and only ask that you take them once if you didn't take the in high school.</p>

<p>To be perfectly honest, this 50/50 ratio sounds a little out of whack, comparing 1 semester of grades to 4 years of grades, but as someone who did OK in high school and is doing very well in college, this works for me!</p>

<p>Best of luck to all applicants!!!</p>

<p>Thanks, rollz4. That is helpful information. Students are <em>always</em> wondering about the relative weight of hs vs. freshman grades. It probably cannnot be generalized across all schools or situations, but it is much more valuable to have the perspective of an actual admissions counselor than the guesswork we often are left with.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

<p>If a school asks for one professor recommendation, would it hurt to send two? Most of the schools on my list ask for one, and the prof who will complete those is one that I've gotten to know very well during the past semester. For those requiring two, I asked another professor who I got to know well and is very enthusiastic about writing a recommendation for me. I think the fact that I have two college profs that can send recs about me after my first semester in college might be a plus, but I don't know how different they might be from one another.</p>

<p>Depends. If you really think that the extra one will say something about you that the other rec will then send it in. But, don't exceed the limit by more than one.
For Columbia, for example, the transfer dean said one more is alright, if the applicant feels that it is needed, but they really do not want to see more than 2. Check with the individual colleges to see what they say; some may be more receptive, and others may not.</p>

<p>I am unsure whether my question would prove to be relevant to the topic of this thread, but I, like everyone else, am also applying as a transfer. I just wanted to know if any schools are known to give transfer students letters prior to the expected date of admission decisions as a hint of a student getting accepted. For example, I believe Rice University will often provide first-time applicant high school seniors that Rice is interested in them with a letter stating "we loved your application" at least two months prior to april/may (when we typically expect to hear news). Do any schools do the same for transfers?</p>

<p>No, it is not common to get any "hints" or "likely" letters. The schedule for decisions on transfer apps is much more fluid than that for freshman apps at most schools. A lot more are on some variation of "rolling" decision basis. </p>

<p>You'll hear when you hear ;). And the wait can seem excruciating long. Many responses are in May. I have seen some as late as early June for apps submitted to a March deadline.</p>

<p>Thanks for your answer; seems like I (and many others) will just have to endure the waiting game.</p>

<p>Currently, I have a 3.41 from a Top 40 LAC. My question pertains to my final transcript and the effect a W (withdraw from a class) will have on my transfer decision. With the exception of Georgetown, all my schools will notify me before my final grades are available. As a second-semester freshman, I sent a 3.75 mid year grade report, but am worried that dropping a class will negatively impact my transfer chances. Will the fact that I have 2 AP Credits replace the dropped class?</p>

<p>gsweitzer</p>

<p>I have the same exact question and am in the same situation being in a top LAC with a similar GPA haha what do you know (along with applying to Georgetown). </p>

<p>If anyone could answer this, it would be great!</p>

<p>I’m applying to most of the UCs and lets say I get rejected from all of them.</p>

<p>If I went to a Community College for 1 year and applied again to those same UCs would they do this? : </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Look at high school GPA and Community College GPA. Like a 50/50.</p></li>
<li><p>Look only at high school GPA.</p></li>
<li><p>Look only at Community College GPA.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>In general, the more time passes after high school the less they look at your high school record. So, I would say that it would start out as 50/50, but if you applied as a sophomore for junior year, they’d consider your high school gpa MUCH less (some schools don’t even ask to see your high school transcript after 30 credits, the standard for one year or college).</p>

<p>i just recently got accepted to towson university as a transfer student and they are telling me to reply within two weeks of receiving the acceptance letter. however, the other college i would rather transfer to is waiting for my final spring 09 grades which will not be completed in two weeks. towson’s admission letter requires a $300 nonrefundable fee. should i wait until after the spring semester to hear back from the other school before accepting towson’s admission? i’m afraid my acceptance may b denied after the two weeks.</p>