Transfer Advice

Transfer Students
1

I’m currently a freshman at the University of Southern California. After spending a semester at USC, I don’t feel like it’s the right fit for me and I’m looking into transferring. I would like to transfer to schools like Northwestern, Notre Dame, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Duke, and Georgetown and I’m not exactly sure what my chances look like. Here are my stats:

Major: Business Cinematic Arts
College GPA: 3.27
EC’s:
-Senior Chair of my sorority
-USC Rotaract Club
I also plan on participating for the following next semester:
-USC Fashion Industry Association
-Xpressions Dance Company
-Annenberg TV News as an Assignment Desk Editor
-Junior Education Program
-LINC Program (I am one of 48 students chosen to travel to Sydney, Australia in May to learn about international commerce)

High School GPA: 4.4 weighted/4.0 unweighted
ACT: 32/SAT:2020
EC’s:
-Varsity dance team (won titles at the national level)
-Hospital volunteer (200+ hours)
-National Honors Society
-Mentored freshman through a program called IMPACT

Senior year I was accepted into UCLA, USC, Notre Dame, and waitlisted at the UMich.

I’m trying to decide if I should wait another semester (or even year) to bring my GPA up before applying to transfer and if I even have a chance at any of these schools. I’m looking to transfer because I grew up in Southern California and even though USC is a great school, I can’t help but wonder if there’s something more out there outside the bubble and I deeply regret not accepting Notre Dame’s acceptance the first time around.

Any advice would be appreciated!

2

How much financial aid do you need? That is usually lousy for transfer students.

If you don’t need any aid, then contact Notre Dame and see what you need to do to have your file re-opened.

If you do need aid, check all the websites carefully to find out whether a semester of college credits makes you a transfer applicant or not. You might need to consider taking a leave of absence this spring while applying elsewhere if you would be able to qualify for freshman status.

3

If the school is a “guarantee to meet need” institution, they will either meet your need or reject you. There’s no lousy in between.

If you got into Notre Dame as a freshman, you aren’t by any means guaranteed a spot, but I would imagine that would help you out considerably. I’d call admissions, talk to a counselor, get the name of the counselor, and get some answers (if you have any subsequent questions, as for the same counselor).

That being said, your GPA is pretty low. Ask yourself how badly you want to transfer. If you would be happy just being out of USC and at a less selective school than those listed, apply now, and include some more matches and safeties on your list. If you can grin and bear it, or simply only want admission into one of the listed schools, get your grades up next year and then apply.

Message me if you need help.