I am going to be a freshman at Colgate next fall. I know it is bad to have the mindset of transferring, but I just had some questions if I were to transfer. If I were to transfer, I would want to transfer to some of the elite schools that I had fallen in love with this past year but did not get into, such as Duke, Cornell, and Notre Dame. My question is would it be better to transfer after my first year or to transfer after my sophomore year in order to show two years of college success?
It depends on your high school record (more college, less high school matters) but generally speaking transferring after sophomore year does give you somewhat of an advantage because it shows you can be successful at the college level.
It’s always good to check transfer requirements for each target school, though.
Any advice is helpful
If you were rejected as a freshman applicant, you will need to make some significant improvement in order to be accepted as a transfer.
I’ve seen plenty of people on CC that did very poorly in high school, but got 3.9-4.0 their freshman year of college and got in as a transfer going into their sophomore year. Obviously they had good ECs too but nothing spectacular. Some of these people had applied and gotten rejected the year before & some of them were applying for the first time. From what I’ve seen, for most of these schools, it seems like rising sophomores have a higher change of gaining admission (I could be wrong, but that’s what I’ve observed).
If you did absolutely horribly in high school, it could be to your advantage to apply as a rising junior. Go look at transfer threads from this year and the past few years. There are tons of people who didn’t do so hot in high school (3.5-3.6) GPA who got into these schools with no hooks. I just saw a guy who got into WUSTL and Vanderbilt that had a 3.15 in high school and a 3.93 in college, and a 32 ACT. I don’t believe he had hooks. Just look back at these threads, and I’m sure you’re you’ll be reassured. Maybe you need to retake ACT/SAT, find 2 ECs you’re very passionate about that you can excel in and maybe get recognized. For example, someone might join a competitive activity like MUN, where they can win awards (if that’s something they’re interested in). Your best shot would be to get a 4.0, make sure your ACT is a 34+ (SAT equivalent), do well in your ECs, and write amazing essays. It’s out of your hands from there.
Another note, Duke is very hard to transfer into. Their acceptance rate varies from 3% to 7% for transfers. Notre Dame isn’t nearly as hard to transfer into as its peer institutions. However, they have transfer course requirements. You need to look at their website and see what school you would be applying to and what their requirements are. For their Arts and Letters schools, their course requirements are something like 6 credits for math, 6 for natural science, some for English, some for history, etc. Cornell is very iffy. Their transfer rate is high compared to its peers, but I would say around 1/2 (or less, but probably no more) of their transfers are those that were offered the transfer option the previous year. Cornell has course recommendations depending on the school you applying to. They have requirements for some people. It’s actually great that you’re thinking about this now because you’ll be picking your courses sometime soon and you need to make sure you’re taking the classes you need to take in order to transfer. Notre Dame is more forgiving for their requirements than Cornell from what I’ve seen.
Colgate’s a great school, so I’m sure you did well in high school. I’m in the same position as you are right now, and I’m leaning toward transferring after my freshman year as well (:
Why not give Colgate a chance ?
If not, then try to fall in love with Vanderbilt as the transfer acceptance rate is much higher than the freshman admit rate.
Transferring into Duke or Notre Dame is a longshot. Cornell is unlikely without a transfer option or coming from a two year school.
I suggest you fall in love the the college that loved you.
In general I think it is a terrible idea to start one college with the intent of transferring out. This will stand in the way of your making meaningful friendships, developing relationships with professors, and getting involved on campus. Then if your transfer doesn’t work out as planned you will be really stuck. I’d go to the college you enrolled in with the intent of staying all four years. It is fine to throw in a couple of transfer applications but don’t count on it working out. It is difficult to transfer into top tier colleges.
OP: All of your colleges & universities seem to have more similarities than differences. It is likely therefore that you will be happy at Colgate if you would have been happy at Boston College, Wake Forest, Cornell, Duke or Notre Dame.
Although you refer to Notre Dame, Duke & Cornell as elite schools, Colgate is also an elite school.
Ah, those prestige goggles are hard to take off, aren’t they?
Spend a little time thinking about what will be different when you re-apply. You will have 1 semester of college grades & activities- so your HS record (& ‘why’ essay) will be the center of your application. You weren’t that close at Cornell, as you weren’t offered the transfer option. Duke students tend to stick, so the number of people who transfer out is small, and thus the number of transfers in is small. ND really isn’t that different from Colgate out in the wider-than-USNWR world.
From your other threads you seem concerned about being in the school that will be best for getting you into a good grad school and internships. As other posters have said, what you do with your college experience is going to matter much, much more than whether it’s from the one that got away, or the one that chose you.
Also consider the direction in which you might transfer. Colgate has received recognition in places that the schools to which you aspire have not. For example, Colgate appears in a Forbes article, “10 Expensive Colleges Worth Every Penny”: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesportelli/2017/04/26/10-expensive-colleges-worth-every-penny-2017/.
@merc81: Interesting article.
The 10 Expensive Colleges Worth Every Penny (based on Forbes’ calculation of ROI–return on investment) Forbes April 26, 2017 are:
Amherst College, Williams College, Dartmouth College, Univ. of Chicago, Tufts University, Colgate University, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Hamilton College, & Vassar College.
Seems clear to me that Forbes really wants to increase circulation in the Northeast US as there are many other colleges & universities throughout the US that should be listed. The usual suspects along with Hamilton, Vassar & Tufts.
Also, many large state universities have specific schools or colleges within them that produce great returns on investment–it is just that they do not fit the category of “expensive” relative to these elite private colleges & universities.
Oh, yeah, that’s worth noting! I’d say the article does stand as “interesting” though – however provocative it may be in its omissions – in that it at least offers an alternative to a more commonly referenced source.