Our oldest son is sophomore at Richmond. He is in a dual degree program for Business and Psychology. This is out first experience with the transfer process. Is his college GPA the main factor in transfer admissions? Are there any other significant factors?
The schools he is looking to transfer to are Vandy, N.W., Emory and UVA OOS. His current GPA from his freshman year at Richmondis 3.7. If anybody could give us an idea what his chances for acceptance would be. We don’t need any suggestions for additional schools at this time. Thanks.
I can’t chance your S, but yes, as a sophomore, his college record will be the main factor for transfer admission decisions. Transfer apps will be due around Mar 1, so he will have 3 semesters of grades by then.
What major will he be applying to at those schools? Vandy and NU don’t have business majors (Vandy has a biz minor, NU a Kellogg certificate), and I don’t think UVA McIntyre takes many non-Virginia CC transfers. Regardless, his transfer apps should focus on academic reasons for transfer. Good luck to him.
Thanks. As far as a major he plans on business as his primary area of study. It seems like he needs to think this through a little more regarding Vandy and NU. Is there transfer admission data available in terms of acceptance rates by GPA?
With a 3.7, if he is certain he wants to transfer, he will need to add some match/likely/safety schools.
He can apply as an Econ major at schools that don’t have business majors, if that’s appealing, and would support his career goals.
If applying for financial aid, you also should make sure these schools meet full need for transfers. If not applying for fin aid, that will be an advantage.
It sounds like his academic reason for transfer might be a tough needle to thread, so you might consider working with a college counselor experienced in transfer admissions. Ask around your neighborhood for a referral, or use IECA or NACAC websites to find someone.
He is not certain he wants to transfer and it would only be to a school that is ranked higher or is more prestigious in his view. Vandy and NU are not going to work because he wants to study a traditional business program. Next Spring is a long time away when you are 19. Thanks for the info.
I think the reasons he is considering transferring are twofold. One is about getting into a school that is ranked higher and, in his view, more prestigious. He saw several of his friends transfer into higher-ranked schools with similar stats to his. Also, I believe he just wants a larger school overall.
In your opening post, you wrote that “we don’t need any suggestions for additional schools at this time”. Is this still true ?
University of Richmond has about 3,000 full time undergraduates. SMU has about 6,300 full time undergraduate students & business is the largest major by student enrollment. Also, recently, if I recall correctly, Rice University instituted a full undergraduate business major. Rice has almost 4,000 undergraduates.
Thanks. We are really not looking for suggestions of schools right now. Just wanted to get an idea of his chances of admission based on GPA and what other factor would impact his chances.
“I want to be at a higher ranked school” isn’t nearly as effective as “I’d like to be doing graduate level work in Valuation and Corporate Finance” or “I’d like to create an interdisciplinary major in Behavioral Economics, blending my interests in Business and Psych and that’s not possible at Richmond”.