Transfer Student - What Colleges Would be a Good Fit?

College Search & Selection
1

Hey all,

I’m looking to transfer to a four year college next fall and was hoping I could get some advice…

I don’t have any cost constraints. While I am paying for college myself, I have about $30k currently saved up and have no problem taking out student loans.

I plan on majoring in Finance or Economics, and I am interested in asset management. Investment banking, PE, corporate finance, F500 finance are other jobs I would be interested in as well. Therefore, target or semi-target schools for wall street, etc. are highly desirable.

For non-academic preferences, I’d like a warmer climate, but that’s a bonus, not a requirement. I currently have a dog and a cat, so somewhere where I could rent a place with a yard, or a building with a dog park/rooftop dog park nearby would be a huge plus. I’m a big fan of big cities with small town vibes as well.

I currently attend a community college in Wisconsin, and have a 3.75GPA. I will have 30 credits completed by the end of the spring semester. For extra curricular activities, I’ve worked fulltime the past two years in a retail banking, I completed a finance apprenticeship my senior year of high school, and played a few varsity sports throughout high school. In short, nothing to write home about. My ACT is 29 (taken in 2016), but I would be willing to retake it and am certain I could score in the low thirties. I also completed 3 AP classes in high school, and scored 3’s on the exams.

So far I’ve figured the Ivies are out of the question, but I’m strongly considering the following colleges:

NYU
Texas-Austin
UW Madison (I would like to transfer out of state however)
UMich and Chicago (I would like to get out of the Midwest as well)
Boston College

Any other suggestions for schools to look at? Am I being unrealistic in my choices?

Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

2

I think that you should try very hard to attend an affordable university and minimize the loans that you take out. Loans have to be paid back and can be quite burdensome .

If you are in-state for Wisconsin, and if you can get into UW-Madison, it is a great school. There is no way that I would pay twice the price for NYU or Boston College.

3

$30K is not enough to cover the cost at any of those schools, and you will only be able to borrow on your own $6500 next year and $7500 the following years.

4

It is quite a bit more expensive for NYU or Boston College. I would prefer to go somewhere that’s not in the Midwest however. Any suggestions? UW madison is great, just exploring options.

Also, 30k isn’t enough on its own, but it’s a start. I wouldn’t be opposed to private loans at all either.

5

What is your financial aid situation? You don’t have to share details, of course (it’s wise perhaps not to), but are you applying for FA? Does your family qualify for FA? Unless you’re twenty-five, you have to put your parents’ incomes on the FAFSA. Also, unless I’m missing something, it’s impossible for you to pay for college on your own unless you are independent. I mean, I guess you could completely forego applying for FA, but why do that? To obtain loans, you need to file a FAFSA, and if you’re under twenty-five (the age at which you are considered independent), you’ll have to include your parents’ information. This should be a positive, though. After all, you won’t be able to take out 100+K in loans in order to foot the bill at a private school after your 30K is submitted. The max that you’ll be able to borrow via loans is $15000 (I think) for junior ($7500) and senior ($7500) year. Beyond that, you’d need your parents to take out a PLUS loan. Again, though, applying for FA is beneficial for most. Unless your parents are super wealthy, your EFC should be lower than the total yearly cost of the school. If your parents will not pay the EFC, you’ve got your 30K, but this means that you need to find a school where your EFC will be 15K per year for the two years you’ll be attending.

I think the Ivies would have been out of reach anyway. Your grades are great, but UW-Madison seems like the obvious target, and not just because it’s in WI. UMich, Chicago, and UT-Austin are no shoo-ins either. NYU could be a possibility, but they are notoriously stingy with aid. I still don’t understand how cost is no option if you are paying for college on your own. If you are under twenty-five, your parents have to be involved. They don’t have to pay, but they do have to include their financial information in order to get the ball rolling so that you know where you stand. Thus, UW-Madison or UW-Milwaukee might be your only options really.

6

Private student loans require a cosigner.

7

My apologies, I meant I would be paying off student loans myself. My parents are middle class, and would be willing co-sign and all that. So far scholarships have paid for all my schooling (CC is cheap). When I said cost isn’t an issue, I guess I meant I wouldn’t rule out a school because of cost alone. Obviously something cheap like UW Madison is more desirable than something expensive like NYU however.

So far it’s looking like UW Madison is the best option. I don’t particularly want to stay in the midwest however…are there any schools anyone would recommend I take a look at?

Thanks for the help so far!

8

If your parents are middle class, you may get financial aid. Two schools I know of in CA that meet full financial need for transfer students are Occidental and USC (I think this is true of USC; I know it’s true of Occidental).

9

I would recommend retaking the ACT or SAT to get your scores up. Claremont McKenna College in California is great for finance/business/economics and lots of ins to finance/banking jobs or internships. Pomona also has a strong Economics program but would likely be more of a reach unless you get your test scores up. There are some great schools in California that have the warmer weather you’re looking for!

10

If you have pets, I wouldn’t recommend coming to SoCal since the rents are so ridiculous. Yes the weather is great, but we call it the SUN tax. You pay for the weather in California.

You may want to look at some Florida schools for warm weather.

11

Debt free is the best option. Going out of state is triple the tuition cost, and for a bachelors degree, is not worth it. You can go to UW-Madison and be far better off. Once you graduate, you can have all the adventure and excitement you want.

12

@SienaRose I don’t know of any college that will accept an updated ACT/SAT taken while the student is in college. The test is designed for HS students.

OP, if you really want to get out of state you can consider U Minnesota where you’d get in-state rates.

13

Going out of state is possible if you go private to a place that offers FA at the level you need.

NYU – not a good option because of the FA problem. Also: dog and cat! Impossible in NYC to get an apt as a student that you can afford

Perhaps look at –

  • Hamilton – it has excellent transfer-in rates, is in a small town, it’s cold not warm, but it offers great FA
  • Union in Schenectady – it has excellent transfer-in rates, is in a small town, it’s cold not warm, but it offers great FA and it has a lot of STEM
  • Connecticut College – ditto the above. And if you need more STEM there, a service academy is across the way and you can take classes there.

What you want to check for the following schools is 1) policy on transfer students and 2) whether they give FA to transfer students.

  • Check out Rhodes – in Memphis
  • Sewanee – in the mountains with a 13,000 acre campus
  • Earlham – 800 acre campus
  • Muhlenberg
  • Juniata
  • U of Rochester – tends to offer excellent FA, smallish city with reasonable rents, excellent academics

To find out transfer-in statistics, google and and then scroll down to Part D.

14

Explore the global opportunities University of Wisconsin provides its students like study abroad and apply to internships/co-ops that are oos or even out of country.
https://studyabroad.wisc.edu/programs/

15

I’d say that Hamilton is reasonably transfer-friendly in that their transfer acceptance rate is no lower than their first-year rate – but that’s still 21% either way.

It does, including for transfer students.

16

However, there does not seem to be any information on how strong the applicant and admit cohorts for Hamilton transfers are.

Hamilton says that “Limited financial aid is available for transfer students and is dependent upon the college’s overall budget and spending on the freshman class” at https://www.hamilton.edu/admission/apply/transfer . Hamilton’s net price calculator says that it is for frosh, implying that it may not be as accurate for transfer students.

Based on the above, all transfer applicants to Hamilton should consider it a reach. Those needing financial aid should consider it a double reach.

17

Note that, though its wording, as posted above, is not clear on this point, Hamilton does provide full need-based funding for the transfer students it does accept.