Thank you so much for taking time to share your experience!
As parent, we just hope for a happy ending… be it at Oxford or elsewhere…
Every kid is different… and each has to find his / her own path… Like I said before, her older brother is very happy at Oxford… both academically and socially… Before he went, he wondered if he would miss the liberal arts education (he is a “mathematician”)… Once he started, there was no turning back… and happily so… For my daughter, we promised her we would support her to transfer if she is unhappy there… Have to keep our words…
Knowing her capabilities, I just hope she can land in a quality school (prestige aside) with good professors and a welcoming student body… Thank you for all your support…
Thought for you- have you considered her coming home, taking a gap year (getting a job of some kind, volunteer work) and applying to transfer then? She’ll have her grades ( so that puts places like Brown back on the table) and it will allow her to be going towards something, not just leaving something behind.
I agree with the Brown suggestion btw- easy to do something interdisciplinary between Classics and Linguistics. I also agree with the Holy Cross suggestion upthread- Worcester isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but if your D is looking for really solid academics and terrific faculty who will take an interest in her from day 1- it’s a great option and likely on the “safer” side than some of the other suggestions.
I’m going to guess that Georgetown will be a yes- but perhaps you could explain why it was her favorite last year, and what besides being close to her brother you guys thought would happen for her at Oxford??? Just trying to get a handle on what hasn’t worked for her this year, so we can all be thoughtful with our recommendations.
Thank you again for all the valuable inputs and suggestions!
Yes indeed, we have talked about taking a gap, especially since she is on the younger side for college… If she doesn’t get into a place she likes, she can either apply for Spring (Cornell maybe) or wait till next Fall… We are happy to have her home…
The thing about Brown and Holy Cross is FA… Brown is need-aware for transfers, and Holy Cross has very limited fund for transfers… The daughter of our friends is actually on (Classics) faculty at Holy Cross… I thought of reaching out to her, only to see the statement on FA…
Brown’s transfer admission process is need-aware, meaning that an applicant’s ability to pay for tuition, room and board is factored in when we make an admission decision.
Holy Cross: A note about financial aid: Funding for transfer students is extremely limited, and students are typically considered for Federal Aid only, e.g., loans and work-study.
As for Georgetown, she was accepted into the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics (FLL) where she can double-major in Classics and Linguistics. She also prefers bigger cities though she is not opposed to a town like Oxford. Anyway, long story… It is a new adventure now…
I want to ask a question about proposed major(s) and transfer acceptance chances… Given my daughter’s interests in Classics and Linguistics (less popular than most majors), am I right to say that her chance for a place may improve?
UCLA (and the UC in general) has a listing of transfer majors with their respective acceptance rates, which vary greatly… And I read the following from Johns Hopkins’ transfer page…
Transfer students must apply directly into a desired first-choice and second-choice major. Transfer admissions is space-dependent, and the exact number of spots available in each major will vary from year to year, so we cannot anticipate which majors will have openings.
For Penn, the acceptance rates for male applicants for the past few years have been 4-6% while those for female applicants were 8-10%… I suppose it may have something to do with more male applicants to Wharton and Engineering… which are more competitive…
Probably not- most places on her list students don’t have to declare until the end of 2nd year. No reason she couldn’t suddenly become a, say, history or philosophy major between now and then
Possibly a little- but more b/c it catches an AO’s eye b/c it’s different than the 100s of pre-med/business/STEM apps they have read that day
A disadvantage at places like JHU that have high retention rates and clear policies:
b/c the possibility of there simply being a space becomes problematic.
I believe at least some schools would welcome the opportunity to enroll a student interested in a rare major if that student is qualified for admission in general and if overall space for transfers is available. In the case of JHU, which recently graduated only 3 students (out of 1405) across majors in classics and Latin, the desire to increase the number of students pursuing classics would seem to be especially great. Even your daughter’s interest in Italian (will she be pursuing this further?) aligns with a fairly uncommon area of study.
Hi, I am the dad referred to by Twoin18 (and good to hear from Twoin18). My daughter transferred to Georgetown’s Classic’s dept after one year at UCL. She graduated in 2020 and the transfer decision has proven to be a spectacular success for her. She double majored in econ and classics and remains on good terms with members of the Classics faculty.
Our biggest take-away - which has been pertinent to my daughter’s many younger siblings and cousins - is that fit is far and away the most important aspect of college selection (at least to us, given the sheer multitude of good schools). Having learned a lesson from the school of hard knocks her first year, she said no to the Ivy League transfer possibility (not that she has anything against any particular school - but in recognition of the importance of fit) and transferred to Georgetown.
Since by coincidence it appears your child would be interested in the same school and same department, I would be happy to connect my daughter to your child directly if you wish, assuming Georgetown remains of interest.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and the kind offer to connect your daughter with mine. I will let her know and if and when she gets readmitted to Georgetown, perhaps she will be eager to connect.
Can you tell me if she had any UCL grades with her when she applied for transfer to Georgetown? Also, did she apply to Georgetown the year before? Any info will be helpful. Thank you again.
All her grades transferred. She was projected to get A’s. The chair was familiar with UK universities and faculty. Very small world. She did not apply to Georgetown as a senior; she wanted to go to UK.
If you would like her to connect before, during, after, just let me know.
Have you thought of Bryn Mawr? My daughter is a freshman there and absolutely loves her experience to date. She’s taken classes in linguistics and Latin, as well as other classes. She’s on track to be a classics major. I know the rep of the major at the school is great. She raves about her teachers and the classes and couldn’t be happier there. And having the ability to take classes at Haverford and Swarthmore really opens her up to meeting a diverse group of people. Just a thought! I have no idea of their transfer policy.
Thank you for the suggestion. Indeed, Bryn Mawr has a great reputation for Classics and the Quaker Consortium is highly desirable. But my daughter prefers to be in a co-ed college, so she plans to apply to Haverford and Swarthmore. She sure hopes to take classes at Bryn Mawr.
So the transfer process has begun… anyone knows which of these colleges are (1) “need blind” vs. (2) “need aware” in regard to transfer admission?
Pomona
Swarthmore
Haverford
Carleton
Grinnell
Hamilton
UPenn
Georgetown
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
Johns Hopkins
WashU @ St. Louis
I heard WashU only began “need blind” admission this year for Class of 2026… not sure if they will include transfer applications… Any info will help… Thanks!
If the college doesn’t specifically say they are need blind for transfers on their website, they are likely need aware. Also double check they meet full need for transfers, this can be the case whether need blind or need aware. I believe all of these schools do meet full need for transfers, but you should double check.
Most importantly has your D spoken directly with Georgetown and Haverford admissions? Your D should communicate with all the transfer reps, but especially the ones at the schools she was accepted to last year. Some schools make the transfer process different for previously accepted students.
She has not spoken directly to the admission people but completed a Georgetown alum interview… The interviewer heard her story and said, “I am sure they would take you back. I would recommend them to take you.” Probably not worth much…
Will ask her to contact Georgetown and Haverford over the coming term break…
Direct quotes from their Associate Director of Admissions…
"Unfortunately, without a completed transcript by mid-to-end of March, we would have no college coursework to evaluate you on and your application would not be competitive in our transfer application pool.
We would recommend applying for spring admission, once you have a transcript available to include with your application materials. The deadline to apply for the spring would be October 15 and the spring transfer application will be available in August."
As someone else pointed out, it seems your D is leaving because she doesn’t like being in the UK. If she is looking for a friendlier, less intense, more supportive college environment, there a couple of schools that she ought to reconsider. An introvert with limited ECs (presumably she wants to be able to participate in things), who seeks a liberal arts environment and feels homesick probably isn’t going to get the experience she seeks at JHU or UPenn, IMO.
I think Swarthmore again is not worth the application fee. It’s also known for being quite intense academically.
I agree that she must consider the environment of the colleges she applies to. She doesn’t want to have to transfer again. As you are in Europe or PA (unclear) I’m not even sure applying to Pomona is wise. Can she handle an eleven or five hour flight home, bearing in mind winter weather?
Many students think they want to be at the most prestigious colleges wihtout considering the vibe. There is a world of difference between WUSTL and Grinnell. FWIW, I think she might get more of the feel she wants at Grinnell, Carleton, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and Haverford.
That wasn’t my take at all, I thought the issue was wanting to combine two subjects in a way that simply isn’t possible in the UK. How do you read homesickness into that? And there’s certainly no suggestion that she can’t cope with the intense work at Oxford if she’s getting good recommendations from her tutors.
As OP has correctly identified, this decision will be dictated mostly by the availability of financial aid.