<p>Next year I will most likely be going to a college that I am not to thrilled about going to--for a number of reasons that I don't feel like listing here. I am on the waitlist at five different colleges that I would prefer to go to and I hope to get into off the waitlist at those schools in the upcoming month, but assuming that I do not get in off of the waitlist, I am planning on trying to transfer to another school for my sophmore year.
I realize that anyone reading this will roll their eyes at my desire to transfer out of a college that I have not actually attended--yet, but please do not pass my feelings off as "shananigans." If you could help answer some of my questions I would be much obliged.
1. I read a post on here that said you should wait to transfer until you are a sophmore. Although it may be a tad less competitive, is that really true?
2. As a cruel twist of fate I am waitlisted at Brown, Yale, Columbia, U.Penn, and Williams. I plan on applying again next year--does the fact that I am waitlisted this year bode well?
3. When should I start doing the transfer stuff freshman year? In the fall, etc. Also, is this process going to be as laborious and mind-numbing as before?
4. Do freshman transfering this year find that they have trouble elucidating on why they want to leave--beyond "the environment/people/etc. are horrible." I mean do colleges expect explicit documentation of every awful incident as a justification of why one might want to transfer? <obviously a bit over the top, but you get the idea.
5. Is it easier to transfer to larger schools b/c its harder socially at smaller schools coming in as a transfer. I would think it would be, but I have no idea if it's the opposite.
6. Any tips for when to get forms, etc. and how to go about getting reccs. etc. without offending everyone on the campus. I mean, I realize that this isn't high school and no one will hold my hand through the process (not that they really did this year), but people might be a little belligerent if they take the fact that I want to transfer personally...</p>
<p>Hi there. I'm going to number my answers the same way that you numbered your questions.
1. I personally would wait to transfer until I was in my sophomore year (this is what I am doing). Colleges place less weight on HS performance at this point, so if you do well your first year at a school, it can make it easier for you to get in (especially if you were waitlisted because of your HS performance).
2. Being waitlisted sure can provide hope because you were not rejected outright. And a lot of schools keep your file on hand for a couple of years, so you may not have to send all of the components over again.
3. I started my transfer application process in October/November. This gave me time to get to know professors who would write me good recommendations and gave me enough time so that I wasn't panicking at the last minute if something fell through.
4. I personally wouldn't know about this, but I think that once you have spent more than one academic year there, you know yourself better so it is easier to explain why you are not satisfied with your current institution.
5. The school I am at currently has an undergrad population of about 12,000 with a decent amount of transfer students. I personally would think it is easier to apply to a school that has a larger transfer population because there are others in your same position.
6. Start filling out applications as soon as they become available. I personally did not have any problem with a professor taking my desire to transfer personally. Try to seek out the instructors who are well qualified in their fields, and perhaps with ties to the schools you are applying to. This is what I did for my application to WUSTL and I feel that the professor really understood my position.
I hope I helped you some, if you have questions about the transfer process, I'd be happy to help you out!</p>
<p>First off, you should not be worrying about transfering this early into May. How do you know you won't like the school you are going to?</p>
<p>Secondly, DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO GET OFF OF A WAITLIST:1) Update your schools with grades as soon as possible; 2) Write letters to your schools telling them how much you want to attend and the such; 3) If you can, have an alumnus write you a recommendation. </p>
<p>****Getting off of a waitlist is much easier than transfering.</p>
<p>I totally agree; Transfering, especially to those type of competitive schools, is not easy... and if you've applied and you're so close, do everything you can to get off the waitlist.<br>
I was waitlisted at one of my top schools, and I'm applying there again, and I regret not doing more last year.</p>
<p>Anyways, the first thing I have to say is that the college you go to now should be one you're somewhat satisfied with. Transfer rates for those schools are relatively slim and theres a possibility you might have to stay there. I chose a relatively crappy college out of my offers and being a big fish in a small pond helps a lot when you're applying.
1. See how you do freshman year first and then decide if you want to transfer. If you fare relatively well, than it would be a good time to do send those applications. If not, than you have another year to redeem yourself. I applied to transfer just because I knew my grades would go to hell once i took organic chemistry.
2. The fact that your waitlisted shows that you're still in contention for a lot of those schools and that you would probably be accepted ifthere were more spots. Because its not a full rejection, I think if you really put some effort into your freshman/sophomore year, it would edge you into at least one of thsoe.
3. When you do your app is dependent on the school itself. U California's app is due in NOvember whereas northwestern is due May 1. However, another reason to wiat for your sophomroe year is that you can elicit better recommendations and gain more experience inthat 1 year than in the 5 months you spent at the school prior to applying.
4. A good reason to give for transferring is usually related to your major. I personally don't like to give the impression that I don't "get along" wiht people or that I can't adapt to new environments. The best response to give (if you can't think of anything), is that you would like to work with a specific professor or that theres something specifically interesting at the school itself that you would like to pursue.
5. The size of the school relative to the number of applicants is not that big of a deal. But um, if you notice, the smalelr schools and hte more prestigious schools accept few people for transfers. Like Stanford and Harvard are around 5%.
6. Yeah, I offended a lot of people when I applied to transfer. My uni gave me a full scholarship and everything I could hope for so I did get a few glares from administration. However, they still filled out the basic paperwork and sent my transcripts and etc so it doesn't matter. My professors were more than supportive- especially if the school you're transfering to is their alma mater. I think the most surprising thing about college for me so far, is that the professors do care about where you go to grad school and what your plans are so they'll give an honest opinion. But be wary of who you talk to because if you don't make it into the school, you will have to put up with the people you ****ed off.</p>
<p>Wow, you guys are so nice. I thought that you might rip me apart. In response to some of your queries about trying to get off the waitlist at the schools I am wait-listed at--trust me I am trying. I think that's why I am thinking about transferring so much already. I just feel that I am so close to going to one of the schools that I really wanted to go to. It's so hard to feel like you have one foot in the door. I mean being on the wait-lists makes me feel like I am qualified and makes me want to go to those schools more.</p>
<p>In terms of my high school academic performance, I am in the top 20% of my class and take one of the most rigorous courseloads in my grade. My school offers APs, but does not weight grades, so there are people with a lot lighter courseloads that are higher then me in terms of where they fall in rank, but I took the courses that I knew would be challenging, because i enjoy challenging myself. So no regrets there. I have a lot of extracurriculars and my gpa is 3.75. Hopefully, if anything, my high school academic performance, etc. would help me. I think I am wait-listed at those schools because I am competitive in terms of my academics, scores, etc. but just for whatever reason didn't make the final cut. I am white and middle class and a girl, which unfortunatley is not a plus when applying to college.</p>
<p>^but I don't want to make excuses or start something with the last comment. It's a reality that I am in the majority when applying to college, but I am also applying to schools and saying in my essays that I want diversity. Unfortunatley, I don't bring that very tangible diversity to schools--at least not in the way that I think schools value diversity.</p>