Transferring 2020-2021

Hello all,

Seeing as to how many schools including my college are going online for the fall and maybe spring semester, how could I make myself a competitive transfer applicant if I apply transfer if I won’t be interacting with professors in person (and not even over zoom for asynchronous classes), participating in nearly as much extracurricular activity, or a lot of the other stuff college students typically do?

I’ve heard that recommendations from professors or TAs are EXTREMELY important aside from grades but will I be in trouble in terms of being a competitive applicant if I don’t get to know any professors or TAs well because of the COVID-19 precautions?

I think that we need more context before anyone can tell you much. The last that I saw as of March (if I remember this correctly) you had been accepted to a list of very good universities.

Yes, recommendations will be important for transfers. So will grades. So will having a good reason for transferring.

However, schools know that we are all dealing with a pandemic. I think that the pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty. We do the best that we can under the circumstances and see where we are in six months or a year.

Makes sense. The uncertainty is part of the reason I’m doing transfer research.

I’m grateful to have been accepted to the universities I was accepted to and so far I haven’t had many significant issues with my university other than the issues that seem to be issues at pretty much every university. I was just wondering how I could be a competitive transfer applicant given the current situation should I decide to apply transfer in the future

Trust me, you can create a relationship with your professor in Zoom - even if your classes are fully asynchronous. They know whether not you are doing the work. They know whether or not you are participating in any discussion forums that are set up for the course. They know whether or not you have engaged in direct communication with them through email or in virtual office hours.

And do remember that if you decide to apply for transfer, every other student who is also applying will have been studying during this exceptional time. You will be measured against applicants who also were in online classes, not against some mythical ideal candidate from the pre-coronavirus era.