Transferring from a private to public University-without counselor assistance

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello fellow college go-ers!</p>

<pre><code> I am open to ANY and ALL advice!
</code></pre>

<p>I am transferring from a Private University to a Public University without ANY assistance. The private university I have been attending does not offer its students any assistance with scholarships or graduate school assistance. Therfore in my senior year, I have chosen to transfer to a public university that offers both Masters and Ph.D programs I am interested in.</p>

<p>My GPA is a 4.0 and I am an active member of Golden Key Honors Society. I am willing to risk loosing my rank %, so I can be at a public university.</p>

<p>I have been recieving "Pre-acceptance" letters for several universities, however they all require I pay the application fee.</p>

<p>If I request a "fee waiver" will this option put me at a disadvantage? I truly cannot afford to pay all the fee's.</p>

<p>Does anyone know if relocating to the university is covered in our financial aid award?</p>

<p>I guess I am wondering, "if you have been accepted to a university in another state, how do they expect you to get there" ?</p>

<p>Any advice or help is greatly appreciated... =)</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Why are you transferring in your senior year? Wouldn’t it just make more sense to stay put and graduate there? Transferring this late in your program probably means that you will have to spend two full years at the new place. Will that really be less expensive than one year where you are now?</p>

<p>Graduate school admissions offices do not favor students from their own institution. Your chances of grad school admissions from your current university are probably just as good. Every single one of your professors who has a Master’s or Ph.D. has been through the grad school application process. If there isn’t a specific person on the staff responsible for helping people apply to grad school, you can just ask your professors.</p>

<p>If you change universities you are going to have to pay for that move yourself. It won’t be covered by your financial aid.</p>

<p>If you can’t afford the application fees, you are going to have to ask for waivers. But this just leads up to the question of how you are planning to pay for that university once you get there. Do you even have the money for that?</p>

<p>You should spend some time reading through the information in the Transfer Forum. Start with the thread titled “Transfer Admissions 101” that is at the top of that forum. You can find the Transfer Forum by going to the main page that lists all of the forums, and scrolling down.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>This is a new one on me. How did you get to your current college? Is it local to you? When a student is accepted to a college, it is up to the student to get there. The transportation expenses are built into the college’s Cost of Attendance (COA) but that figure is an average of sorts, not a personal figure for you. YOU have to come up with your personal cost of attendance, using the fixed figures such as tuition, fees, average dorm cost, etc and adjusting it for your circumstances. If you live in Alaska, for instance, and are going to a college in Massachusetts, your transportation costs are going to be far higher than that of someone who lives near the college, or has inexpensive transportation options even if s/he lives several hours away. </p>

<p>First of all you have to apply to the universities. I don’t know what the heck a “Pre-acceptance” letter means. To get something called a “likely letter” from some schools, usually the more selective ones, you have to have applied. I don’t know anyone who gets assistance from a college to transfer out of it. Any help you get will have to be from acquaintances, friends, family. You can request what you need from the college, and you will need them to send your transcripts, maybe get some recs, but they are not going to help you through this process like your high school counselor may have done. This one is all on you. </p>

<p>You have to research or ask about fee waivers. I can tell you that many schools that meet 100% of need for their freshmen do not do so for upperclassmen and it is a rare public school that meets substantial need for OOS kids. There may be merit funds, but eligibility for both financial aid and merit awards can differ for transfer students in any number of schools. You need to research these things carefully.</p>

<p>I think you are going to be challenged enough to get a financial aid/merit package from schools that cover tution/room and board, never mind transportation to the school. Do you have a full ride at your current school and you get fee waivers for applications and money for transportation? That is more prevalent at the freshman level as schools put the bulk of their efforts in getting that freshman class each year. Transfers tend to be students who fill in spaces where there are gaps and there is not such a concerted effort to attract them. The onus is put on the student much more.</p>

<p>What you can do is to attempt to get in contact with the department heads of the discipline you want to study, and discuss your situation with them. If you are truly a top notch student in the area with something special to offer, perhaps someone will “sponsor” you and help you get what you need to transfer. You need to also talk to the financial aid and admissions offices of the schools you are considering for help. Make sure you read up on their transfer policies, and take notes, so that you know what is clearly on the web sites.</p>

<p>That you are currently a senior makes things even more complicated as many schools have residence requirements so that you might end up having to do another year to fulfill those. It seems to me that you would do better finishing up at your current school and applying a fresh to a graduate program. You would be on equal footing for such offerings and there would be likely be more programs available.</p>

4

<p>Thank you both for your replies, I truly appreciate at.</p>

<p>I guess, I should have explained a little more than I did… =)… So, i will without naming this “private university”…</p>

<p>I went threw the “transfer center” at my community college" to a UC in CA.~ However, I had been accepted to several other out of state Universities and State Universities. I thought I would try and stay here…Another reason was the AP honors courses. </p>

<p>Well to make a long story short, CA started cutting courses,funding, etc… which everyone knows… more loans… So right before the Fall semester was to start, I inquired about some of the acceptance letters I had recieved. I was able to find one, and took the offer. Plus the school had an Advanced AP courses, for students with 4.0 and very high sat scores. Little did I know, that the university was “private” and not “public”. Their academic structure was unlike what I had been used to… The did not have a “counselor” office per say, but assigned professors for student guidance…</p>

<p>When I began to inquire about what universities offered Masters and Ph.d programs in the field I was interested in, some had no idea what direction to offer me. When it came time for my scholarships, some of the professors did not turn in all the required documentation, so I only was granted particial on some, and others I lost… The universities, even "accidentaly gave one of my federal grants to another student…how they transposed the last 2 numbers of our socials…</p>

<p>So, I began actively doing my own recuritting… When I recieved a “pre-acceptance letter” what I am refering to is a Letter from the admission dept, and it does have an award amount inclosed, however it states I would have to also apply to the dept as well…</p>

<p>I know that transfering means, I have to meet the states & universities requirements for residence. I have checked and it is 20-30 credits at best, which they all would allowed to use as a “second major”. So, I have to look at it like, “whats one more year, as long as your in the right school, instead of the wrong school”. Possitive attitude gets you everwhere ! =) </p>

<ul>
<li>What is saving me, from looking unfavortable is my GPA, sat scores, and the school organizations I have been active in*</li>
</ul>

<p>I just didnt know if relocating expenses where covered… what if a parent can’t afford to move you to the university? I noticed in my award packets, I have 3 federal grants awarded, and their amounts, plus my scholarship funds… Maybe I will check to see what all the scholarship funds can be applied for… and go from there…</p>

<p>Without naming the University I mentioned above, what I can say possitively about them is, I was able to complete what would take 4 semesters for a BA degree,(120 creidts) in 16 months with their Advanced AP Honors classes. ALso I had some wonderful professors too…</p>