So I’m entering my 2nd year at UCLA, and my 1st year wasn’t a good experience at all. I didn’t like the unfriendly vibe I got from the student body, and I feel like I didn’t fit in as a (for lack of a better description) super-liberal hippie haha. But more importantly, the huge classes and impossibility of getting to know your teachers well at all made UCLA academically unsatisfying too. If my second year isn’t any better, I’ve been thinking of transferring at the end of this year to a LAC. My top choices are Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Haverford, Occidental, and Pitzer. was wondering if any of these would be a realistic possibility.
For a little background info, I have a 3.74 GPA so far at UCLA, volunteer at a pediatric cancer hospital, have a psychology lab assistant position, and am pretty involved in a pediatric cancer club. Regarding high school, I had a 4.35 gpa i think and got a 33 on the ACT. Assuming I keep the GPA around a 3.7 this year too, do you guys think I’d have a shot at transferring to any of the LAC’s I listed, and if not would there be any others you recommend I try instead? Thanks!
At the most selective colleges, admit rates are even lower for transfer students than for freshmen.
Pomona’s transfer admission rate for 2014-15 was less than 4%. Haverford’s was about 10%.
Occidental’s was more like 25% (which is still pretty low).
These schools tend to have very high freshmen retention rates, so not that many places open up.
Sticker prices at selective, private colleges are roughly double the UCLA in-state rates (and there may not be much financial aid for transfers.)
Actually, UCLA has a very high retention rate, too (97%). You may want to give it a little more time. Your biggest classes are likely to be at the intro and intermediate levels. There must be a few other super-liberal hippies on a campus that large.
But if you’re really serious about transferring … Reed College is a West Coast LAC with a slightly higher transfer admission rate than Occidental. You’d find super-liberal hippies there. However, it is academically intense. Jumping into that environment in the third year might be tough.
Your chances at Wesleyan would be pretty good (~25% tranfer acceptance rate). In terms of what you are looking for academically and socially the school could be a good match for you.
Check out the midwestern LACs - you may have more opportunities there: Grinnell, Carleton, Macalester. A very supportive environment for potential pre-meds, if that’s what you are. If you don’t like the “super liberal hippie vibe” then I’d ignore Reed (and I didn’t suggest Oberlin for the same reason). The others mentioned here are very liberal too - but they have a sizable ‘mainstream’ element as well.
Occidental? I thought it only for 2 years and then you transfer to another college.
You have a good GPA so I think it’s doable. Except people already made friends the first two years, I wonder if you are going to be less ideal then you imagine. Plus most of the liberal arts college are super liberal too.
Re: #4
“most of the liberal arts colleges are super liberal too”
The OP is a self-defined “super-liberal hippie.”
Re: Occidental. A reference to something else? Oxy is a four year school.
As a “super-liberal hippie” you’d probably feel right at home at Pitzer, but doubtful at CMC…
I misread it, too early in the morning. I thought he was complaining that it was super liberal. Maybe he should have transferred to Cal.
Yes I checked Wikipedia it is four year college.
Carleton’s admit rate for transfers is right around 3%.
Fwiw, @DrGoogle, I misread that sentence at first glance as well.