Okay, so a while back I made a post asking for advice about choosing between my top two schools (UCLA and Columbia). Ultimately, I chose UCLA because I felt it would be a much better fit for me since it was closer to home, far cheaper, and a little more laid back. However, I’m starting to have second thoughts. While I’m fairly confident that UCLA is the school for me, every now and then I start to regret not picking Columbia. I figure there’s not much I can do about it now (except e-mail the admissions committee at Columbia begging for a spot back, which seems a bit irrational, though I have thought about it in my occasional bouts of regret and anxiety, haha).
I was wondering, if for some reason I find that next year I do not like UCLA, would transferring to Columbia be a viable option? I know transfer acceptance rates tend to be a lot lower than first-year acceptance rates, and since Columbia’s first-year acceptance rate is already pretty low, would transferring to Columbia be a pipe dream for me?
I mean, would the admissions committee look at my application negatively since I said no to them last year? Or would they look upon it positively seeing as they already accepted me once? I saw someone else post about schools like Harvard and Northwestern keeping applicants’ files open for one year in case they decide to transfer, though it seems a bit farfetched (also the post was from 2005, so certainly those policies could have changed).
tl;dr If I don’t like UCLA, how hard would it be to transfer to Columbia, given that they’ve already accepted me once?
You made your decision for a reason. Go to UCLA assuming you will love it and stay for 4 years. It is time to look ahead and stop looking in the rear-view mirror.
@happy1 No, no, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love UCLA! I do understand that this post came off as suggesting the opposite hahaha, but I am truly excited about UCLA.
That said, things could change in a few months, and I just want to know what my options might be if I find that UCLA isn’t the right fit for me.
Totally agree with @happy1. With that said, I know a woman who chose to transfer after freshman year and the only school that took her the first time and not the second was Yale. She was a recruited athlete, so the needs of the team may or may not have helped at each school the next year. It’s unlikely you’ll need to think about this if you have a positive attitude about ucla.
In a few months you could completely change your career goals or choice of major. You could win the lottery. You could decide to drop out of school and join the circus.
The point is you’re wasting time and energy coming up with these “what-if” scenarios and then trying to solve them today. Wait until one of them actually happens, then figure out what to do. Getting answers today isn’t going to change your future options one iota.
I agree with buyer’s remorse. It is a nasty trick our brains play on us. We like better what we can’t have. Given you had two great options, as you seriously consider A, the characteristics of B become more desirable. It is the nasty side of cognition.
But it is also good to have an escape route and to feel you have control. And, the more accessible you think Columbia is, the less you will be drawn to it. So, Yes, if you don’t like UCLA you will probably be able to transfer to Columbia. Your chances will be greater if you fully immerse yourself in UCLA-doing well in classes and participating in what UCLA has to offer.
I’ve already stated that I understand what I’m asking is fairly irrational and that there’s not much I can do now. I just want to know what my options will look like in the future.
It’s not like I’m going to UCLA with an attitude of “Oh, I’m not going to like it, so I’m going to start my transfer application as soon as possible.” Like I said, I absolutely love UCLA, and I’m excited to start school come fall. But I just want to have a backup plan in case I find that I made a mistake. I was really lucky to have some amazing options and I don’t want to end up feeling like I made the wrong choice, when I had plenty of good schools already, you know? And if that happens, I’m going to need to know my options, so I may as well know them now so I can be ready if that happens, rather than ending up lost, confused, and upset, which is how I’ll feel if that happens and I don’t already have the answers.
It’s more of a comfort thing than anything.
If you’re going to respond with some condescending answer about how I’m “borrowing trouble” or how I’m wasting my time by coming up with “what-if” scenarios, then don’t even bother because frankly, it’s just irritating and it’s missing the point.
If you do well at UCLA, you won’t want to transfer. If you don’t do well at UCLA, Columbia won’t want you either. So forget about transferring and full speed ahead at UCLA.
First, my answer wasn’t condescending. It was straight up. You’re making yourself miserable working about a possibility that might never happen. Why waste time doing that? Why? Really. I’ts “irritating” because you don’t want to hear a point of view that doesn’t support what you want to hear. Too bad. Growing up is learning to listen to other viewpoints even if you don’t like them.
You DON’T need to know your options now because you DON’T know how you will feel at school. You can make all the plans you want now in your “never been to college” frame of mind, and they’ll mean doo-doo after you’ve been there a while.
IF you don’t like UCLA after you’ve been there a while, THEN you start looking at other options. Anything else is just mental masturbation.
You are standing on the high dive, about to jump, and you want a Plan B in case of a bad landing. That is very natural, but unfortunately just the act of jumping off the high dive changes many of the variables (almost like the [url=<a href=“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_effect_(physics)%5Dobserver”>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_effect_(physics)]observer effect**.
So any back up plan you make now is unlikely to be the right plan if you don’t like UCLA simply b/c the very act of making the jump will change you, so you won’t be the same person who made the plan B. All of the things that you take from the experience of starting at UCLA, combined with the reasons you want to leave, will be how you make the right plan B for where you are then.
It is scary but you will be ok whether UCLA works out or not. You got into (at least) 2 top schools. All the things that you did to get there- the self-discipline, the hard work, the motivation, the character that these schools liked in you in the first place- they are all part of you, and they will still be there if you decide that UCLA is not for you.
*I’ll see your psychology reference, @“Erin’s Dad” and raise you a physics reference!
The window to transfer is months long. If you expect to be “lost, confused, and upset” and unable to figure out what to do next for all those months if you “don’t already have the answers” you need more help then you’re going to get on an internet forum. I suggest working with a qualified mental health professional to develop the ability to deal with the vicissitudes of life that we all face and will face in the future.
@MotherOfDragons No, it was irritating because it didn’t answer my question, nor was it particularly helpful. I asked a specific question, and your “straight-up” reply was a response not to the question, but to some other information I added to give context to my question. If you don’t have an answer to the question, or just don’t want to answer the question, then that’s fine. Just don’t leave a pointless response (it really was pointless too because other people said stuff to a very similar effect, albeit with a less annoying tone).
@mikemac Okay, look, I’m not saying I’m going to be lost, confused, and upset for the entire duration of the transfer process. But if I realize that I should transfer there’s certainly going to be some anxiety surrounding the whole process if I know nothing about it in advance.
All I wanted was some help/ information on making a backup plan and you’re trying to make this about something it’s not. If you don’t want to answer my question you obviously don’t have to, but there’s no point in telling me how I should feel.
Would knowing how the process itself works be helpful? I am not an expert on transferring ,but there are plenty of posters who are. In essence, it’s very like what you have just done- they will look at your HS transcript, test scores, ECs, etc as well as your college marks. Some colleges will roll over your previous application info (the school(s) you turned down may even have sent you a note saying that they would hold your info for a year just in case), but I don’t believe that Columbia is one of them. Your essay is about what college x has something that your current college does not, and the fancier the brand name of the college the more you need to emphasize your academic reason for the transfer (so maybe you have realized your passion for medieval lit and your current college doesn’t offer that, and college x not only has it but has an old english language class that works with it). Application deadlines are in the spring (typically March) and you find out in May. So, timing-wise, you can get a full semester under your belt before you even need to think seriously about the practicalities of transferring.
