I got itno Sarah Lawrence, Northeastern and maybe Purdue (still waiting). I am 100% sure that i want to transfer after my freshman year. Does it matter which school i pick? or if i keep my grades great and participate in clubs etc a top college will not care what college i went to in my freshman year? which college should i pick that will increase my chances?
also, what top colleges and ivys have a good rate of transfer acceptances ?
Cornell has probably the most liberal transfer admission policies–close to 20%, but some of that is tied into Ny state entrance. Princeton does not take any transfers. Harvard and Yale are at about 3% transfer admission rate, thus even more competitive than regular freshmen admission. In short, all of the Ivy schools transfer slots are tied to attrition–so with attrition close to 2-3%, there are very openings.
Yes, it matters. Choose the school that you would be happiest to stay in if you didn’t get into your dream transfer school. Transferring in is no easier, and often harder, than getting in initially.
Don’t count on transferring. Make the best of whatever school you’re in. Who knows? You may actually like it.
Choose your college as if you had to stay for 4 years there. Because odds are very high that you will. It’s much, much harder to transfer to a top school than to be admitted as a freshman. If you want to re-apply to a college where you already applied, you’d need to really distinguish yourself with more than clubs etc, and you’ll need two years to do that, so expect to spend at least 2 years at whatever school you pick.
Note that for Cornell, you’d transfer to the College of Life and Agricultural Sciences (which also has Dyson/business) not Arts&Sciences.
^ ^ ^
+1. It is a mistake to matriculate at any school with the sole-intent of transferring. It is unlikely that one will do so; therefore, the initial college or university should fully meet the individual’s requirements.
A lot of these posts are right that you should go into a school that you are happy with, but you should know that it is sometimes actually easier to transfer into a top school as a transfer than a freshman as far as acceptance rates go. For schools ranked 10-30 you will actually see a higher transfer acceptance rate. Schools like USC, Vanderbilt, Cornell, Georgetown, Northwestern all have higher acceptance rates for transfers than for freshman admissions.
^ I don’t know where you got your data but it’s mostly wrong. For instance GTown admitted 17.3% for freshmen and 12% for transfers. For Northwestern it’s 15% for frosh, 12% for transfers.
@ErinsDad
Oops! I must have been looking at previous years data, sorry about that. For vanderbilt, usc, and cornell it’s still higher however.
Transfer Acceptance rate:
Cornell 23% (including guaranteed transfers)
Vanderbilt 28%
USC 27%
You are wrong again just stop trying to inform people because in fact your are hurting them instead of helping them … you are a high school kid that thinks he understands the system because he read a few statistics and think that portrays the whole story of the transfer process… and in fact you are sadly mistaken
and once again you neglect to inform that those are all GT and as a result the number is skewed…Just stop you are making yourself look like an idiot…
For vanderbilt, usc, and cornell it’s still higher however.
Transfer Acceptance rate:
Cornell 23%
Vanderbilt 28%
USC 27%
Honestly, if you really want to transfer, I would recommend looking into community college. In CA, there are programs that allow you to sign a contract in advance stating that if you have a certain GPA after the two years, you are basically guaranteed admission to X school for your junior year.
I have friends who were dead set on going to a certain school that was VERY tough to get in to as a freshman and they gave up acceptances to good schools because they knew they wanted to chase that specific dream. In the long run, you are saving so much money by skipping 2 years at a 4-year program.
Plus, not every school is easy to transfer in and out of. I transferred from a 4-year to a 4-year for my junior year (never intended to, but my original school didn’t have the program I wanted), and transfer credits were tricky to resolve. If you do intent to start at one, then transfer, take very generic classes, i.e. BIO1, PSYCH1, classes you know will be offered at the next school you are going to.
Let’s be honest… it is INCREDIBLY UNLIKELY that you will be transferring to an Ivy or an Ivy caliber school. It is also a very bad idea to decide to transfer before you even stepped foot on a college campus.
If you need a few days to grieve the fact that you think you are going to a school “beneath you”… do so, grow up, and get over it. Enroll in the school for which you can most thrive, and move on.
Would you choose a spouse based on how that marriage would help you land a more attractive second wife or husband? Don’t apply to any college you wouldn’t be willing to attend. Don’t attend a college that you don’t plan to remain at. If things don’t work out, then you can certainly explore other options. If you feel you are over-qualified for that college, then try to use AP/IB credits to take higher-level classes. Look into internships, on and off-campus. Develop outside interests. Plan to spend a semester or year abroad. If you inform all your classmates at college that you are much more talented and accomplished than they are, you probably won’t enjoy college very much.