<p>I will have been at my community college for three years next spring and will have received an AA degree with about 64 units completed. I was initially going to apply to Harvard, Penn, Yale, etc. but when I called Penn and asked if i was eligible for transfer they said i could not transfer because i had more than 60 units. I also emailed Harvard with this question</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I am a community college student considering applying for
undergraduate admission for Fall 2011. I wanted to know if I am eligible for
transfer if i have been at my college for 3 years and will complete my AA
degree with a few more than 60 semester units this spring?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>This was their response</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>If you have spent more than two years in any degree program full-time, then
you are not eligible for transfer admission. Additionally, part-time
students are also not eligible for transfer admission. From what you have
provided, then, you are unfortunately not eligible for transfer admission to
Harvard College.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Harvard Transfer Admissions</p>
<p>My question is whether or not this is correct? I dont understand why I am ineligible to transfer if CC is only a 2 year degree. I cant possibly have more than 2 years worth of credits yet they say i cant apply? What about people that get an AA and work for some years and apply then? Also, I was not able to be full-time every semester due to the difficulty of getting classes at CC so i dont see how everyone that transfers from CC was ALWAYS full time every semester. Anyone know anything about this? or have experience with people transferring to these institutions from CC?</p>
<p>Look at it from H’s perspective: they have a ~99% retention rate of Frosh, so they have very, very few transfer slots available. (There are literally no additional beds.) Therefore, they can be extremely selective and must draw a line somewhere. Most highly selective private schools accept only a handful of transfers each year, or none at all (Princeton, for example). Google each college’s Common Data Set and you can find the exact transfer rates.</p>
<p>Suggest you consider Cornell which is the most transfer-friendly Ivy, or Vanderbilt which is a top school that accepts more than several transfers. Dartmouth also takes several transfers each year since its D-Plan and focus on study abroad is more accommodating to a few more students.</p>
<p>If you have the GPA, the coursework and the recommendations that would make you a viable applicant, go ahead and apply. The admin officer gave you advice based on a quick analysis of one email. What the admissions office may think of your full application is a different story.</p>
<p>But as others have pointed out, there are plenty of transfer friendly colleges and universities out there. Striking Harvard from your list because you don’t like their attitude is perfectly OK.</p>
<p>They are private schools, they can do whatever they want. If they don’t want to accept anyone, they don’t have to. I would take their advice and not waste your time. Even if you were eligible to apply, the chance you getting in would be very sim, so why do it when they have blatantly told you not to? There are a lot of other great schools, and Cornell is a consideration if you have good enough stats.</p>
<p>I have a 4.0 GPA so in that regard I am okay. Thanks for the input, maybe i will still apply. Do you know which “top colleges” are the most transfer friendly? Also, which colleges have the best financial aid packages for transfers? I cant apply to cornell because they want 2 years of bio which i dont have.</p>
<p>I think there are many schools that don’t accept transfers w 64hrs. The common semester school requires 120hrs., and doesn’t accept those with more than half of that.</p>
<p>A thought…to the OP…talk to your community college. Find out if they have any articulation agreements with four year schools in your state. This means that you would be accepted and your credits would transfer to the four year school. You would probably still have to complete 2 additional years to attain your degree…you would need to check this. Get your bachelors degree…do very well…and then apply to one of the Ivies for grad school.</p>
<p>Yes i have read this and it is exactly what i am referring to. I think however that the intention of this is to prevent students at 4-year universities from transferring with more than 2 years completed, which is why i think this may not be valid for CC students considering that a CC is a 2-YEAR school.</p>
<p>Sean, read it again…it says you MUST transfer all college credits taken. There are NO EXCEPTIONS made for students who have attained associates degrees from community colleges.</p>
<p>I am also in a similar situation, I will have about 75 credits when I transfer, But some
of the classes I have taken are remedial courses and, I have classes that don’t
count toward to my associate’s because I switched my major. Does anyone know
if Cornell will not accept a student for those reasons?</p>
<p>2 years of full time credit is 60 units, that’s why you don’t qualify at H.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>H doesn’t care how long it took you to get the credits, only that you have MORE than 60.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If the CC student has 60 or less credits they can apply as a transfer. Remember, the fact that you attend a CC does not mean you have to either take more than 60 credits or get an AA degree. That is the students choice, and it is Hs choice to only accept transfer applicants with a maximum of 60 credits. The advertise this clearly, so it is the students responsibility to read the eligibility requirements and fulfill them if they want to apply.</p>
<p>i’d just like to butt in here with my own (similar) dilemma. i go to a community college too and plan to obtain a liberal arts & sciences associate’s. the degree program i’m in REQUIRES that i take at least 61 credits. the prescribed study plan states that most students complete the program with 61-64 credits; and the way i’m going now i’ll probably end up with 63 credits. can i be faulted for this when trying to transfer, considering the fact that i had to adhere to this study plan which requires over 60 credits? i could save myself by simply not taking the required classes for spring semester, but then i won’t graduate with my associate’s. that honestly wouldn’t be a big deal, BUT would colleges really expect me to disregard my degree’s requirements?? would graduating with 63 credits really bar me from top schools??</p>
<p>I think Harvard’s response makes sense. Knowing how selective they are, I wouldn’t doubt for a second they would set those firm restrictions. </p>
<p>I am also not completely certain on this, but it sounds to me like the fact that you spent 3 years at a CC is enough to make you ineligible, regardless of the fact that you obtained a two year degree - you still took 3 years to complete it. I don’t know, it doesn’t sound promising. I’m not sure I would waste the money/time applying there.</p>
<p>That being said, you have a 4.0 GPA. Even if you don’t get into the Ivy League you want, you have plenty of great options out there. Good luck.</p>