<p>I'm a high school senior who has been accepted to a few places already (CMU, UMich, UMD, to name a few). However, as is probably true with a lot of people in this time, money's tight. As all of my decisions start to come in, I have to make a lot of decisions, which combined with the money situation is a problem.</p>
<p>So here's the thing: My parents came up with what they think is a brilliant idea (and I'm not so sure, ergo my posting here). They want me to take my first year of college lightly, going to a school where I will have an "easier time earning a 4.0 cumulative GPA" than my other schools (I applied to a bunch of Ivies, including Harvard and the like, and have been accepted to Carnegie Mellon), then transfer into one of my higher-up schools from there. That way, they save anywhere between $10,000 and $30,000 depending on the two schools, and I (by their logic) will have a better chance at getting into a good grad school.</p>
<p>Obviously, I'm not too partial to this solution--if I get into a school like Harvard, I damn well want to go. However, I understand the monetary issues (yeah yeah, Harvard's been trying to cut down on costs for people admitted, but not all schools do that), and want to find an optimal solution.</p>
<p>Something that I found particularly interesting is that I am allowed to defer a school's offer of admittance for up to one year ("gap year"). Can I use this to my advantage?</p>
<p>How could you use the gap year to your advantage? If you defer admission, you’re still pledged to that school (not that that pledge can’t be broken) so why would you want to take a year? I don’t understand how that would make a difference financially…</p>
<p>Sorry, I probably should have expanded on that: does the year-long deferral allow me to attend another school for a year, and then possibly transfer the credit? The way I figure, it would be worth the deposit to know that I can transfer to whatever school it is in a year, without having to re-apply, etc. That way, I can attend the lower-cost (and “easier”) school, while having an assured place wherever I defer acceptance.</p>
<p>Harvard has a pretty killer FA program. If you get in there then I have a hard time believing that it would be more expensive than a state school (unless you get a scholarship). I mean you only have to pay between 1% and 10% of your income so long as you make less than 150 or 200k.</p>
<p>Harvard was probably a bad example; I know their financial aid is good. However, I did apply to a lot of schools with lousy aid programs (Carnegie Mellon, et. al.)</p>
<p>Well if you can’t afford to go to any of the colleges that accepted you, that’s unfortunate. You can take out a loan, or hope for a scholarship your second and subsequent years.</p>
<p>But the plan your parents propose is not a gap year, and it’s okay only if that will become the plan of record for you to get your undergraduate degree. The notion of going somewhere, knowing that you’ll want to transfer is not wise. And it’s unpredictable whether you’ll be able to transfer to a selective college. Generally selective colleges have a high retention rate and very few places for transfers.</p>
<p>You can transfer into Harvard, but it’s highly competitive–more so than freshman admission.</p>
<p>You cannot, during a gap year (assuming you’ve deferred admission), get credits at another institution. By deferring, you agree to enter as a freshman.</p>
<p>Although I understand your parents concern, from my experience I’d suggest you take the opportunity while you have it. I was valedictorian in my high school, yet due to the money issue I chose to attend the local community college for my first two years thinking, like your parents, I’d save a bunch of money and then transfer out. Well, low and behold two years later and I am now regretting that decision very much. As a transfer the acceptance rates ANYWHERE are MUCH MUCH lower than freshman admissions. Even with a great gpa (I have a 4.0) chances in places like Harvard, Mit, etc…are down in the 2%, whereas freshman rates are nearer to 10%. Additionally, schools consider the place where you’re transferring from. That is, if you go to a place where “you have an easier time of gaining a 4.0” the school you are transferring to will KNOW this and not take you as seriously as they might have done initially. From a so-so school a 4.0 holds very little weight. Furthermore, usually when transferring credits are lost because many schools simply do not accept classes from other universities. Many schools require transfers to have a minimum number of credits and prereqs to be ELIGIBLE to transfer. It’s not just like you can go somewhere else for a year and then transfer out. In most state universities you have to have a minimum of two years worth of credits to transfer in plus about 5 classes specific to your declared major (prereqs). Private schools are slightly more lenient in this, many times requesting only a minimum of 25 credits or so. But even then, you are far more restricted. </p>
<p>Overall, transferring anywhere is NOT as easy as it seems. If you have the possibility of going to a great university NOW, do it. Don’t waste your time in a second rate place because when you finally want to leave it, it will be MUCH harder to be admitted as a transfer. EVERYWHERE freshmens get preference. Transfer decisions don’t even come out until most freshmen have accepted/declined admission. Some ivies don’t even accept transfers anymore. They used to but decided recently to simply stop for a couple of years. </p>
<p>I understand the money situation, but if you REALLY want to go to these schools AND you are accepted NOW, don’t waste the opportunity cause the odds are you won’t get it again. If you don’t believe me check the transfer admission rates for most schools. They’re ALWAYS lower than freshman. </p>
<p>Sorry for the rant, but hoped this helped! :)</p>
<p>Harvard accepts transfers theoretically – i.e. when there’s space made available through attrition. The last two years, Harvard has accepted zero transfers.</p>
<p>Jason: listen to nicolles. YOu should probably speak with your guidance counselor about the soundness of your family’s plans. They don’t seem to be very solid at first glance to me.</p>
<p>Friends daughter deferred acceptance for a year and was told by the school that they would transfer only a maximum number of credits from a program she would be attending. If she went over that amount they would rescind her acceptance.</p>
<p>Also, there are plenty of great schools where you might have gotten better merit aid. I hope you applied to them as financial safeties. If you can’t afford to attend a school due to poor financial aid/grants/merit, then you need to look elsewhere.</p>
<p>You need to sit down with your parents, and with all of your financial aid offers, and find out just exactly to the penny how much they are willing to pay. Not how much the FAFSA or CSS profile thinks they should be able to pay, but what they really, truly, can write a check for. You need to be brutally honest with each other about this. They may NOT have the kind of money that they thought they would.</p>
<p>Once you know that, take a long, hard look at your local community college(s) that have formal articulation agreements in the major(s) that you are considering. Most community colleges have programs where you can complete an A.A. or A.S. and then transfer directly into one or more of the public universities in that state taking all of your credits with you: two years at CC, two years at PublicU. Many community colleges also have active support for students who are capable of study at more selective colleges and universities, and provide assistance in transfer applications to those institutions.</p>
<p>For more fun reading on these topics, check out the Transfer Forum, and the Financial Aid Forum.</p>