@GirlChild, I was referring specifically to the top schools, who do ask that question [specifically](https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/application-process/transferring-harvard-college):
As noted above, MIT specifies that you should have been a likely candidate for admission as a first year.
People do transfer all the time- but not to the tippy-top schools, b/c the only spaces that they have for transfers are from people leaving, and not that many people leave.
@collegemom3717: Okay, I see.
Considering I know kids who have transferred from #1LACs to the Ivies, and to USC, all having begun the process within their freshmen year, I did not know there were qualifications that had to meet the level of “academic need” to transfer.
I thnk, still, there must be more of a need to qualify the psychosocial need to transfer out of such strong schools to get into schools such as Harvard, Columbia, etc. I cannot see how the top rated LACs as deficient in that which even schools such as Harvard and Columbia are now aggressively touting as the mainstay offerings within their colleges. They insist on informing those who attend info sessions how their colleges offer the liberal arts experience, and that the universities have an eye and put full effort in making sure the undergraduates have a unique undergraduate experience, where the faculty and administration are focused on them, and not merely the graduate students.