From academics to location to the social scene, the current 4-year public institution I attend is a terrible fit for me. I’m miserable and can’t imagine spending three more years here. I got involved in extracurriculars, took classes that I thought would be interesting, and have utilized my university’s health services, but nothing I do seems to be helping. I also feel guilty because I’m paying full out-of-state tuition for a place I’m not even happy. It might be worth noting too that I was actually really excited to go here, so my feelings don’t stem from residual yearning for a “dream school” after being denied, etc.
Thus, began my daunting process of applying to college, all over again. (It felt like I was trapped in Harold Ramis’ “Groundhog’s Day” movie). I ended up applying to ten schools for sophomore transfer admission. As a “chronic worrier,” I’m nervous and anxious that I won’t be accepted to any of them. I tried my hardest to create strong applications to schools with a range of transfer acceptance rates, but still I worry.
Do you wise College Confidential people have any advice for learning to love your school and dealing with potentially not being accepted as a transfer? I’m considering taking a semester off to intern if my transfer plans do not work out, but how can I cope with my actual time on this campus? Any advice would be greatly appreciated :,)
Well, you’ve been through the college application ringer once, and I’m sure you’ve narrowed it down to a reasonable list of schools, so I see no reason why you shouldn’t get into at least one.
I didn’t hate my first college, but I transferred to my dream school in my sophomore year. It was the only transfer application I submitted, and I, too, thought about what would happen if I was rejected. I found that the best preparation for a possible rejection was finding the people and things that made me happy at my first university. I didn’t have many friends, but I’d started getting to know a core group of people like me–truly, this is a survival strategy anywhere you go because it’s great to have someone who shares your interests and/or you can laugh with. I suppose I would’ve gotten more involved in extracurriculars by taking leadership positions. Oh, and studying abroad is never too shabby of an idea, depending on whether it’s accessible to you!
I suppose the biggest piece of advice I have is realizing that even though some superficial things may change (location, campus, people), the best thing you can do is open yourself up to inner change and be willing to embrace all the quirks of your new school.
Good luck!
@WeLoveLyman thank you so much for your thoughtful insight! I appreciate it 
Do you have any advice regarding the wait between application submission and hearing back from transfer admissions? I’m just a bundle of nerves at this point :-S
From your posting history you are trying to transfer to the Ivies and Ivy equivalent schools. You may want to apply to a few matches.
@TomSrOfBoston Thank you! Do you know if there are any match/target schools that are still accepting applications? If not, I guess I can always apply again next year with schools more likely to accept me. I did apply to one or two matches, but in hindsight I should have applied to more.
It is easy to understand why one might not fit in or enjoy your current school. Nevertheless, concerns & desires need to come from you. To which schools have you applied as a transfer candidate ?
@Publisher That’s very true. Thank you!
I (somewhat stupidly) only applied to Boston College, Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Middlebury, Northwestern, Penn, Tufts, and WashU. I’m looking into schools that have April 1 deadlines that are more likely to accept me like Northeastern. Do you think it would be a good idea to apply there, and maybe some other schools? (If you know of any others, I’d love to hear them!)
For added context, BC, Georgetown, Tufts, and WashU all have similar acceptance rates to my current school, and my GPA is above the average listed for successful transfers to BC, Northwestern, and Tufts, and on par with the others.
I chose those schools because they all have what I’m looking for (academically, socially, opportunity-wise) with strong programs for my major and some cool study abroad options (like Duke’s program in Geneva), and seem to be of similar caliber to that of my current school. Luckily their transfer acceptance rates seem to vary drastically year-by-year, so maybe there’s hope? Regardless, in hindsight, I should have applied to more target/match schools… because my chances are virtually non-existent 
But it’s my fault so I shouldn’t be disappointed.
I guess I can always apply again next year to schools that are more likely to accept me… It’s a learning process.
I think that if you want a change, then you have applied to the correct schools.
Surprisingly, Tufts accepted less than 6% as transfers last year. Northwestern accepted almost 12% !!! Vanderbilt accepted 29.7%; WashUStL accepted 14.6%: Emory accepts a high percentage–25% to 33% area. Penn accepted 9.33%.
Duke’s program in Switzerland should be an incredible experience. My favorite European countries are Switzerland & Austria.
Duke accepted 4.8% as transfers. Georgetown accepted 12.3%. Dartmouth College varies recently from 4.7% to less than 1%.
@Publisher Thank you so much for your kind words and help! It seems like a relatively mixed bag, but I’m not too optimistic.
Do you happen to know if admission to those schools as a transfer is difficult because of much qualified competition, or do the acceptance rates moreso reflect a lot of lesser-qualified applicants applying, driving the acceptance rates down? Or maybe it’s a mixture of both?
I’ve never been to Switzerland but I love Europe and it would be amazing to study global policy there! Do you know anybody that participated in the program?
Very well qualified applicant pool combined with limited openings (varies by year) leads to intense competition for transfer spots.
No, but I have a relative at Duke. Unfortunately as a recruited athlete he wasn’t able to study abroad.
@Publisher Oh, okay. Thanks! I guess it’s just a waiting game (for rejections) now. 
And wow, that’s amazing! I so wish I was blessed with a hand-eye coordination gene haha. Do they like it there? (Sorry if I’m asking too many questions :-S I appreciate all of your help!!)
Yes, but initially found the academics to be quite challenging.
If you don’t get any transfer acceptances, then you didn’t apply broadly enough.
Why no Big HomeState Public U on your list?
Why no I-just-need-a-break-CC on your list?
What about taking a gap year and re-thinking your life?
If you won’t be fine with returning to your current U next fall, you need to work on your back-up plan.
@happymomof1 That’s very true. Thank you. Do you suggest I try to apply to some April 1 deadline schools? In particular, I was considering Northeastern, but I’m not sure how I would feel without a typical college campus.
I looked into my home state’s public universities but I don’t really like the social scene at any of them, so some of the problems I have with my current school would occur at those schools as well. I haven’t thought about community college; I’ll look into that! Thank you for the suggestion
As for right now, my current plan is to take a gap year and try to intern if my transfer applications don’t work. I feel like it would give me a mental break in addition to providing clarity for my career and post-secondary educational aspirations.
Unless the places left for you to apply to offer something specific that you do know you want, stop applying. Plan the gap year.
@happymomof1 Okay, thank you so much for your help! I will look into my gap year options
Off the top of my head; George Washington, UCONN, UMass, Northeastern all have April deadlines. All good schools that could be great backup plans to those difficult transfer options.
@TransferFall2018 Thank you so much! That’s very helpful; I’ll look into them
@avocadough No problem! I also applied to BC as a transfer but as a reach option haha.