What is the 'Transfer Option'?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>Email received this morning from Cornell saying you are among "a select group of students interested in CALS: for whom we would like to grant a 'transfer option.' The communique goes on to say that we have to notify them by a certain date if we're interested and includes a link to Cornell site to register for it. Is this like the third tier above a "rejecting you for all time?" You know, "Accepted!" "Waitlisted!" "Rejected with Transfer Option!" "Rejected (aka, don't bother us anymore)!" </p>

<p>Apparently if you fulfill certain agreed upon requirements, you're among the first line for transfer next year? </p>

<p>Has anybody ever accepted this option? Is it for real? Who gets it? Why?</p>

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<p>It’s the guaranteed transfer (GT). There are a variety of reasons for why an applicant would be given this option. If you fulfill the course and GPA requirements and submit the appropriate paperwork, you will be admitted as a transfer student the following year. </p>

<p>Personally, I would rather have a GT than be placed on the waitlist.</p>

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<p>Plainsman -out of curiosity, was your daughter waitlisted or rejected then offered GT?</p>

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<p>IMO, it should be “Accepted!” “Offered TO!” “Waitlisted!” “Rejected (aka, don’t bother us anymore!”</p>

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<p>oldfort: Sadly, my daughter was simply rejected. No waitlist. Definitely a surprise. Then this “transfer option” thing arrives via email today. Says she has until June 1 to decide and “register” if the answer is yes. Very strange. I’ve never heard of this. I’m perplexed. How do they decide who gets this thing? </p>

<p>My D is confused. Fortunately, she was admitted to a Top 20 LAC that she really likes and given a scholarship. So what should she do now?</p>

<p>ImReachingForIt: Did you get the same email? </p>

<p>DewDrop87: It didn’t say “guaranteed transfer.” It said “you’ve been selected for the transfer option.” Do you think it’s guaranteed?</p>

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<p>It’s GT. If your daughter should meet all requirements then she’ll be guaranteed a spot at Cornell. My friend’s son was offered GT. He went to CMU for the first year, then decided to stay at CMU because he is doing very well there. My daughter classmate was also offered GT 2 years ago, she went to Rutgers the first year (saved a lot of money) then transferred to Cornell. If your daughter should decide to take up on GT then I would go to an inexpensive school the first year, make sure she meets all requirements (right courses and minimum GPA) then transfer. The risk is if she doesn’t meet the requirements, then she’ll pass up on other great options she currently has.</p>

<p>Another option is to go to Oberlin the first year, take all required courses by Cornell. If she should love Oberlin then stay, otherwise she could transfer to Cornell. No matter what, I would not pass up on Cornell’s GT. It’s a free option to your daughter. She could always turn it down next year.</p>

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<p>Plainsman, looks like I’m in the same boat as your D. Probably headed to Oberlin next year, uncertain about the GT.</p>

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<p>We got a GT and are THRILLED !!! This is CORNELL </p>

<p>As per how these were determined - we had great gpa, act, ecs but really lousy SAT IIs.</p>

<p>I would guess the SAT IIs were what determined it for us. Everything being great except for one thing (the SAT IIs) =- if we cant be admitted, we are very happy with this.</p>

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<p>^^^</p>

<p>What do you mean “This is CORNELL?” Oberlin is also a top academic school. I can’t believe the stats on some of the kids who are headed to Oberlin this fall. My daughter is somewhat intimidated. These are people who could’ve gone to Cornell had they bothered to apply. Perhaps Cornell has a few more people with super stats, but Oberlin does not appear to be some kind of second tier school. Like Oldfort’s friend’s son, my daughter could love it at Oberlin and want to stay. They did offer her a partial four-year merit scholarship. She’d have to walk away from that. She’s also still a candidate for a full, four-year ride from Penn State-University Park. She should know by next week. How could she walk away from a full, four-year ride, paying for nothing except books, at Penn State to transfer to Cornell which would make us candidates for debtor’s prison? So should my daughter enroll in the easiest school possible (not Oberlin) so she can run up a fat GPA and transfer? This “transfer option” thing has really muddled the whole picture.</p>

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<p>@ Plainsman: Yes i did receive the email. However, my decision letter was not a simple rejection. It had a paragraph telling me that I was offered the transfer option. If they offered you a TO then your D has a guaranteed spot at cornell in her sophmore year.</p>

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<p>“These are people who could’ve gone to Cornell had they bothered to apply.”</p>

<p>I think I can vouch for that. Seeing as my D1, a legacy with outstanding credentials, would not apply to Cornell and actually attended Oberlin.</p>

<p>Oberlin is a fine school but it is a very different place than Cornell and it’s almost surprising to me that multiple people evidently applied to both of them.</p>

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<p>monydad: Would you be kind enough to elaborate on the differences? My D applied to Cornell mainly because it was an Ivy. We really knew nothing else about it. She did do a double overnight at Cornell and had a very good experience except for her host student who had no personality and was a flake. But she loved Oberlin’s “liberalness” and uber-progressive history. And with no frats or sororities, Oberlin had a very discernable “character” or feel, Cornell didn’t. Like most non-LACs, Cornell was more of a mismash of different kinds of people who are at Cornell for very disparate reasons, and who would graduate and return to their place of origin never to speak again.</p>

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<p>Oh, where to start.
The differences at first blush are the generic differences between a liberal arts college and a university,as representatives of their type. Which are stark, and numerous. Then there are the insitution-specific differences.</p>

<p>off the top opf my head:

  • larger classes, with inexperienced TAs heading sections and grading, vs. smaller classes,taught by Professors only;
    -Professor priorities include grad students & research, vs. essentially only priorities are teaching undergrads;
    -Can duck a lecture if you want, nobody cares; vs. class is 6 people, you better get your butt there;
    -huge course selection, can study anything, in unlimited depth & breadth; vs. if they don’t got it you can’t learn it;
    -computerized. impersonal, barely competent administration; vs. “real people”,more personal,barely competent administration;
  • all types of people there, not all of whom you necessarily like; but you can always meet more; vs. more pronouncedly predominant campus culture, which can be great to the exent you fit, and increasingly less great to the extent you don’t;
  • Never stop meeting new people. vs. you actually know a decent chunk of class
  • Many profs may not really know you, vs, all your Profs know you- for better or worse;
  • 20,000+ students in a college town of same size in a metro area of 100,000, vs. under 3,000 students in a town of 8,000
    -lots of all kinds of people means lots of pre-professional types as well; vs. more homogeneous interests, higher proportion"down to earth" (though often rabidly political), fewer overtly pre-professional, none interested in"prestige"
  • student body includes some of the most academically capable students in the country; vs. somewhat more uniform student body that is also perfectly smart & accomplished, but may not have the same proportion of superstars;
  • on-campus recruiting and good name recognition, vs. little on-campus recruiting and little name recognition;
    -4.5 hours from my house, vs. 8 hours from my house
  • higher proportion New Yorkers vs, higher proportion from Ohio & surrounding;
  • Fraternities and sports vs. none and barely
  • drinking vs.perhaps some other things</p>

<p>I could go on, and on…</p>

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<p>Plainsman, my wife is a proud Cornell alumna. She has a group of five tight friends who have stayed very close over the course of years since they graduated. Furthermore, my wife also has a few acquaintances and a few professors with whom she stayed in contact with; so the idea that Cornell doesn’t breed close bonds over time is false. While it is a bigger and more diverse group of people than a good LAC like Oberlin, it still has a general character, and can produce wonderful long-term friendships.</p>

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<p>monydad - what you have described is very typical of LAC vs U (except the Greek life part). I think Plainsman is looking for more specific as to why your daughter was so attracted to Oberlin vs Colgate, Williams, Amherst… There is something about Oberlin that’s very appealing to Plainsman and his daughter, he may be trying to validate his feeling. Do I have that right?</p>

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<p>Oldfort: The only thing attractive about Oberlin is what was unattractive about Lehigh: the political environment. Oberlin is predominately liberal (vs. very conservative). I don’t want a Greek dominanted campus for my kids (like Lehigh) or one that hosted McCain and Palin twice and Obama-Biden not even once (again, Lehigh). My daughter is vey much like me in this regard. He trusts my judgment (about politics) and agrees with me politically.</p>

<p>I’m not necessarily trying to validate my feeling, but I sense Oberlin has the kind of atmosphere or environment I prefer my daughter be in. I have no idea if Cornell offers the same kind of environment. I don’t think Cornell is like Lehigh, but I don’t know how much it is like Oberlin.</p>

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<p>Well looks like you made your decision before you even applied :)</p>

<p>You said it yourself, you applied to Cornell just because it was Ivy.</p>

<p>Now look at everything you want in a college: it is not Cornell.</p>

<p>Yes our social life is overrun by Greeks. Yes we are a mixed bag of politics (though mostly liberal). You think that Cornell students don’t have pride in their school, we are just a hodgepodge of pre-business, pre-law, pre-med students who go to class everyday to memorize, take our exams, and go into the workforce. Then we move out, forget about all of the college experience, and disappear back into the holes we came from.</p>

<p>Your decision is clear (although your opinion is highly misinformed)</p>

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<p>You are NOT just the “peanut gallery,” you can’t claim to be so detached and non-influential. </p>

<p>A parent’s opinion, or in Plainsman’s case, a parent’s vehement opinion, severely influences a student, to the point where students often forgo their own judgment to listen to the judgment of their parents despite the student’s hesitations.</p>

<p>So in effect, it IS his decision. But it’s sad, because it seems like Plainsman hasn’t made the effort to question his initial opinions of places like Cornell, and so hasn’t been told where his opinion is blatantly wrong. And these negative opinions and false stereotypes are then willingly imposed on his child.</p>

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<p>It’s not his decision, it’s his kid’s decision.
We parents are just the peanut gallery.</p>

<p>The City of Ithaca is politically not that different than Oberlin, though somewhat less vocal., The university has more diverse voices but is predominantly liberal as well. </p>

<p>If you want to recycle and save the world from overdevelopment, you can find a large cohort there with similar interests. If you want to get the highest paying job in America, and join Psi U because it is the most prestigious frat on campus, you can find a large cohort there with similar interests. If your objective is to get a Phd in Philosophy, you can find a large cohort there with similar interests.
And onwards.</p>

<p>It is diverse. That doesn’t mean people don’t like it there. You find your niche, and there is large room to maneuver in that regard.</p>

<p>At a liberal arts college there is a predominant culture and not all of these groups will be well represented. The extent that you match with the predominant campus culture will highly influence how much you like it, because there is much less room to maneuver.</p>

<p>In the end, it offered an excellent example of the LAC experience, but I came to apppreciate the value of the diversity,size, course selection, goal orientation and on-campus recruiting available at Cornell by observing D1s experience through the peanut gallery.</p>

<p>A reasonable person might choose either experience, but it somewhat surprises me when someone’s choices come down to these two, since the environments are so different. D1s other choices were all LAcs (and Brown).</p>

<p>(Sorry this was supposed to be above prior post)</p>

<p>I don’t know about Plainsman, but I didn’'t have nearly the level of influence you are suggesting on my kids. But in the end, the college hunting experience necessarliy entails making quick judgements and coming to impressions which may possibly be mistaken. Whether these possibly wrong impressions are arrived at by the student, the parent, or both. Decisions have to be made, under circumstances of incomplete knowledge. Incomplete knowledge both of the place and of how you will ultimately in fact react to it once you’re there.</p>

<p>That’s the way it is.</p>

<p>In this case, he’s coming on here to become somewhat better informed about it, to the extent possible.</p>

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<p>Monydad and Chendrix: in my opinion you are both, paradoxically, right. At one level parents can have some substantial influence on their child’s choice of a college, but it is also true that the young student ultimately makes the final decision (in most cases in our modern western culture). And then there are other factors, like the particular nature of their relationship, the cost of the various potential schools, et cetera.</p>