I’m currently about to begin my sophomore year at UC San Diego and unfortunately this university ended up being exactly what I didn’t want in my college experience and I knew that applying my senior year. Originally I wasn’t going to apply to the UC’s because I didn’t really want a large public institution with thousands of students and large class sizes, and I’ve felt quite uncomfortable with my decision. Heading into my senior year of high school, I knew what I wanted in a college and I set a standard of applying to smaller colleges, and I really liked the liberal arts colleges, and I got into Macalester, Occidental, Lewis and Clark, and Bowdoin, and in the end I just chose UCSD cause it was the closest in state school that kind of reflected that smaller school vibe since it’s broken down into a six college system and I received the best financial aid package from them.
Now heading into my sophomore year and realizing that I don’t really want to stay at UCSD for the remainder of my education for two main reasons: I still yearn for that smaller college setting with smaller class sizes and better interactions with professors and the majors I preferably want (Biology or Public Health since I am pre-med) are both capped and it’s too late for me to get into them due to the fact that I must declare my major by the end of my first quarter since I will have completed 90 units by then.
I know this is a long post, but I’ve been looking into advice as to where to transfer to or recommendations on any smaller schools that I should look into when it comes to transferring. I am thinking of still applying to Macalester and Occidental, but I am worried as to how it would look applying re-applying to those colleges when they admitted me my senior year but I didn’t attend. Also want some advice on how transfer applications go and some insight on financial aid and acceptance rates for transfer students to see how hard it would be to get in.
My d had to recently transfer this year. She re-applied to a few of the schools she had originally applied to. They were all quite happy to be under consideration once again and also honored the original merit aid from two years ago.
@taverngirl
Thanks for the reply! May I ask how was your d’s experience applying as a transfer student? Did she find it harder to get into some of the same colleges she reapplied to or even new ones?
She was forced to transfer due to a dramatic decrease in financial aid, so when she went to apply as a transfer, she was chasing merit and thus not applying to reachy schools. She got into all of them with merit and even FA, which is interesting because they were all less expensive than the school that said we no longer qualified for FA. We were pleasantly surprised at her merit and financial awards, as many on here had told us it would be slim pickings. My daughter actually called the schools to which she had applied prior, and they were super nice and welcoming her to reapply. All actually told her over the phone she’d likely be accepted and with the original award, which ended up being accurate (she did share her college gpa during those phone calls). She ended up attending one of the ones that she had previously applied to. Chances are high that if they admitted you once, and you have a decent college gpa, they’ll accept you again. You just need to figure out if you can afford them.
As far as the application process, it was very similar to the first time around. Needed to have high school transcripts and test scores sent, send the FAFSA, and complete the common app transfer app (or other application if the school requires their own). Hope this helps. Best of luck to you!
I think that your experience may depend upon the specific schools in question.
OP: Bowdoin College may be quite difficult, but I think that Lewis & Clark College, Oxy & Macalester may readmit you if you have a strong college GPA. Cannot predict merit awards, however.
@taverngirl: It would be interesting to know the schools which reaccepted your daughter with the same merit scholarship award as this seems out of the ordinary.
If the other colleges were too expensive, then you may have to make your transfer application list with more consideration of likely net price than you made your frosh application list with.
Also, students of any major can be pre-med.
UC Merced, Sonoma State, Humboldt State, CSU Channel Islands, and CSU Monterey Bay are smaller than most California public universities, if in-state cost and financial aid are important to you.
@Publisher D reapplied to Susquehanna and St. Lawrence. She also received very good merit awards from Quinnipiac and Wheaton, and smaller awards from UVM and UPitt. Plus the applications weren’t even completed until mid to late July.