I know these aren’t so common. Please let me know if it happened to you.
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UCs do offer Regents scholarships to transfer students.
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Colleges do not negotiate financial aid unless they are desperate for students. Most private universities use the CSS Profile or their own form in addition to FAFSA. Merit aid for transfers is usually minimal at most schools.
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Why transfer for political communication when UCSB’s communication and political science majors both offer political communication in-major electives?
https://my.sa.ucsb.edu/catalog/Current/CollegesDepartments/ls-intro/polsci.aspx?DeptTab=Courses (108, 154, 172, 173, 267)
https://my.sa.ucsb.edu/catalog/Current/CollegesDepartments/ls-intro/comm.aspx?DeptTab=Courses (117, 130, 132, 134, 137, 148, 170, 174)
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Look at some schools that meet need but only consider custodial parents income.
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I have a lot of reasons for transferring. I don’t like the big class sizes, or the excessively theory-based nature of the comm program, or the social climate… I didn’t put much thought into my choice to go there and I just want a better fit. But thank you for the really detailed course suggestions, I do appreciate the input! 
I do t think this is worth doing. Most colleges won’t do it anyway.
Do any fafsa-only privates give great aid to transfer students?
@byebyeucsb are you leaving UCSB? If so, do NOT cut ties with UCSB until your parents see your aid pkg from your new school and agree that it’s affordable.
If you attend UCSB and you’re instate, then likely you’re getting great aid…is that correct? What are you getting??
Why do you want to leave UCSB …what is your major and career goal? Are you a frosh
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@mom2collegekids Excellent deal at UCSB. Finished my freshman year, now on a gap year. Absolutely not cutting ties with UCSB, my aid is waiting for me there- 3.5k in subsidized loans + the rest in grants paid for all expenses of year 1. I know I’m very lucky to have that as a backup. Easy re-enrollment process should I choose that route.
I just really dislike UCSB. I was at a big crossroads (going from preprofessional dance training to no longer a dancer) when I was doing my applications, so I hadn’t done the thing where I spend high school thinking about and preparing for college. I did not know of any way to get money to school other than going FAFSA-only, with no financial support for college from noncustodial as 100% of noncustodial income is from a stepparent. So I did no research on private schools, only applied to Cal publics, and ended up making a choice based purely on aid from my limited acceptances from the small list to which I applied (and granted, the aid is amazing.) As a result, I wasn’t getting the education I wanted. I like small, discussion-based classes. I’m a speech and debate nerd type person who hates Greek life, and the social climate at UCSB didn’t suit me. I was a comm major, and I really hated the comm department. It was strongly focused on theory and research, as opposed to more hands-on PR/journalism/public speaking/debating etc. focus that more appealing comm programs have. I really want to go to a smallish private in the Northeast. Very interested in Boston.
Basically I’m doing a Take 2 with my applications and this time trying to really examine what I want from college and make that happen. My current top choice is Emerson, where I want to study political communication. The program looks perfect for me and I really believe I would thrive there. I haven’t toured the school though, and won’t be able to till post-apps as I’m traveling, so I want to build a list of schools to apply to and not put all my eggs in that basket. They are also notoriously bad with aid and scholarships, something already much harder for transfers.
I know this is not the most feasible route, but I need to give it a shot because I think I can get so much more out of my education and college experience and it has to be worth at least trying.
To those advising against this: I know that negotiations may not be a successful strategy and I appreciate your input. Just exploring all my possible options for finaid applications.
@CU123 Very helpful link, thank you!
Emerson does not provide full ride scholarships. The provide a full tuition scholarship, for students who have received an associates from Miami-Dade for students who have completed an associates with a 3.7 gpa. The balance would probably be need based aid.
Other than Miami-Dade, there are some select community colleges where you can get a half tuition scholarship, otherwise, their largest transfer scholarship is $10, 000
http://www.emerson.edu/undergraduate-admission/tuition-financial-aid/scholarships
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Emerson’s largest transfer scholarship is $10,000
http://www.emerson.edu/undergraduate-admission/tuition-financial-aid/scholarships
Can your family afford to pay the balance?
I really don’t think you will have a speck of luck “negotiating” need based aid with schools that meet full need for all…as a transfer student.
IIRC, University of Chicago meets full need for all accepted transfer students. It’s a FAFSA only school, and they also have a small form of their own. No custodial parent info.
However, Chicago accepts a VERY small number of transfer students so they really don’t need to negotiate with you. If you can not afford their offer, theyncan easily move on to the next applicant…as can most of these very generous colleges.
How many years have you been in college already?
You can probably save $30,000 a year right off the bat by applying to a public university in your state…which likely costs $30,000 LESS than the private colleges.
Is there some COMPELLING reason you need to go to an expensive private university?
You want to transfer to Emerson?
I’m a transfer trying to get money for a private school, and hoping to use negotiations to get this. I have a high income noncustodial and a low income custodial parent. So for aid, I’m looking for FAFSA-only privates that give good aid, and for merit scholarships, schools that may offer good aid to transfers.
Stats: 4.2 HS GPA, 3.88 college GPA, 1430 SAT
That’s nice…but it might not be affordable. Emerson gives some kind of aid to 2/3 of students…including loans. It’s not all free money…which is what you have at your current school for the majority of your aid.
In addition, housing is not guaranteed for transfers…and the cost of rentals…and living in general is high in Boston (I know you are from CA…but I’m talking to you as a college student).
Emerson does not guarantee to meet full need for ALL accepted students anyway. As noted, the highest transfer merit award is $10,000.
“Negotiating” with them will be an uphill struggle.
Are you saying there are NO colleges in the CA public university arena where you could transfer…where your costs would be less from the start?
If you are a female student…would you consider Smith? I think they give decent aid to transfers.
Maybe Vassar? I don’t know anything about their aid for transfers.
I think your time would be better spent looking for schools that WILL give you sufficient aid…or where the costs are affordable anyway…not schools where you hope to negotiate a higher package from Emerson. Not likely to happen.
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You can only negotiate if, say, you get into Yale and UChicago, ie., two private universities in the same elite circles that provide generous “full need” aid. So, your best bet is to apply to a vast variety of LACs and top 25 universities and hope two that consider each other rivals accept you.
Emerson will not negotiate because they don’t promise to meet need for anyone. The BEST they offer is the $10,000 transfer scholarships + FAFSA loan (+ Pell if you qualify). Their endowment doesn’t allow them to do more.
It sounds like you’d really like Pitzer and Occidental so I’d recommend you apply there. They meet need but are need aware. Perhaps add Chapman and USC (USC will have large classes too but will be less theoretical).
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You’ve stated that your non-custodial parent had a high household income and won’t pay…
You’re in the same boat as others who have affluent parents that won’t/can’t pay. You need to deal with what you have…and that’s generous aid at UCSB. You’ve wasted a year. As an upper division student you’d have smaller classes at UCSB. If you hadn’t taken that gap year, you’d be in smaller classes next fall.
Transfers get lousy aid.
Take some time and go through Linkedin and take a look at the educational background of folks working in polling organizations, as communications directors on capitol hill, in lobbyist roles, as comm’s directors in Think Tanks, etc.
You do not need to major in communications. You will see history majors, sociology majors, psych majors, poli sci and government majors. You need a degree which teaches you to read, write, think. You need some content knowledge about the governing process. And you need to get out with a boat load of debt since your first job will pay 28K to live in Washington DC which is an expensive city even without college loans. And you will need a really solid internship or two to get that first job- which can be at the state house (Albany NY, Springfield IL, basically any state capital) plus any other major metro area.
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