Is transferring colleges bad?

Transfer Students
1

First off, is transferring colleges bad? I know some people attend two years of community college before transferring to an instate university, but I want to know if its bad to transfer from an instate 4 year university to an out of state 4 year university. Is it common and is it considered bad? This is not due to grades but just because i dislike my university. So with that said, i have good grades, but will it look bad if i transfer universities?

Also, is transferring colleges harder than freshman acceptance? For example, out of state students have very low chances of getting into unc chapel hill out of high school, but would it be easier or harder to do it from a out of state university?

How about for schools that i got into as a high schooler but chose not to go? Would i have a good chance of being readmitted or would it be harder?( OSU and UGA come to mind) this is OOS too.

Lastly, if I do transfer universities, should i do it after freshman or sophomore year? Also, do transfer students get any sholarships?

Note: i understand it depends on my gpa, so what is a good gpa in general? How about for engineering?

Thanks

2
  1. Transferring college isn't reflected as bad at all, especially if you transfer to a better college. Obama transferred from Occidental College to Columbia.
  2. Most transfer admissions is harder than freshmen admissions with the exception of a few. Most public schools (UC, UVA, W&M, UMich, UNC, etc.) are transfer friendly to instate residents and instate CC transfers. But this also means oos transferring is hard. Vandy and USC have higher transfer acceptance rates than freshman admissions. But schools like Ivies, elite LACs, top 30, transfer admission is significantly harder.

For UNC, I think transferring from an oos state university will be extremely difficult and probably harder than out of high school since most transfer spots are given to community college kids from NC.

  1. There is no concrete answer on whether reapplying harms or helps your chances, but for the most part, I don't think it'll harm your chances. I know people who got accepted as a transfer to a school that they chose not to matriculate out of high school.
  2. If you transfer, you will most likely continue your academic path, aka not repeat a year. It will depend on credits transferring, but most people enter in the year they are supposed to be in.
  3. Most schools don't offer merit scholarships to transfers. Financial aid might also be stringent for transfers.
3

I think that @Dontskipthemoose answered most of your questions very well (as well as having a good login name).

There is one more think to keep in your mind: Transferring multiple times is probably not a good idea. For example, it would make you look like you can’t make up your mind. As such, if you are going to transfer, you should be very confident that you are transferring to the right place.

Also, transferring from an in-state to an out-of-state university is likely to very significantly increase the cost of your bachelor’s degree. As such, make sure that you can afford the full undergraduate degree before you transfer. You don’t want to transfer, run out of money, then have to transfer back in-state again. Be aware also that many students take more than 4 years to graduate (changing majors, falling a course or two behind, taking a semester or two off, or transferring and not getting all credits are some reasons for taking more than 4 years). Thus if you are going to transfer to an out of state university either be sure that you will graduate on time, or budget for additional semesters.

I think that if you are doing well in your classes, and if they have a good program in your desired major, and if the cost is reasonable (which is usual for in-state students), then you need to have a very good reason to make transferring worthwhile. Of course, once you graduate with a Bachelor’s degree, if you want to do graduate work, then going to a different university for graduate school is normal (probably more common than going to the same university for graduate school).

I don’t mean to talk you out of transferring. However, if you do transfer them make sure that you have thought this through carefully and considered the implications.