LAC Spring Transfer Advice

Transfer Students
,
1

hi, everyone.

recently, i’ve come to the conclusion that i want to transfer from the current liberal arts college i’m at right now to another liberal arts college. not only for academic reasons (i’m not doing bad at all, i’m actually doing fairly well… there’s just no an emphasis on what i’m wanting to study in the future [law], and the resources aren’t up to par), but also because of other personal reasons. all in all, i simply don’t feel like i’m being offered the correct resources for my future that i should be getting because there’s not an emphasis on what i’m wanting to do at my institution. i believe the institutions i’m currently looking at have a way to better benefit me academically for my majors as well as resourcefully for my future career in law. i do not want to say where i currently attend because i feel that to be a personal matter.

please, do not hit me with the “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side” rhetoric that is so often stated to transfer students. i’m fully aware that it isn’t. i’ve thought about transferring two other times during my college experience (this is the third time… guess it really is the charm), so this isn’t a “spur of the moment” type of idea.

i currently attend a highly-ranked LAC (T14), and i’d like to stay within at least the T20 (but if there’s a college you think i’m sickly overlooking, please feel free to let me know… i’d be lying if i said i didn’t value prestige, but i also value fantastic programs… so T40-ish isn’t off-limits). I’m looking for colleges that not only have well-regarded GWSS (gender, women’s, and sexuality studies) & Sociology departments but also offer some areas of study i could potentially major/minor in that involve law. to give you an idea of what i’m talking about, the college i’ve been most looking into is hamilton. hamilton’s GWSS & Soc departments are rather good, and they also offer a minor in jurisprudence, law, and justice studies (and even a major in public policy), which is pretty awesome. i suppose it’s the main one i’ve been looking into thus far. claremont mckenna is another option i’ve been looking into.

i suppose my only problems are 1.) that since i just finished my sophomore year and didn’t fill out any transfer applications for the fall, i would be needing to apply as a spring transfer, which limits my options a bit (i.e. i can’t apply to williams, pomona, etc.). i don’t mind being a semester “behind,” honestly, i just don’t want to be a year “behind” (quotations because the education timeline is laughably relative) & 2.) i’m poooooor. like, pell grant recipient poor. most colleges are need-aware for transfer students, and i fear that will hurt me in my process of applying… but these schools also offer some of the best financial aid out there. it sucks.

** edit: plus, with the coronavirus, i don’t even know if ANY colleges at all will be accepting transfer students who need significant financial aid because of the loss of money so many institutions are currently experiencing. i feel defeated almost? i don’t know.

Tl;DR: good LACs for GWSS & Soc w/ good law/policy studies opportunities that accept spring transfers that also provide good financial aid? help?

2

Most of the top LACs offer decent FA but whether the do so for transfer students is another issue. For example, Barnard offers great need-based aid for freshmen but leaves their options open for transfers.

To start, look at the common data sets for the T14 or Twhatever schools that interest you. You may find that limits your options further. For example, in recent years Wellesley hasn’t accepted any transfer students, or maybe one or two. The higher you go in the list, the harder it is to transfer.

I’m not sure what you mean by law/policy studies opportunities. Do you mean political science? Prep for law school? If so, law schools don’t really care what your major is/was but do care a lot about your GPA and LSAT scores. There are several websites that can guide you about what combo of scores will get you into what law school on average.

Most schools have gender studies, but perhaps consider some of the women’s colleges–Mt Holyoke is a great school IMHO and it offers decent FA, you can take classes in the consortium to branch out to other schools. Smith is in the same consortium. Bryn Mawr is hard to transfer into but is also in a consortium. Haverford is part of the consortium but takes only a handful of students each year too.

You may want to consider a school that’s lower down the list on USNWR. They are more likely to offer you FA. And truthfully there’s not a boatload of difference academically between, say, Scripps at #33 and Claremont Mc at #7. They’re in the same consortium and a five minute walk from each other. Do you think that they would allow students to take classes at the other schools if they were vastly different in quality? IMHO the numbers in the ranks are fairly silly and Harvard Law pulls students from a wide swath of undergraduate colleges. Most people don’t have the USNWR list in their head when they evaluate you or your abilities, aside from say some of the Big Name Brand Schools like Yale or Harvard. Most people haven’t heard of Pomona. Really. So if you’re miserable at your current school and want to transfer, then consider looking down the list to find schools that would be happy to scoop you up and give you loads of cash.

One word of caution, however, is that Spring transfers are in a smaller cohort from fall transfers. That can make finding friends that much harder. FYI.

Best of luck to you.

3

@Dustyfeathers hi! thank you for your words and advice. however, i’m a male, so the women’s colleges are most certainly out of the question.

in terms of law/policy studies opportunities, i would say it’s a combination of not necessarily preparation, but more academic opportunities and resources dedicated towards those who are interested in law school. with claremont mckenna, they have a particular focus on government/policy/law/etc., and at hamilton they have academic areas of study focused on the law (as well as a partnership with columbia law [which i obviously wouldn’t be able to do since i would be transferring in my junior year, but it’s something that particularly caught my eye]). my current college really… just doesn’t offer anything like that. our careers resources are okay, but they’re abysmal for students wanting to study law.

the specific schools on my mind are hamilton and cmc, also franklin and marshall and middlebury. i thought about amherst, but transferring in would be incredibly difficult, considering 50% of their transfers come from community colleges. that leaves very minimal room for transfers like me, honestly.

4

Law Schools accept people with the entire range of interests, worth saying again. Engineering to nursing; labor organizer to costume designer, studio artist to policy wonk. They care more about your GPA and LSAT score.

Maximize your GPA. Seriously. What school can maximize your GPA? That will prep you for law school.

5

Do you have two prof recommendations ready to go? Is it your intent to take a leave from your current school this fall semester?

I really don’t understand the issue at your current school, you say resources for law school preparation and personal reasons. I struggle to understand why a T14 LAC would have inadequate resources, and how you are able to evaluate from a website that another LAC would have better resources.

You didn’t give me enough to weigh in on the personal reasons side, but is it possible you can make things work at your current school?

Once each of the schools on your list has communicated their fall plans, and the deadline to request a gap year has passed, contact each admissions office and ask if they are taking fall transfers. If not, ask about spring transfers.

The financial aid situation does complicate things, what is your EFC based on your current school’s aid package for this coming year?

6

I’m with @Mwfan1921 in struggling to believe that any of the “T14” would be “abysmal for students wanting to study law.”. The top law schools are well-populated with students from all of those colleges.

The only “resource” that I can think of that would be variable is LSAT prep- there are some colleges that have prep classes on campus, for example. If you look at what Hamilton does, they have some handy info on the website- but it is all generic and self-directed: you can use those pages no matter what college you go to, and if you look closely you will see that they are mostly checklists for you to do it yourself.

If the point is that “I want classes that specifically are called law” imo that won’t make a compelling ‘why transfer from T14 school X to us?’ essay. Public policy in some form (Political Science is the usual) is available at all of them.

From here it looks as though you have really strong personal reasons for not going back to campus. If that is the case imo you should just own it, and not try and try and sell the ‘I can’t get what I need to get into law school where I am’ idea.