I’m currently a first year stem + Econ student at a top HWC but I’m really considering transferring to NW, UChicago, UNC, or Duke to be closer to my family. I know as a transfer student I should have a solid narrative of why I want to transfer out of my current college, but I genuinely have one single reason for wanting to leave, and it’s homesickness. My stats were solid (perfect GPA, 34 act, solid extracurriculars, etc) in high school and I’m trying to maintain them, but I got waitlisted from all these colleges when I applied as a first year. Is it even worth considering a transfer? Do I have a shot at these two colleges? I want to be closer to my family, but I also don’t want to downgrade from the academic rigor of my current college.
if the priority is to transfer so you can be closer to your family (which is a completely valid reason to transfer) you will need some non-reach schools on your list. If you will only transfer based on the prestige/perceived rigor of a school, then your desire to be closer to your family is not the priority. I assure you there are many more rigorous colleges in Chicagoland and NC than the four you listed.
Another reason it seems (to me) that prestige is your priority is because both Northwestern and Chicago are on your list. Generally once one does the typical research and due diligence on colleges, both of these schools will not be on one’s final list because they are quite different in many ways. Perhaps a lack of clarity of each school and how you fit there was apparent in the various essays/supplemental questions required by each school during last year’s app cycle.
With all that said, it will be tough to gain an admit to any of these schools with only an additional six months of education/ECs. Of the four schools on your list, Northwestern is the most transfer friendly. If you live in NC that would increase your chances of admission to UNC. You would be a stronger transfer candidate to these schools if you waited a year to apply and have 18 months of college grades and ECs. Good luck.
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What is an HWC?
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historically women’s college
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Waitlisted and then rejected? Or did you withdraw these applications?
Rejected 
If you want to transfer to be closer to family, I would add a few schools that are less “reachy.”
You will still have rigor.
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If you want to be closer to family - well Chicago and Raleigh are not close to one another.
If you are, say, in the West Coast and going to NY for home or Illinois for home, you are still taking a plane.
Are you sure it’s homesickness or is it, I really thought I’d get into one of those and I didn’t sickness.
Because being 500 miles from home and 2000 miles from home is, likely, the same thing.
I wish you luck in your transfer but if you want to be home to access it more, than I’d focus on schools near home.
One last thing I’ll add - a lot of schools over wait list - so they make you think you are close to an admission when in reality you weren’t.
Duke, as an example, in the 23/24 cycle (not showing 24/25), wait listed over 2200. That’s more than they enrolled. Schools like Case Western, Emory, Miami, etc. WL up to 30% of all applicants - far more than they enrolled.
Many kids think - oh, i was close. Sure, some get off the WL - at top schools, a smaller amount. But they load them up as protection for themselves in case they fall short of enrollment goals - not you. But it gives some kids a sense of - I was close - when in most cases, they likely weren’t.
To me, if you want to be in Chicago, then take your shot - but why not add UIUC, UIC, Purdue, Kalamazoo, Beloit - whatever fits.
If wanting UNC or Duke, why not W&M, Elon, Wake, Va Tech, NC State or whatever else might fit?
Good luck to you.
Are you a resident of NC? If so, UNC will be less of a reach, but as others suggested, you may want to widen to NC State and UNCG if you really want to be in NC. In state with a 34 and good grades, I think you have a good shot at UNC. OOS? Total crapshoot.
How close to family do you want to be? 10 minutes? 1 hour? 2 hours? This could change your list.
I’m assuming your family’s location is the Raleigh area and Chicago?
Will you need financial aid?
I’m wondering if you are feeling homesick or regret?
It is understandable that as the excitement and newness of going away to college fades, as the long and warm days turn to cold and rain, that you might start to think you’d rather be somewhere else (perhaps closer to home). It’s almost Christmas break at many schools but when you return you can double-down on clubs and activities to feel more involved and at home.
Since you mentioned being waitlisted at all those schools keep in mind that at many colleges these days being on the waitlist doesn’t mean you were “almost” in. They waitlist thousands even though they know from the experience of years past they won’t admit most of them. Some say it is to allow them to replace admitted students that don’t accept with a similar student. That may be part of it, I think colleges also do it to send a signal to the HS juniors who treat it as almost an acceptance and decide to try their luck (selective colleges love a low yield which means they need lots of applicants).
Apply and see whether or not you receive an offer of admission.
Although not stated by you as a reason, an all female college would give one believable reasons for seeking a transfer to a larger, non-single sex environment. More academic and more on-campus social opportunities should be found at any of your four target schools than at a small, single sex school.
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Plenty of students apply to both Northwestern and Chicago. Why? Because the overwhelming majority of qualified applicants would be just fine, and have an enjoyable experience, at either, regardless of their differences.
Valuing prestige (while also wanting to be closer to family) is smart and provides tangible benefits.
For the OP, while I think you would really enjoy Northwestern, Chicago or Duke, if being closer to family is the top priority, gunning for schools with transfer acceptance rates that often dip down to around 2% is not likely to solve your problem.
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I think what OP has to decide is do they want to be home or near family or not. If they do, then they need realistic schools as well to apply to.
Don’t know the school but I’ll guess Scripps which few in the real world will know - but grad schools will.
Don’t know the major but given it’s a HWC and LAC, I’m gonna guess whether they go to Elon, UNC, or NC State or even ECU or like schools around Chicago isn’t going to matter long run.
If the student is truly miserable, they’ll widen the search to include ensured admits. They can hope for ‘prestige’ but will be protected no matter.
If they’re only seeking the elite of the elite, I think they would be fooling themself with the homesickness story. They might realize that few know their school (common with many LACs and top universities like Rice, Emory, WashU) and it might be the usual, I did great in hs and deserve more.
OP has to decide what it really is…IMHO
My opinion is based on working with dozens of strong students who have considered these two schools. Big picture I see U Chicago as a ‘fit’ school, meaning, again IMO, many students would not fit into that unique environment. Plenty do of course. Other schools I would call ‘fit’ schools are the tech schools (MIT, Cal Tech, Rose Hulman, RIT, WPI, etc) and then some LACs like Oberlin, Reed, and Macalester. It’s great that you have a different opinion, and that can make for more interesting discussions.
As for prestige and its tangible benefits, CC posters have beat this topic to death on dozens of other threads. It would be important for OP to understand that reasonable, informed adults don’t agree on this issue/supposition.
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I would hope that, instead of trying to figure out which random internet poster to trust, the OP would value expertise.
This website has clearly acknowledged Jeff Selingo as an expert. At the 3:40 mark of this video, he agrees that highly selective schools provide access to unique social circles and certain jobs. At the 4:55 mark he comes right out and says that he encourages students to go to the most selective college they can get into.
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Jeff’s has a more nuanced position in his new book than five years ago:
Living in the Chicagoland area and knowing many people from NU and UChicago, both alumni and current students, I 100% agree that these schools don’t attract the same kind of student.
OP, do your due diligence in making sure you land in the right environment for you but also, it’s still very early in your college journey. Homesickness is very common the first year of college. Be open to making friends and getting involved at your current school. You may find next semester feels very different.
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He’s built a brand. There’s no badge that makes one an expert over another. Someone may glean great info from him. Others may not or may disagree. Everyone’s thought process is different and OP has been given a lot to nibble on.
It is definitely early to consider a transfer - but there is always that option - although as a 2nd year it might be harder than a 3rd year.
So many grow homesick. Both mine did - so yes, in many cases, you just have to wait it out.
But if they were that homesick, they wouldn’t just list the creme de la creme schools - so there might be more to the story.
He worked for the Chronicle of Higher Education for about 2 decades. He has focused on Higher Education for about 30 years, sitting in with the admissions teams of major universities while they review and discuss candidates. His resume is his badge, and I would hope the OP would value his extensive experience.
When Selingo came and answered questions on this very site, he also didn’t cling to the abstract value of “fit” that is curiously so important to many who post here (the same folks who are shocked that a student would apply to Northwestern and UChicago):
I’m not discounting him but many have opinions or knowledge etc. He’s one of many. And everyone but the dream school kid knows there’s more than one school kids can be happy at.
I l read a lot of great things on the website. Some I personally don’t agree with but it doesn’t mean they are wrong. Many don’t agree with me - doesn’t mean I’m wrong.
If OP returns, hopefully they have a lot of diverse things to think about.
I’d welcome Mr Selingo’s guidance to if he were a poster.