Reapplying or Transfering Next Year

Applying to College
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1

Hello all,

This is going to be a longer question which requires some explanation.

I am currently a recent high school graduate (class of 2020) who applied in this most recent season. I was rejected to the majority of schools but accepted to a top 3 state school which is OOS for me. Currently I have a deposit at the specified state school however, have already set plans to prepare for transfer admission for next year.

With the ongoing COVID situation, my university is going to be semi open for next year however with some limitations which surely has affected everyone.

Given the situation I have two paths I can take in my goal to transfer to a competitive private university.

Path 1: I can continue with transfer admission and stay committed to going to the state school for the time being.

Path 2: I can reapply for fall admission next year.

Please consider the following:

1 My application has increased in strength.

2 I do feel my application season last year was unlucky in terms of getting rejected/waitlisted to all 16 competitive private schools I applied for.

3 My application strength is on par or greater than those accepted at such schools (note based on classmate’s and small sample size results).

4 I am going to attempt to transfer to a competitive private university either way

5 If I take path 2, I am willing to do things during this gap year as to say I won’t be stagnant

6 Logically, path 1 is the best option as it is the safer route to go. There is no guarantee that I will secure a top 3 public university or greater and competition seems fierce for next year’s admissions. I will additionally lose 1 year.

7 Reapplying next year will give me greater odds than transfer admission in addition it grants another opportunity (I can always attempt transfer if this fails). And assuming COVID will cease for the next next year, I will have a regular freshman experience without sacrifice and paying OOS tuition.

Please provide opinions on which path I should take and on how competitive fall admissions for next year will be. Do provide honest and helpful comments but do not try to dissuade me from transferring, I have my reasons besides prestige which I do not wish to share.

Thank you.

2

I do not see any harm in taking a gap year. This is particularly true if you have something valuable to do during the gap year. At least in my limited experience students are often stronger students after taking a gap year. The fact that fall of 2020 will probably still be partly impacted by the pandemic probably gives more reason to take this route.

However, if many students take a gap year due to the pandemic admissions might be even more competitive in a year.

A “top 3” state school is a very, very good university. I certainly have no trouble naming more than 3 public universities in the US that are exceptional (although I am not sure which great school I would put 4th).

In general the chances of transferring to a top private university (including anything that would be even comparable to one of the top 3 public universities in the US) are usually lower than the chances of getting accepted out of high school.

I am not a big fan of starting off university with the intention of transferring. I am familiar with at least a very small number of cases of students who needed to start at community college for financial reasons, took 2 years there, and transferred to a good in-state public university. This was a great choice for them. I am aware of at least one case of someone who did badly in high school, aced everything at a community college or low ranked university, and then transferred to a very top university and continued to ace almost everything. Again this was a great choice for them.

However, there are significant advantages to staying a full 4 years at one school. For example you are more likely to get to know your professors, which in turn might make it more likely to get good internship or research opportunities.

I do not see any discussion of budget here. Are all of the above options financially fine for you with no debt?

If the budget is fine, then I would be very tempted to just go to a top 3 public school with the intention of staying there 4 years.

3

^^^ What about the money? Is the OOS university readily affordable for your family? Can your family make that work for all four years?

If money is an issue, then a gap year and applying to a new list makes good sense. If paying OOS tuition to run your laptop from home and/or moving home from the OOS campus on short notice don’t sound like fun to you, a gap year makes sense.

4

Hello,

Thanks for your reply and advice. Financially, I am covered for all 4 years. I entered the college application process with intent to attend a private university however ended up committed to a public university. Cost wise, this state school is OOS without aid and ends up costing even more than expensive private universities so ironically it is financially within my favor to transfer. I agree that my current option is very very good however, for the same cost and preference to the benefits of a private school, I am very inclined to change to a private university. That being said, I am leaning towards path 1 which is safer with a lower rate of transfer admission however path 2 is tempting as it has a higher rate of success but at a cost of potentially losing my spot.

I think that there is a sense of wariness in the unlikely idea of being accepted to a top 3 public school twice which either leaves me with a good result (accepted to a top private) or an unfortunate result (Only accepted a school less fortunate than my current option). The saying is that people may be accepted some years and not others and it really goes both ways which makes me both concerned and excited about path 2.

Although a little off from my original question, perhaps I should be really asking for the rates of transfer given a very solid high school app and theoretically a flawless first year in college. I think that this question may be more helpful in confirming my choice in path 1.

Again Thanks.

5

“this question may be more helpful in confirming my choice in path 1.”

I think that if you take path 1 then you should understand that you will probably end up spending four years at the school where you start. The chances of transferring to a higher ranked private university are not very high. However, you can certainly apply and try to transfer. If you want to get references from the professors at the top 3 public universities that is fine – they will not take it personally (mostly, I cannot promise on the part of every professor in America).

If you take path 2, then there is a risk that you might not get into anywhere better, and you also might not be readmitted to the same school.

Admissions at top universities in the US is difficult to predict.

Depending upon your major, another option is four years at the “top 3 public university” followed by a master’s degree at a top private US university. This is certainly a path that some strong students have followed.