I’m starting my first year of college this summer at my local university, and I’d like to take a shot at transferring. I really like Vanderbilt, but I’ll also apply to other schools like Georgetown, BC, UMich, and Lehigh. My major is mechanical engineering and I’m entering with at least 40 credits (up to 46). So, my question is, should I transfer at the end of my freshman or sophomore year? I’ll have 60 credits or more by the end of freshman year, and I’ve seen many articles mention that most schools will only look at your college transcripts when you have completed 60 or more credits. Will they technically see me as a sophomore since I’ll have already completed all my general ed classes? I didn’t do too well in high school (3.6 UW, average ECs), so I don’t want that to be a large part of my application. Any advice?
How are you getting all those credits? If it’s through AP tests, you need to check the policy of the school you are transferring to to see if they will also give credit. The new school won’t automatically count it just because your current school does.
Alternatively, if those credits are from dual enrollment, you will have to check to see if the new school will accept those.Policies vary and the new school will evaluate your record using their own standards, not the determination that your current school made. It’s very possible that many of these credits that you have at your current school will not transfer to your new school. Further, some schools have a limit on how many transfer credits they will accept.
Generally it’s better to go two years of college before transferring if you don’t want your high school record to be as important. If you apply as a freshman you will only have one semester of college grades before applying so they will rely on your high school grades.