<p>“It would make sense that they wouldn’t sieve out transfer students based on a previous decision, as they don’t do that for reapplying freshman”</p>
<p>You are comparing apples and oranges. As a Freshman applicant, students are competing for one of over 2000 spots. As a transfer applicant, a student is competing for[ in comparison] a teeny, tiny number of spots -maybe 20? which is completely dependent on how many students withdraw from Stanford. </p>
<p>If Stanford did not even offer a WL spot to this student when he applied as a Freshman, then what can that same student accomplish in only 1 semester that will give the adcoms reason to admit him this time?
This student should take advantage of all that at Trustee scholarship at USC offers- at no cost to him or his family- and apply to Stanford for grad school. </p>