Transfer Essays & Financial Aid

Transfer Students
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Hi there, I’m currently an IR/Econ major at GWU looking to transfer out for financial reasons. GWU is not a school that meets 100% of demonstrated need, meaning that I’m shouldering a big brunt of tuition despite being Pell Grant eligible. I’m in a bit of a unique situation where I’m no contact with both my parents, and have gotten a FAFSA/CSS dependency waiver on the basis of familial conflict and homelessness. I’m in charge of covering my tuition independently, and I have serious concerns that I won’t be able to pay tuition for upcoming semesters.

A lot of the resources I’ve scoured online say that it’s important to articulate an academic reason for transferring, and not touch on financial circumstances as financial aid is separate from admissions, and many schools meet full demonstrated need, so it’s not really a “why us” answer. While I do have compelling reasons to transfer (specifically looking at Northwestern— they have a more quantitative econ program, quarter system gives me enough flexibility to double major and minor in philo, one of the best policy debate teams in the nation), it feels difficult to articulate why I’m transferring out of GWU if I still intend on keeping the IR major, given that they’re one of the best schools for IR in the nation.

Apologies for the lengthy post, but I’d appreciate any advice when it comes to mentioning financial troubles in this context. Should I just touch on it in my personal statement but not explicitly include that as a reason for transfer? And as for the IR major, would it be more beneficial to switch to Middle Eastern Studies (my concentration in IR anyways) so I avoid the trickiness of explaining transferring out from GWU?

Thanks :slight_smile:

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Your first step needs to be a sit-down with the financial aid folks at your current school. Not a work-study student who answers the phones, an actual financial aid officer. Together you can map out your path to getting a degree and ascertain whether it’s feasible at GW or not. There may be resources you don’t know about. A college where you are enrolled has a greater incentive to help you tap those resources vs. a college which has not accepted you yet.

How are you “covering” your tuition now?

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I’ll just add, if you chose a school you can’t afford, than your list needs to include schools not difficult to get into as well. IR and Philosophy can likely be done anywhere and some schools have a combo major (via Poli Sci) where you can focus on IR things in the Poli Sci bent. For example and not a price point example, Pitt has a Politics and Philosophy degree and you can add a global certificate through the Univ Center for International Studies.

If it’s I can’t afford GW but would only leave for Northwestern, then the affordability question couldn’t hold weight.

And I agree with @blossom on an actual meeting. It’s much easier to stay then leave if possible, if they can help you define that road. But if you need to leave, then you need to leave - but not only if it’s one school. Whether it’s community college, your state school or another private, especially given the career outcomes of that major, affordability trumps GW’s third party ranking - don’t forget, a true rank doesn’t exist. When you look at people in governmental type and NGO roles, they come from all over. DC doesn’t have close to a monopoly.

Good luck.

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What year are you in now? And what’s your state of residency?

Keep in mind that one thing your independent status confers is the ability to establish residency in any state, irrespective of where your parents live. So, if you’re really hitting a financial wall at GWU, you could move some place with a strong public flagship and good state-level financial aid, work for a year (both to save money and to establish residency - can attend community college if you aren’t already done with lower-division coursework), and then transfer to that flagship with in-state status.

If you can transfer to a tippy-top private with generous aid, that’s the ideal outcome, but a lot of those schools take very few transfers so it’s good to have a Plan B that is also solid.

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I was able to pay my tuition for the fall semester through savings accumulated from working junior/senior years of high school. I’ve talked to different financial aid officers on the phone a few times, and the responses I’ve gotten are that this is about as generous as GW gets and I should enroll in a payment plan. While they are processing the effect of my dependency appeal on my spring tuition bill, financial aid did say that it’s not likely to make a big difference. I plan on enrolling in a payment plan for the spring— I’m from NYC and will be working at my old summer job full-time during winter break to put down as big a down payment as possible, and hopefully my federal work study job should be enough to cover the rest.

Thanks for your advice on reaching out to financial aid. I definitely see the logic in that GW has a bigger incentive to help me out than potential transfer schools, but I guess conversations with fin aid + academic advisor have been disheartening. I explicitly told my academic advisor that I’d love to stay at GW but my financial circumstances make that extremely difficult, and her response was that she’d hate to see me go but students leave GW for all sorts of reasons. When I’ve had this conversation with fin aid, they’ve said that they don’t recalculate fin aid unless there’s been a drastic change in circumstances and the best advice they can give is to delay paying my tuition until Feb (when late fees are applied), and then enroll in a payment plan. It just sucks to hear from friends who are also low-income getting all kinds of financial accommodations from schools that have bigger endowments that can cover everything from textbooks to travel costs.

Forgot to add: I’ve also already maxed out my FAFSA loans this year.

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Thanks for the response, I’m definitely working to diversify my school list. Do you think it’s a good idea to touch on financial burden as a reason for transfer for any of my apps? I can see it being compelling for community colleges, but how about state schools and privates?

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I understand but best not to compare to others. You chose GW and I understand why - but now you have to deal with it.

I don’t portend to be a transfer expert but it seems reasonable to bring this up. A payment plan, especially in a field where finding a decent paying job is difficult and you may want more school - well that’s just going to saddle you for many years with debt.

So to me, it seems reasonable to bring it up - as long as you also touch upon why the schools is good for you.

There are schools that meet 100% need for transfers.

Have you looked at a Cornell’s NPC, for example - or really any Ivy. Check schools like Denison, Dickinson, F&M, Lafayette, Emory, Gtown, W&L and more - to see if they meet need. New York has the TAP program for CUNY/SUNY, etc.

I’m not convinced you need a GW school in the field. My own daughter interned at a strong DC think tank and had 7 offers from a regional school in SC. When you watch some of the government hearings, the key players come from schools like Christopher Newport or Kent State and more. You can achieve your goals from many places, even any place.

Bing has a Politics Philosophy and Law degree. Geneseo has a PPE (econ) degree. I believe Northeastern, Pomona, Penn, Richmond, Rochester, UVA and Yale has similar degrees.

Check and see if transfers get full aid.

I wouldn’t worry about IR - at some it will be under IS or others Poli Sci.

Yes, please don’t burden yourself financially. I’m not sure if you went to a CUNY, would you have a place to say or would TAP or Excelsior cover room and board - but others might know.

Best of luck in your future.