I’m a 2018 graduating high school senior and the college process is over for me. I received a lot of disappointing news at schools that first, I thought I would get into and second, that had courses closely matching my interests and goals. However, I got into a good school with a great scholarship and am waitlisted at other schools but know I have little hope of being accepted there.
I would love to hear from anyone who has transferred or is thinking of transferring- is it a bad idea to start off freshman year already having a transfer plan in mind? To me, it feels as if the transfer process is already coming up soon- theoretically I should start obtaining teacher recs and writing essays in December, which is less than a year away. I don’t want this mindset to interfere with enjoying my college experience and actually making an informed decision as to whether I should stay at the school but I do want to make sure I’m conscientious of what I should be doing to be a good candidate for transferring.
Any personal testimonies or advice is appreciated!!
A few things:
– If you got rejected the first time around and your stats were nowhere close to the school’s range, applying with 1 semester of grades isn’t necessarily going to get you in the second time around. (On the other hand, if you were waitlisted the first time, or your stats were close anyway, you earn excellent grades in your 1st semester, AND you make a compelling case for why you want to transfer, then there’s a good possibility you can transfer in for your sophomore year).
– I actually wouldn’t go into your college dead-set to transfer. A great scholarship is a wonderful reason to attend; you just might find other reasons to stay (friends, great professors, extracurriculars, because you’re making the most of your opportunities, or just feel as if you fit in).
– You asked for a personal story: I went to the University of Maine’s Honors College my freshman year on a full scholarship. My RA tried to convince me not to transfer: she herself had been accepted to Boston College, but was forced to attend UMaine because she came from a big, upper-middle-class family and her parents couldn’t pay for a private college. She encouraged me to find my niche and grow from there. I didn’t listen to her and transferred anyway at the end of the year, deciding that being in debt was better than graduating from a third-tier college. (In terms of transferring, the formula is simple: get good grades, make sure you take transferable courses, and make a compelling case for your reason to transfer.)
My RA, who made the most of her time at that third-tier college? She became the youngest member of the state legislature and is now a huge political figure nationally. I feel it would be disrespectful to write her name on a message board, but yeah… I saw a recent picture of her in the news meeting with some of my favorite Hollywood celebrities for some political thing :: dies of jealousy:: I’m doing fine and most of my “elite” classmates are as well, but she’s obviously at the top of her game. My point is: you don’t need to transfer to reach amazing heights in your career and life. If you can achieve that at your college and come out ahead financially, I would stay.
Prestige is an emotion that has no rational or financial basis to justify it’s existence 
Whichever school you choose is going to offer you a bachelors degree, no more, no less. If you look at professional job postings, the only distinction employers makes is between a bachelors degree and a masters degree. You would be far better off getting your bachelors debt free and saving that money to get a masters degree.