Transfer Plan- Good or Bad Idea?

thetransfercoach
Wed, 04 Apr 2018 16:18:38 +0000

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.