Transfer Student from Oregon Looking for Matches! [4.0 college GPA, Pell, business, economics, maybe CS]

Chance Me / Match Me
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In my senior year, I made the mistake of not doing enough research on the schools I applied to and ended up at the wrong school. Now, I’m back to repeat the process and am fairly overwhelmed going into this as a transfer student. I was hoping for recommendations on schools I should check out to help get me started. Thank you!

Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: Oregon
  • Current College: Portland Community College
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Female/African American/White

Intended Major(s): Still undecided, possibly will go with business, CS, econ, etc.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.24
  • College GPA: 4.0
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1270 (willing to retake)

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))

  • Introduction to Business
  • Microeconomics
  • Personal Finance
  • Statistics I
  • Calc I
  • Human Genetics
  • Digital Literacy
  • Introduction Sociology

AP Exams: AP Bio (3), AP Lang (4), APUSH (4), AP Stats (3), APUSGov (4), AP Lit (5)
Dual Credit: History of the Holocaust, US History, Macroeconomics, College Algebra, Trigonometry

Extracurriculars
*Currently working as a barista about 30 hours a week

  • Have volunteered at a summer camp and plan to do so again this year

Cost Constraints / Budget
Parents won’t/are unable to help me pay for college but since I’ll have two years out of the way, I can be a bit more lenient with pricing (don’t have a specific budget)

Will be applying to internal and external scholarships, qualify for financial aid

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So, I’m guessing you don’t want to take the most common pathway for PCC students, and transfer to Portland State? (Because if that were the plan, you probably wouldn’t need to be posting here…)

You have a strong lower-division record. But for anyone to recommend financial matches, we’d need to know what you qualify for, in terms of need-based financial aid, and how much you’re able to pay. Otherwise, we don’t know whether you need a school that meets full need, or an affordable in-state public, or something else. When you say that you qualify for financial aid, does that mean that you can afford what full-need-met schools expect you to pay? What’s your budget?

Ideally, what kind of school are you looking for, and where? Are you hoping to leave Oregon, or not necessarily?

How important is it to have CS as an option? This is one of the toughest majors in terms of admissions, and it doesn’t appear that you’ve taken any lower-division CS classes, correct?

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I’m open to Portland State but would like to explore other options first.

As for need-based aid, I qualify for the Federal Pell Grant and have an EFC of $0. I’m not sure about how. A school that meets full need would be preferred but I’m also aware a lot of schools are need-aware for transfers.

As for school type, I’m not too sure. Before returning to Oregon to attend PCC, I was at a large state school OOS, and didn’t connect well with it. I’m unsure if it was the fact I struggled to find a community or if I didn’t like the school. I know that I would prefer a school in a more urban/suburban area and am impartial to school size.

I want to try giving OOS a chance again to see if I can find a better fit; so, I would be open to looking outside of Oregon. Staying in state is also alright with me too.

As for my major, CS isn’t important to me at all, to be honest. I haven’t taken any lower-division courses yet but plan to take one next term to see if I like it. I’m still exploring and haven’t been in college for a year. I’m only having transfer so soon as I’m about to complete my transfer degree due to having dual and AP credits.

I hope that provides a little more insight! I’m still trying to figure a lot of this out for myself (including my budget) so I’m sorry for the lack of solidification in my plans!

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Ah, okay - I didn’t understand the PCC wasn’t the school you regretted. I get it now.

Have you ever looked at U of Puget Sound? That was the first one to come to mind, reading what you wrote. It’s relatively small (1700 undergrads) but has strong business programs, and a lot of flexibility, which would be nice since you’re still figuring out your focus. UPS doesn’t guarantee full-need-met aid, but they’re fairly generous, meeting 84% of demonstrated need on average, and they do give merit aid to transfer students. Transfer acceptance rate is 56%. It’s in a historic neighborhood of Tacoma that I believe is considered urban - definitely not rural.

Portland State is pretty good for your interests; you could even break into CS there if you decided to go for that, and it’s a strong department. So it’s good that you don’t hate that option as a backup.

U of Portland isn’t quite as generous as UPS, but it could be worth an app to see if you’d get an affordable offer. It does have a full range of undergrad business majors. Transfer acceptance rate is 70%.

A bit farther away, U of Denver is very good for business, meets 83% of demonstrated need on average, and gives merit aid to 70% of entering transfer students. Transfer acceptance rate is around 45%. Public transit access around the city, from campus, is excellent. Could be another good one to try.

For a much reachier option, USC accepts a lot of community college transfers, and they met need (although their formula isn’t as generous as some). Transfer acceptance rate is only 24%, but with a 4.0 lower-division GPA, it could be worth a try!

Is there anyplace that you applied the first time around, and are still interested in, or have your criteria changed so much that there’s no overlap?

P.S. No need to retake standardized tests - colleges no longer consider those for junior transfers. It’s all about your college record at this point, which luckily is good!

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I accidentally posted twice oops

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Also, good to know about the SAT! I’ve seen conflicting information and wasn’t sure

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No worries! I wasn’t very clear the first time around.

I have not considered U of Puget Sound, I’ll have to look into it for sure and possibly make a visit next time I’m passing by Tacoma.

Yeah I appreciated that Portland State has a lot to offer and for students to explore. I actually used to be fairly closed off to going there but I definitely don’t mind it now. I’d also be able to stay at home and commute which would cut down costs drastically.

I’ve looked at U of Portland a bit too. I’ve been on campus once and definitely love the area. I’ll do some more digging on it there for sure.

U of Denver isn’t one I’ve looked into yet but I’ll definitely check it out! I also have been looking a bit at USC and definitely want to learn more about it. I almost applied during my senior year last year but didn’t because I wouldn’t have finished in time.

I wasn’t too interested in any of the schools I applied to the first time around and I think that is my problem. I cared too much about how they looked on paper but couldn’t actually name anything I liked or was looking forward to about the schools. I will say that I was fairly interested in UWashington and did get i after being waitlisted but my financial aid package was horrendous. Transferring into UW doesn’t seem like it’d be in my best interest either as they have the capacity constrained majors. I also was looking at applying to a few UC’s last year but decided not to. I am considering looking into them again but I know they mainly accept transfers from Cali CCs.

I don’t think my overall criteria has changed too much but I do want to actually feel good about the schools I apply to this time and actually be able to say what I like about it there.

(let’s hope this actually works this time, I’ve been having issues posting a response)

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Most OOS publics won’t be affordable. As you saw, the costs for UW are high, and there’s no need-based aid for OOS students other than Pell and guaranteed loans. UC’s are even worse. So it doesn’t even really matter if you could get in, because the affordability piece just isn’t there.

Outside of Oregon, you’re generally going to be better off with private colleges and universities that give need-based aid - either ones that guarantee full-need-met aid, or ones that may have a gap, but may potentially give enough merit to fill that gap. As you say, admissions are likely to be need-aware, so that shifts what’s attainable, and it’s hard to project by how much. But with a 4.0 college GPA, there should be schools that are generous enough and that will consider you a desirable enough candidate to give a “high-need” spot to. Also, even though race-based preference is no longer allowed, you can still talk in your essay(s) about how your racial/ethnic background has impacted your life experience, and colleges can consider that.

Here’s a list of 35 schools that have business majors, that have a >20% transfer acceptance rate, and that on average meet more than 80% of documented need. (That doesn’t mean that they meet the stated percentage in every case - it may be lower for higher-need applicants, and they may also give less to transfers.) I haven’t done a deep dive into how much merit each of these schools gives to transfers, but I believe that the ones that don’t guarantee full-need-met aid have at least some potential for merit to fill the gap. Of course, the acceptance rate doesn’t tell the whole story in terms of competitiveness, because some schools have stronger applicant pools than others. And as you noted, most full-need-met schools are harder to get into with high need, and other schools will accept you but not give enough aid. But I think there are some good prospects on this list, including the ones I already suggested.

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Hopefully that will help get you started. Maybe there are other posters who feel more confident than I do in “chancing” you as a transfer applicant. I find those predictions difficult, because there’s less data available on transfer admissions than first-year admissions. Your GPA is obviously as high as it could be, but some applicants will have higher course rigor, stronger college EC’s, and so on. So I think the most competitive schools on this list may be tough, but it doesn’t hurt to have some reaches as long as you also have more likely admits that are also likely to be affordable. And luckily you have an affordable safety in PSU, if nothing else comes through that is both more desirable and financially workable.

There’s also UofO and OSU, of course; you may want to look into cost estimates for those as well, if you’d choose them over PSU.

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For CS, colleges may also expect transfer students to have calculus 2, discrete math, and/or linear algebra, in addition to introductory CS courses. Those which have CS in the engineering division may also want to see stuff like physics and multivariable calculus.

Calculus 2 may also be preferred for transfer to business or economics at some schools.

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Thank you so much for your help! I’ll be sure to look through the list you provided. I will apply to UofO and OSU since they are my state flagships but I also know Uof) was still expensive despite my financial aid and scholarship offer.

Figuring all this out as a transfer student has been hard so I appreciate the help! I am planning on trying to find more ECs to participate in for the upcoming school year so hopefully that’ll help me out a little.

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I plan to continue taking Calc so I can have at least Calc II and linear algebra (or something like that) done by the time Fall 2025 rolls around if I desire. I wasn’t given as much time to figure things out as I would’ve liked so I’m definitely all over the place but am trying to make the most of what I do have and the time I have remaining

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You’re doing great, and you’re getting an early start on next year’s transfer application cycle, so you have time to get your strategy dialed in.

If you research the schools on the list I gave you, and tell us what you like and don’t like about the various options, that will give us more clarity on what “fit” looks like for you, beyond financial fit (which unfortunately is a huge constraint, but not one that precludes having good options). One possibly-important factor that I didn’t dig into when making the list is diversity; coming from Portland, I’m sure you’re accustomed to dealing with predominantly-white environments, and I don’t know how important this aspect is to you, but it’s definitely an attribute worth comparing among schools.

An additional school to look at, that’s different from the others, is Berea College. I didn’t list it because it’s more rural than you prefer… but it’s very very different from a large rural public U (Berea has <1500 students). It exists solely to serve $0 EFC students, and thus it’s tuition free, and has an on-campus work program through which all students cover their room & board. This program is also designed to build students’ resumes, via work opportunities with increasing levels of responsibility. Berea has a devoted and powerful alumni network, which can connect grads with great opportunities. They do have a business major, and also a CS major that would be accessible to you. Also, even though the surrounding area isn’t very diverse, 30% of students at Berea “identify as Black, African-American alone or in combination with another race” which is more diverse than the vast majority of schools on the list I made (probably all of them, tbh). So, it could be worth a look; it might be the one option that would allow you to graduate debt-free (or at least with no more debt than you arrived there with!). Berea’s transfer acceptance rate is around 40%. Perhaps not a fit for you, but worth ruling in or out.

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@aquapt has given you some great advice and suggestions so far. Once you have some reactions to the schools suggested upthread, we can try and hone in more closely to what you want.

Do you happen to work at Starbucks or have any interest in working there? My nephew’s long-time girlfriend just graduated from the Arizona State online program debt-free, because Starbucks paid pretty much all of her costs. So she worked at least 20 hours a week and got a free college education. So, this would be another option to keep in mind if you’re looking for an affordable way to get a degree debt-free (assuming you live with your family).

https://www.starbucks.com/careers/working-at-starbucks/education/

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At which large OOS school were you unhappy & why were you unhappy there ?

Disagree with most suggestions thus far as you need a school which will meet your full financial need.

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Whet about Claremont mcKenna? They meet 100% need and well-recognized - a reach but with a 4.0 worth applying to imo.

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This would be interesting to know, but OP should also feel free not to share if she isn’t comfortable.

LOL, your disagreement is duly noted.

Obviously, OP needs full-need-met aid. This can be achieved either at a school that guarantees full-need-met aid, or at one that could meet full need via some combination of need-based and merit aid.

Many of the guaranteed-full-need-met schools accept only a handful of transfers, and thus have transfer admissions that are even more competitive than their first-year admissions. Sure, OP can apply to UPenn Wharton, and they’ll meet full need if she gets in, but in the spirit of “build your list from the bottom up,” starting with single-digit acceptance rate schools didn’t seem like it would be good advice.

Fortunately, she has a local public university that is quite good, and that she can afford to commute to. So she need not apply anywhere that she doesn’t prefer to Portland State, and some of the schools on the list I made will fail that test. Some, on closer examination, may fail the “likely to give enough aid” test based on how they allocate aid to transfers specifically. Some do meet full need, and also accept a reasonable percentage of transfer applications.

Suggestions of more full-need-met schools that are attainable transfer targets are, of course, most welcome. OP does have a high college GPA thus far, and her record will likely be even stronger in terms of rigor and EC’s by the time she applies, so she may be able to aim high. It’s good to have something in between her local safety and aspirational high-reaches, though.

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Yes, I thought about this one but shied away, since the transfer acceptance rate is even lower than the first-year acceptance rate - under 6%.

But I was also thinking in terms of OP’s current transcript. She has since noted that she has quite a rigorous list of classes planned for next year, before she applies as a Fall '25 transfer. So CMC could be worth a try.

Some elite schools do prioritize community college applicants for their relatively-small number of transfer spots. This may be true at CMC; I’m not sure.

Also, if a business program isn’t a must, and a more liberal-arts type major in econ or something else would work, that opens up more possibilities. (In fact, CMC’s program is an econ major, albeit a relatively “business-y” one.)

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Yes, the CMC economics major is more business flavored than the economics major at Pomona, for example.

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In terms of the Claremont Colleges, Scripps would be the most accessible transfer target (they accept 30-40% some years, but it varies). One can major in econ there, and can take econ classes based at Scripps, Pomona, and Pitzer. But the CMC econ department is almost completely closed to cross-registration.

CMC is need-blind for first-year admissions, but need-sensitive for transfers. Scripps and Pitzer are need-aware even for first-years. I think Pomona is need-blind even for transfers, but they accept only about 3% of applicants.

OP - are you already doing this? Honors Program | Programs at PCC If not, it would be wise to apply, as the whole point of cc honors programs is to strengthen your transfer applications.

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I was at UNC Chapel Hill and was unhappy due to a few factors. I struggled to find a community there and wasn’t making friends. The lockdowns we had in August and September took a toll on my mental health and it was hard not having a support system. Additionally, I went through a personal event that made my time there more miserable. I was hardly eating or sleeping and felt like I wasn’t even living at that point so I withdrew in October and came home.

I will say that I can go back to UNC (and I do have a scholarship which is why I committed in the first place) but I’m unsure if I would want to return. With the memories I have there and the condition of things currently with the administration, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be a great fit for me.

Other things I disliked were the campus as a whole. I’m unsure if it was all the brick or the colonial southern feel, but I wasn’t the biggest fan. That’s extremely trivial but it is something I disliked. I disliked the concept of applying to the business school to be a business major. I also disliked Franklin Street and felt there wasn’t much to do. My opinion could be skewed as I had no friends and didn’t go out but I didn’t understand the hype surrounding it. Raleigh is a ghost town and Durham is ok but overall the triangle felt boring. UNC not having a library open to students 24/7 is also something I don’t particularly enjoy. I didn’t go very often but it would be nice to always have the library as an option.

I took a tour before committing and wasn’t too impressed but I gave it a chance because it was such a great opportunity. Orientation wasn’t much better for me and was the same isolating experience I had as a student there.

I am open to giving it another shot but it would be my last resort. I do intend on going back to visit again eventually to see how I feel about it there now.

Sorry for how long-winded this was but those are the reasons why I left and why I didn’t like it there in the first place!

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