Is it generally better to transfer from a community college or state school, or from a competitive four-year university, when applying to a competitive school?
Competitive schools being like BC, BU, etc.
Reason I ask is because I’m coming from a very prestigious, VERY competitive school known for its rigor and its grade deflation (Colgate) and while I’ve been making good grades so far, I’m concerned about my transfer chances. Since I come from a school with a good, well-known reputation, assuming I get good grades (our average GPA is a 3.0 here, yet employers love our students, and our reputation is well-known), could I stand a good chance? I see students getting in to the schools I’m applying to (BC and BU) with 4.0’s and slightly lower, and while I’m doing my best and taking challenging, engaging classes that I can still manage, I’m worried. Would it look more impressive to get, say, a 3.6 or 3.7 at a school like Colgate than a 4.0 at a less competitive state school or community college?
I don’t mean this to offend anyone accepted from community colleges or state schools, as their hard work shows in their grades and accomplishments. I just mean that my school is notorious for its difficulty, as I am experiencing first-hand (I’m a hard-worker and was well-prepared, but it’s no easy trip) and I’m curious as to whether most schools take that into account.
@twogirls Well, I have a thread that covers the reasons (my Transfer Essay thread), but long story short Colgate was a school I was fond of, but it also had conveniences for a bad situation I was in (family matters). I thought I’d be happy, but I’m not, and the more time I spend here the more miserable I get. The social situation is a huge issue–I need an equal balance of academic and social activity to thrive, and while Colgate has the academics, their social scene leaves a lot to be desired for me
Was Colgate too social or not social enough for you?
I can’t answer your question regarding which is easier to transfer from- CC, 4 year university etc… I really don’t know- there are too many variables. Just put together the best application possible and take your time writing the essays. Good luck!
@twogirls Alright, well thanks anyway. I’m doing my best with the application–so far my essays are looking good, just got to make sure about the grades. As for Colgate, it’s not social enough. People only socialize when its the weekend when its party/drinking time, otherwise campus is dead and no one seems to want to do anything. Doesn’t help that there’s nothing to do up here, anyway.
Just a word of caution about BU: don’t talk about Boston and how much you would love to be there. This is what we were told when we visited.
FWIW… My opinion is that it does not matter whether you are transferring from Colgate, UVA, or Penn State. What matters is that you put together a good application and have a valid reason for transferring.
If you’re considering transferring to a CC or state school just for a semester then transferring again, I would advise not to. The more schools you’ve attended, the more skeptical the next admissions committee will be that you know what you want and will stay.
@AroundHere No no no no no no no. That’s not what I meant. I wouldn’t dream of transferring from where I am to a cc or state it would make no sense. I just was curious—while I try figuring out my chances to transfer to BC or BU, I was curious as to whether they would consider me differently (given how intense the academics and reputation are at my school, plus major grade deflation) than a student from cc or less competitive/rigorous state school.
To my knowledge, there is no private university that releases detailed information about transfer admission outcomes, which is the kind of info that would be needed to answer your question. So there may not be anyone outside of the admissions office that can give you a definitive answer.
Private universities want to admit transfers who will perform well academically and make positive contributions to the campus atmosphere. They often favor prospective transfers who have performed well at community colleges or other less selective schools, and who seem ready to “move up” a level. For example, if a high-performing student from a CC wants to transfer to a selective four-year school, no admissions officer is going to question his motivation or reason. The applicant obviously has to transfer in order to continue his education.
Prospective transfers from comparably selective schools aren’t necessarily more attractive, because in this case it’s apparent that something isn’t working out. And if things didn’t work out for the applicant at School A, then maybe they won’t work out at School B either. So in this situation, the admissions officer may have a more skeptical view.
In your case, it really doesn’t make any difference – all you can do is submit your transfer applications and hope for the best. My suggestion would be to also apply to some schools that are less selective than BU and BC. It may be a painful thing to do, but if you really want to transfer, your chances will improve if you are prepared to transfer down.
these aren’t quite related to the prestige aspect of the post, but re other things in your post:
BU isn't 'cuse. It's big and there's always something to do, even on a Tuesday, but it might not necessarily be a party (but I've never had a problem with finding a party and there's Boston & other area schools if you aren't satisfied with BU's scene).
1a. Grade deflation is a thing here too. not in every school or college, but rest assured itll be there lol.
just a little note re the lack of transfer data. agreed there isn't much AT ALL, but the CDS transfer section can be helpful on gleaning little bits of info. BU's shows that 49% of transfers were admitted for fall 16 and their avg gpa was 3.59/4. each school has one (just google bu cds for their most recent).
also if you really can't stand the thought of staying where you are next year, apply to more than 2 schools! I was on threads last year where people applied to 1, 2, or 3 schools and didn't get in to any and were forced to reconsider their next year at the same school.
focus on the ‘why’ of your transfer app, not wasting energy on chancing yourself. CC students are (as you guessed) evaluated differently. Also, chancing for transfers is more variable than chancing first admission, as the # of available spaces can vary considerably from one year to the next.
Both BU and BC rejected the majority of transfer applicants last year. And (as noted in the previous post), the transfer acceptance rate can rise or fall unpredictably, because the number of available openings for transfers can vary from year to year. It’s not like freshman admissions, where the number of openings is generally about the same every year.
If you want to be assured of having a different place to go next year, you should also have some “safety” options. You probably applied to some “safeties” for freshman admissions, right? Well, the same principle applies to transfer admissions. This may mean transferring down.
@Corbett While you are right about transfer acceptance rate rising and falling unpredictably, Boston University’s transfer rate has only been going up.
That’s interesting data. The BU transfer acceptance rate has been climbing steadily over the past four years. This is because BU has been accepting – and enrolling – more and more transfer students:
1278 transfers accepted in 2013-14, with 366 enrolled
1435 transfers accepted in 2014-15, with 478 enrolled
1575 transfers accepted in 2015-16, with 484 enrolled
1785 transfers accepted in 2016-17, with 575 enrolled
That’s more than a 50% increase in new transfer enrollment, in just four years. Now compare this pattern to BU’s freshman enrollments:
3807 enrolled frosh in 2013-14
3915 enrolled frosh in 2014-15
3628 enrolled frosh in 2015-16
3550 enrolled frosh in 2016-17
So over the past few years, BU has cut the number of incoming freshman by a few hundred students – while simultaneously boosting the number of incoming transfers by a few hundred students.
It’s almost like BU is replacing freshmen with transfers. Why would a school do that? One possible reason: if you cut the size of the freshman class, you can accept fewer freshmen, which in turn means a lower freshman acceptance rate. The freshman acceptance rate gets a lot of attention from college rankings and from the general public, and it has been dropping steadily at BU over the past four years:
36.8% in 2014-15
34.5% in 2014-15
32.6% in 2015-16
29.4% in 2016-17
It wouldn’t surprise me if BU is deliberately allowing the transfer acceptance rate to rise, so that the freshman acceptance rate can fall. If so, this would be good news for transfer applicants.
I may regret posting this later, but oh well, here it goes.
I refuse to transfer down. I visited many, MANY colleges, and there were only a small few I liked. BC was the one that felt most like home, but for other reasons alongside my own fondness I chose Colgate. I would consider transferring to BU, definitely to BC, but I’m not about to transfer out of Colgate to a lesser school. I enjoy the academics at Colgate, it’s their social scene that I can’t tolerate, and besides that I know for a fact my family would never let me transfer down. Honestly, while it’s gotten to the point I can no longer stand being at Colgate, I could consider sucking it up if I didn’t get into a school of equal caliber, primarily due to the fact that I wouldn’t want to transfer down and also I’d be on my own if I did. I have no choice, really. My family would let me transfer if it was to an equally reputable school, like BC or BU, and frankly those are the only two I could imagine myself happy. So, yeah.
