<p>Does anyone have experience with a child who has taken a year off in the middle of school to transfer? My younger sister is Class of 2013 at Macalester College in MN, and has finally decided after much consideration that it’s not the right place for her… after the transfer deadline for schools where she could effectively “trade up” (target school is likely Brown or UChicago; she was admitted to UChicago undergrad initially with a merit scholarship but initially preferred a larger scholarship and smaller size of Mac). Her grades are stellar, 3.8, but no ECs in college although she was heavily involved in debate (3x state champion) in HS. It doesn’t make sense for her to go junior year and transfer somewhere else for only her senior year (or have to take a 5th year to obtain credits) so family is considering having her take a year off for travel/independent study (something she wishes she would have done before entering anyway) and applying for transfer during that year. Has anyone had experience with a family member doing this? Any words of wisdom or things to avoid?</p>
<p>I would advise her to contact the admissions office at Chicago after the middle of April, when the ADmins will have time to speak with her. She needs to ask them how they view her taking a year off and what they need to see on a transcript. . I believe there is someone who deals with Transfer students. My son also successfully transferred into Chicago [ after being accepted as a Freshman] so there is hope.[ but he did go right back to the college he transferred from- that’s another story]. His original admissions officer was very supportive of his decision to try and transfer into Chicago. He had numerous email contact with her as the year progressed, just to be sure he was on track.
Your D ALSO needs to get the required # of letters of recommendation written by her current professors THIS year, if she decides to take a year off. Asking a prof to write a strong letter of recommendation a year from now , when he doesn’t remember her as well, could be very difficult.
Both of you need to know the likely hood of receiving merit $$ again is nil, [there is no merit $ for transfers, only FA, but since she was offered merit $ that’s a very good indication that they may still want her] and not all of the classes she has taken may transfer [ they were very stingy about giving transfer credit], so she will be there for 2-3 years, especially as they have many “core classes” that all are required to take. Chicago REQUIRES transfer students to takes a minimum of 2 years worth of classes there, regardless of how many credits she comes in with. It’s part of the price of getting the benefit of the U of Chicago name on her diploma.She needs to scrutinize the Chicago catalog as it contains lots of information .</p>
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<p>I’m not familiar with UChicago, but B (and all of the other selective colleges that I’m familiar with) require a minimum of 2 yrs on campus. So if she really wants to transfer, it seems like not attending Mac next year is the only option. B does admit spring transfers, so that could mean less than a year out of school. Are you aware that B has need-aware admissions and limited FA for transfers?:</p>
<p>[Brown</a> Admission: Transfer Students](<a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Brown University”>Undergraduate Admission | Brown University)</p>
<p>[Transfer</a> Applicants -FA Policy | Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.brown.edu/about/administration/financial-aid/transfer-applicants-fa-policy]Transfer”>Apply for Aid as a First-Year or Transfer Student | Financial Aid Undergradute | Brown University)</p>
<p>Here is a small survey I took last year of transfer applicants to B:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/936056-brown-transfer-applicant-survey-fa-need-aware-admissions.html?highlight=need-aware[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/936056-brown-transfer-applicant-survey-fa-need-aware-admissions.html?highlight=need-aware</a></p>
<p>Thanks for all the help! This is for my sister, not daughter, but I figured parents would be a better source of info. Financial aid is not an issue for us–merit scholarships were useful when we were both in college, but as I’m graduating this year and her first two years at Mac were paid for largely through merit aid full tuition at Brown or Chicago would be an option–but will definitely have her look in to getting recs now and talking to counselors to see about what to do with the gap year if she decides to go down that path.</p>
<p>Not terribly much help here – a child of good friends effectively did this, withdrawing mid-semester in his sophomore year and applying that spring to transfer to various other colleges. He wasn’t successful with his transfer applications, but they were all directed to institutions that take barely any transfer students, and I think he and his family were engaging in some wishful thinking when he chose where to apply. </p>
<p>He wound up going back to his original college and having a much more successful experience there – the year off gave him some perspective and took care of most of his issues. In retrospect, he needed time, maturity, and better taste in friends more than he needed a slightly different institution.</p>