The path forward isn’t always linear—including one’s college experience—and that’s okay. When I meet with a prospective transfer applicant, I make sure they hear that message.
Then I show them the Common App for Transfer and they groan. It’s hard work. The sections largely mirror the freshman application. There are still essays to be written, letters of recommendation to be requested, and awards and experiences sections to be completed.
But the Common App has worked to make it specifically user-friendly for transfers. It’s the same as the Common App for freshmen in many ways, but in others, it’s not. Just like the actual transfer admissions landscape.
Here are five things to keep in mind if you need to change your collegiate path.
1. The transfer applicant pool can be distinctly different from the freshman pool.
Transfer applicants are loosely described as those who have “some previous college experience.” Each college defines its own prerequisites. Regardless, that’s a large cohort. It can include current undergraduate students who wish to change institutions or transfer from a two-year college or community college, applicants who served in the military and are returning to tertiary education, and those who took time between their first experience of college to join the workforce.2. It’s not always easier to be admitted as a transfer student.
Yes, a college’s transfer applicant pool is smaller than the freshman applicant pool. But that doesn’t mean it is easier to be admitted. Transfer acceptance rates vary wildly. Fairfield University’s most recent freshman acceptance rate was 33%, yet in the prior transfer cycle, only 30 of 420 transfer applicants were admitted according to Fairfield’s Common Data Set. That’s a 7% acceptance rate, making it almost as hard to transfer into Fairfield in 2023 as it was to be admitted to an Ivy League institution. On the flip side, Wake Forest University reported a freshman acceptance rate of 22% for the past cycle while Section D of their most recent Common Data Set indicates a transfer acceptance rate of 26%.
3. High school performance is still under the microscope.
“Would we have admitted this student as a freshman?” or “Why did we not admit this student as a freshman?” are two common questions asked, particularly if the transfer applicant graduated from high school in the two years prior to applying. Just so, the vast majority of colleges require a copy of your high school transcript, even if you graduated five or even ten years prior. Nil desperandum though, the next question asked is usually, “What has changed since then?” And that’s when you show how you have grown.
READ MORE: 5 Things to Consider If You Want to Transfer to Another College
4. Institutional priorities can often play a heavier role in transfer admissions.
The transfer cycle can be used to “plug some holes” in what the institution sees as priorities. Maybe the German or astronomy departments are looking for more students, or there are one or two states missing and a college wants to have all fifty states represented in its student body. In the six years since the inception of the NCAA transfer portal, there’s also been a swift uptick in athletes seeking transfers. These priorities will not be broadcast on the transfer admissions website and they will change with the college’s needs, but they are there.
5. A smaller cohort of transfer applicants are admitted in spring versus fall semesters.
Double check a college’s transfer programs. Entry for spring is less common than for fall. Logistically, admissions offices are fully enmeshed in freshman application review at the same time as transfer application deadlines for spring entry. That’s a lot of balls to juggle so while some colleges retain both spring and fall transfer entry, more and more are electing to offer only fall entry.READ MORE: Having Doubts? Do These 5 Things Before You Decide to Transfer
In many ways the work required to submit a transfer application mimics the freshman process. The same judicious circumspection about where to apply is important, as is the willingness to present a strong application. The transfer admissions landscape might be a bit different, but that’s okay, so are you. You’re not the same person who first applied to college. You’re forging your own path.
