My basic situation is that I attend a tier 2 school and for personal reasons am investigating the prospect of transferring to another school. However, I received a generous scholarship from my current school. Financially, it would be a huge hit to take on full tuition somewhere else. What are the prospects for receiving scholarship aid from a school I would transfer into? Would the prospects increase if I went to a lower ranked school and did well during my first year? Or is it pretty much a no money for transfers situation wherever I would possibly look?

One more question: If I were to weigh leaving school after the first semester, and let's say apply fresh for a couple years down the line in a situation that may be better suited to me, would schools apply a significant black mark against me since I had already started somewhere else a few years earlier?

Any help/info would be great. Thanks.

From what I've heard it is pretty much no money for transfers regardless of comparative rankings of the schools involved, but it probably couldn't hurt to ask the schools you are interested in about this.