is transferring into top schools difficult? Forum

[melanieB]

So I didn't get any scholarships from any of the schools I've been accepted to thus far but none are worth paying $50,000 for...I am thinking of going to CUNY, for only 10,000 (appx.) for the first year and then attempting to transfer to another school the next year. My question is, how difficult is it to transfer and do transfer students receive $$$?

[vanwinkle]

1) Yes, it's very difficult to transfer. Transferring up significantly is usually only possible if you're in the top 5% or better of your class, especially from a school as low-ranked as CUNY. You may have to be the highest-ranked person in your class to transfer up to a school that's at all worthwhile.

2) No, transfers do not get scholarship $$ in most cases. You're getting the privilege of attending a better school, but you'll pay sticker for it. That's one reason why they take transfers; they're kids that're almost guaranteed to do well but who'll pay full tuition to attend.

The conventional wisdom on here is to never go to a school you wouldn't be satisfied graduating from. If you wouldn't mind graduating from CUNY then go there. Aiming to transfer isn't wrong as long as you also have planned for the very strong likelihood that you can't and those plans are also sound.

[melanieB]

/\ hm thanks for making that clear. Hm, I also got into New York Law School but again, no pay. I just really do not know if I want to wait a year but with 100$ in my checking account (literally) perhaps I have no choice.

[presh]

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[qualster]

/\ hm thanks for making that clear. Hm, I also got into New York Law School but again, no pay. I just really do not know if I want to wait a year but with 100$ in my checking account (literally) perhaps I have no choice.

Do not go to NYLS at sticker. No blinking way should you do that. CUNY would be a much better move.

[MJMD]

If you succeed in transferring you'll be paying sticker at whatever law school you transfer into; so if you're really set on transferring someplace amazing, then it might make sense to bite the bullet and start paying sticker now at a better-ranked school than CUNY, if that will improve your odds at getting into a school that's "worth" paying $50,000 for.

Then again, doing that might not help you at all: really proving yourself at a school like CUNY, which I'm sure many brilliant people choose for purely financial reasons, and which is well-respected in a particular and particularly noble niche field, may really impress a big-ticket school; maybe more than just hustling and paying out at a school of middling-prestige in the hope of cashing in on more prestige later.

But vanwinkle is right: you might have to be at the top of the heap at CUNY to even stand a chance. Bottom line, don't go to a school you won't be happy at, won't be happy paying for, or won't be happy graduating from. And don't go to NYLS unless you're made o' money.*

*(or interested in GLBTQ issues and the law; that's the only thing I know they're good at)

[Tweek]

If you succeed in transferring you'll be paying sticker at whatever law school you transfer into; so if you're really set on transferring someplace amazing, then it might make sense to bite the bullet and start paying sticker now at a better-ranked school than CUNY, if that will improve your odds at getting into a school that's "worth" paying $50,000 for.

+1, at a theoretical $50k vs. $10k, you're really only talking a difference of $40k in the first year since the second and third would be sticker at the "better" school. Yes, it seems like a lot, but it's not really that much IMO and most likely worth it in the long run.