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Transferring advice

Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 5:15 pm
by Robert Paulson
I am currently at a TT with no class rank but somewhere around 10% (15% at lowest). I'm also paying close to sticker, so I was hoping to try and negotiate a scholarship increase too. What schools would be worth applying to? I was thinking Georgetown and Northwestern but these seem like big reaches unless my grades improved. Also, I have no real work experience. Anyone with similar stats have any anecdotal stories?

Re: Transferring advice

Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 10:22 pm
by TTRansfer
You are probably in at GW if you apply. Use it as leverage. If you don't get what you want, go. If you get what you want, stay.

Re: Transferring advice

Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 10:26 pm
by northwood
if your TT is in the area you want to work, it might be better to stay if you can get a big scholarship from them.

Re: Transferring advice

Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 11:16 am
by Robert Paulson
northwood wrote:if your TT is in the area you want to work, it might be better to stay if you can get a big scholarship from them.
Yeah, I like the area I'm in and wouldn't mind working here, but I would rather work in a big city on the East Coast or Chicago. How exactly do you negotiate a scholarship?

Re: Transferring advice

Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 12:38 pm
by shock259
This is a hard range to make generalizations about. You can definitely transfer up to a much better school, but it might not be good enough to get a job at OCI (99% of the reason for transferring). GW is a great example of a school that does pretty well (relatively) at OCI, but it's going to be rough for transfers. So that may not be worth it.

Anyway, I just negotiated by emailing the Dean when I needed the Dean's Certificate form for transfer applications. I told her that I'd love to talk with her about the process further on in the summer once my options became clearer. I also made sure to tell her that I really wanted to stay at my first-year school. And then I got some acceptances. I emailed her and I said I got some great acceptances and I was seriously considering going unless it made financial sense to stay. We set up a time to chat. She was very nice, and tried really hard to get me to stay. And offered me some additional money (but not nearly enough). And then I transferred.

Some schools aren't willing to negotiate with transfers. Others do. You probably won't be able to find this information anyway, so you'll just have to try it and see what happens. But don't get sad if you don't get much money (or none). It's probably out of your control.

Re: Transferring advice

Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 2:22 pm
by Robert Paulson
shock259 wrote:This is a hard range to make generalizations about. You can definitely transfer up to a much better school, but it might not be good enough to get a job at OCI (99% of the reason for transferring). GW is a great example of a school that does pretty well (relatively) at OCI, but it's going to be rough for transfers. So that may not be worth it.

Anyway, I just negotiated by emailing the Dean when I needed the Dean's Certificate form for transfer applications. I told her that I'd love to talk with her about the process further on in the summer once my options became clearer. I also made sure to tell her that I really wanted to stay at my first-year school. And then I got some acceptances. I emailed her and I said I got some great acceptances and I was seriously considering going unless it made financial sense to stay. We set up a time to chat. She was very nice, and tried really hard to get me to stay. And offered me some additional money (but not nearly enough). And then I transferred.

Some schools aren't willing to negotiate with transfers. Others do. You probably won't be able to find this information anyway, so you'll just have to try it and see what happens. But don't get sad if you don't get much money (or none). It's probably out of your control.
Would you mind pming me about your transfer process? Transferring seems to be a black box but any anecdotes would be helpful.

Re: Transferring advice

Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 11:22 pm
by LuckyIrish2
At a top 20, had a 3.7 first semester wanting to transfer to Texas (TX resident). Concerned about second semester grades because I had a friend and two family members die smack in the middle of finals and I know this threw my focus for exams, but this is also a big reason why I want to transfer as my current school is 1000 miles away from home and my family needs me closer now. I feel like Texas is typically very numbers heavy so I'm concerned that if my spring grades come back sub par they won't really care why. Anyone have thoughts? I'm guessing even if I bombed exams ill still stay above 3.4 with a 3.2 curve. Thanks.

Re: Transferring advice

Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 8:52 pm
by northwood
LuckyIrish: can you find a way to let them know that you want to transfer for family reasons/ write an addendum?

Re: Transferring advice

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 4:40 pm
by LuckyIrish2
northwood wrote:LuckyIrish: can you find a way to let them know that you want to transfer for family reasons/ write an addendum?
They ask for a transfer statement which I used to outline what happened/why I want to transfer.

Update: I'm now at a 3.44 cum which isn't horrific but certainly less than ideal. I managed to stay above median despite basically being shell shocked for the entire exam period which I guess isn't the worst that could have happened.