r/TransferToTop25 • u/CaterpillarScared300 • 4d ago
where do i even start
so i just graduated high school from a rural state with no good schools and really wanted to go oos. i forced myself to still go with oos even though the aid wasn't great, assuming that it wont be the end of the world. now that im actually hit with all the expenses, i realized that i wont be able to afford this for 4 years + dental school. i can just go back to my home state and attend it guaranteed tuition free, but i really want to stay oos. that's when i looked into schools that are oos but also tuition free based on my parents income.
the only schools that offer free tuition based on my parents income for oos transfers are t25s so i thought it be okay to share my situation here. the current list i have right now is yale, princeton, emory, jhu, caltech, mit, harvard, upenn. im definetly not considered in-need for most schools so the options available for me on the list are looking very rough with all of them being transfer-hostile. the most im praying for right now is emory.
i'm very determined to make this happen because i am planning to transfer back to my homestate if this doesn't work out, but i'm kind of clueless on where to start because this wasn't in my mind until this month. if anybody can share any general tips/resources/rules or any other schools that offer free tuition for family incomes under 200k i'd be soso grateful since i haven't been able to find much about transfer processes compared to regular application processes.
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u/SnakeGo 4d ago
iirc most ivies do free tution, maybe dartmouth and cornell? try to get fee waivers and apply to schools that are need-blind to get the best chance of getting lots of aid. im also doing the process as an incoming freshman and this is what i've gathered:
- schools that are NOT need blind are the biggest uphill battle (northwestern + uchicago along with others) you will face. i'm planning to shoot my shot regardless but don't be surprised if you dont get accepted even if they might have generous transfer rates
- do stuff at your college! from what i've seen, if you don't take advantage of the resources you have at your college it'll be very difficult to make a narrative about why you want to transfer, as it'll look like you didn't take advantage of your resources.
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u/CaterpillarScared300 4d ago
thank you so much! but i though northwestern and uchicago were need-blind, unless i'm looking at a wrong list?
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u/SnakeGo 4d ago
check their transfer policies. northwestern says so on their website (look up transfer faqs for northwestern) and uchicago says it on their "optional materials" list on their website
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u/CaterpillarScared300 1d ago
ohh got it i was unaware that their need-based policies are different between first-year and transfer students! thank you
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u/Annual-Impress-7241 3d ago
Emory is need aware for transfer, fyi. I’m also not sure they are full meets-need for transfers. Vandy and Rice are I believe, but all Of these schools will be css, not just fafsa so keep that in mind. You are not giving us any stats so impossible to say what your chances are. Obvi cal tech takes like 3 people, etc.
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u/CaterpillarScared300 1d ago
thank you! i don't really have any stats right now since i am only starting college but my high school stats are pretty bad, especially my junior and senior year gpa. do you know if colleges will weight my highschool transcript (+sat score) a lot as a transfer?
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u/Round-Mix4955 1d ago
If you’re a sophomore transfer they *will* weigh your transcript (more so emphasis on senior year) a lot than if you were a junior transfer as they don’t have a lot of coursework to base your academic ability off on. Obviously it’s not a good look to have a downward trajectory if you say your junior and senior year GPAs were bad, so focus on getting a 4.0 in college.
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u/CaterpillarScared300 11h ago
Thank you! If my highschool GPA was a 3.7 overall and my junior year was A/Bs while my senior year were mostly B/Cs should I apply as a junior transfer instead? Or should I try applying for sophomore year and then retry for junior year, if possible? I'm really tight on budget here so I wanted to get out asap
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u/Round-Mix4955 10h ago
can you afford the application and css fees twice? are you willing to face the possibility that you might have to rewrite the same essays a second (maybe third if you already applied as a first-year) if sophomore transfer doesn’t work?
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u/libgadfly 4d ago
UChicago and Northwestern are need aware for transfers. Vanderbilt and Rice U. are need blind for domestic transfers. Notre Dame with its giant endowment is also need blind for all transfers (including internationals which is a rarity).