r/CollegeTransfer

Background: sophomore at UCLA, international/full-pay, Comparative Literature major. Spent the past 2 years working my a** off trying to get out. Applied to roughly the same schools both transfer cycles — Duke, Northwestern, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Stanford, Swarthmore.

The thing with UCLA is there aren’t many schools technically above it, so my realistic options are basically T10s and Ivies, which makes this whole thing brutal. Last year got rejected by almost everyone except Swarthmore, declined it after deliberation, now deeply regret it. Thought my profile had improved enough to make a real case this cycle. So far: rejected by Duke, Stanford, and Columbia — and Columbia actually waitlisted me last year, so it got worse, not better.

Stats:
2025: GPA 3.83, decent essays, LORs of unknown quality
2026: GPA 3.90 (straight A’s after initial apps), stronger essays, very strong LOR

No idea what went wrong.

I know UCLA is a dream school for a lot of people and I’m not trying to be obnoxious about this — but here’s why I care:
Why Columbia specifically:
- Core curriculum
- So many of my closest friends are there
- Incredibly strong East Asian and comparative lit
- Theater access for non-majors (I’m really into theater, Broadway is right there)
- New York

Why UCLA isn’t working for me:
- Standard large public school stuff (and we international students are paying sooo much for this) less resources, you know the drill
- East Asian department is mostly language-acquisition focused
- Basically zero theater access if you’re not TFT
- Genuinely rough time in LA — health issues from the climate, safety stuff, my place got burglarized

Brown/Northwestern/Penn still pending but those apps weren’t as strong, so I’m not holding my breath. Also this whole thing has dragged in a lot of people — family, teachers, recommenders — and I really feel sorry.

A few questions:
1. For anyone who got stuck somewhere they didn’t want to be, or had a specific school obsession that didn’t pan out — did it actually get better or did you just kind of go numb? How do you let go of something when you’re not sure you should?
2. Is taking a gap year and reapplying as a junior transfer even realistic — and given everything above, what would you actually do if you were me?

So im applying to umd this fall as a transfer applicant doing regular decision. Before the deadline of june 1st, I wanna know what I can do to better my application while also being realistic about my chances of being admitted. For starters, my college gpa is pretty low. My college gpa is a 2.67 and i've only completed 27 in house credits from a 4 year college. I do have 12 credit transfers from AP so technically i have 39 credits but since i have less than 30 in house, umd also looks at my highschool grades. My highschool grades arent that bad tbh. I had a 3.8 gpa and i went to a competitive magnet highschool in dc. Some things that kind of stand out in my application is that I work in healthcare, I have alot of involvement in community service, Im hoping to get a rec letter from my nurse supervisor, I have a couple awards, and essay outlines why in particular I want to transfer to umd. The part of my application that is really hurting me up is my gpa bc I know other students usually have 3's and higher. Im well aware of my low gpa which is why i applied to umd least competitive program (l&s) but I truly want to eventually do their nursing pathway since I already work in healthcare.

Im hoping that umd reviews my application in its entirety but Im also realistic that gpa is a huge determining factors. Im curious if anyone knows any tips to make myself stand out more and or if you had a similar situation and what was umd's admission decision.

Most of you have probably spent way too many hours on ASSIST figuring out which classes get you eligible for multiple majors at once, which ones overlap so you don't waste units, and how courses you took at a different CCC actually count. I went through it myself a few years ago and it was miserable, and watching friends repeat it was worse.

So I built a tool to make this less painful. It's called Plan My Transfer (https://planmytransfer.com).

The site has been around for a while and has over 3,000 users at nearly every community college in California — but we've made some big upgrades to the planning functionality recently.

What it does:

• AI-generated transfer plans, ready in seconds
• Manual drag-and-drop semester planner if you want full control
• Track every course you've taken (across multiple CCCs if needed) and instantly see which majors you're eligible for
• Compare multiple target majors at once and find the minimum set of courses that satisfies all of them — no wasted units chasing overlapping requirements
• Tags every course with which of your selected majors it counts toward, so double-counts are obvious
• Flags courses as optional when they aren't actually needed for any target
• Live IGETC and UC-7 progress as you build the plan
• Recognizes equivalent courses from a different community college (e.g. discrete math at Foothill counts for Santa Monica's requirement)

I'd love to hear any feedback!

Will Vanderbilt come out soon for the next wave? I’m feeling very bummed out after getting slammed with rejections from JHU/Columbia. I applied as a Medicine Health and Society Major. I’m really worried.

This may be a long winded story so.

I am an A2C migrant, and I would like advice.

Last admissions cycle, I was rejected by all my top choices, waitlisted at Caltech, Cornell, Brown, Case Western, and UIUC (i got off thr waitlist for uiuc... but Sera is broke.). I was only accepted to Stony Brook, so I'll be going there as a commuter.

I did not intend to go to SBU. I wanted to get out of my house, my parents don't want me here. They complain how much of a failure I am and how I do nothing to contribute to the household - so now that Im stuck here, im stuck being a pseduo-mother and caretaker of the household. And I will have to continue this verbal nonsense for the next 4 years.

Obviously, I dont want that. I like SBU, I've been at a chemistry lab doing researxh for 2 years and will be publishing 2 papers this coming summer (3rd and 2nd author), amoung more. I really wanted to go out. And get out of here. But I am scared that doing a first year application will not look good upon me. And I dont want to trauma dump on admissions officers saying "i need this pleaaaseee!!!!"

I've been kind of hoping for caltech or cornell because I might be able to afford that - given my parents are not helping at all. But, each passing day, I have felt like my chances are slim to none. Which is... not something I wish upon anybody.

Anyways, to sum up my question away from context, is it smart to try and transfer in my first year at SBU? My transfer list is Caltech, Uchicago, northwestern, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Emory, and Princeton. But... I also am asking if common app would be willing to help me given I hsve to pay all these application fees myself. I hope so.

Sorry for the ramble. But, any advice would be great.

Hello! I’m contemplating doing another year of community college with a goal of transferring to Berkeley. I’m a Poli Sci major and I’ve completed 63 units so far and a 3.0 gpa. I recently decided i wanted to earn a minor in pre-law. I didn’t apply for the 26-27 UC applications. I was planning to attend Sac State this year and do some extracurriculars for experience but UC campuses prioritize CCC transfers. I don’t know if I should do a third year of CC or just transfer to Sac State. Berkeley is my dream. I should add that I was also dismissed from Sac State a few years ago. I took a year off from my education then started CC and earn mostly A and B grades. Help 😭

I apologize. This might be a dumb question. But I’ve been thinking of getting the B.S in Mathematics Education degree. I was curious, if it doesn’t work out and say I don’t like teaching, would the math courses transfer over? I looked at some of my local universities and non of them has WGU course equivalencies, so I’m apprehensive of starting i don’t know if the course will transfer to say an engineering school, since I would have to take all the math anyway, it would be convenient if it transferred over. I was wondering, just in case, should I just take the math an a local community college instead?

I got into UCSC but I’m seriously considering going to a California community college instead and transferring.

My main goal is to transfer to a stronger school like USC or possibly UCLA. I’m planning to major in something like physics/business-related, and I’m confident I can maintain a high GPA.

From what I’ve seen, CC → transfer (especially from schools like IVC) seems to have better odds for USC/UCLA compared to trying to transfer from a UC like UCSC. But at the same time, I’d be giving up the traditional 4-year experience and security of already being at a UC.

Other factors:

- I prefer smaller classes and a more flexible schedule

- I’m okay with grinding for GPA if it significantly improves transfer chances

- Not a huge fan of large UC lecture environments

- Location-wise, I’d likely attend CC in SoCal

For people who’ve been in a similar situation:

- Is CC → transfer actually a better strategy for USC/UCLA?

- How risky is it compared to just staying at UCSC?

- Would you choose UCSC or CC in my position?

Appreciate any honest advice 🙏

So I got accepted into 3 UC’s for Stats and Data Science. Merced, Santa Barbra and LA. And I don’t know which to choose.
What are the programs like?
I’d like to work business data analytics but I’m also not opposed to hard research in statistics. I’d like the chance to explore both.
Any insight into how to choose colleges in general would also be appreciated.

What do I need to do to transfer to UVA? I have already seen the blogs and website links on the requirements, but I’m also asking to whoever may respond, what should my transcript look like for an admissions counselor to have interest in my application? They say GPA doesn’t matter and it’s only what the transcript shows, as in harder classes, essay, and your ECs… I beg to differ but I’ll believe! What ECs should I look into doing, essay ideas, please all of the above! I am a rising sophomore (fall 2026) and I want to get started in my application this summer, so I can attend my dream institution. Thank you!! This also goes for any other college in general.

I'm OOS and currently attend a mid tier public school in Florida (I'm a freshman)

Basically, I'm an idiot, and I forgot to send in my dual enrollment transcript to UMD (College Park) by the EA deadline even though I applied on time (and those dual enrollment grades are shown on my current institution's transcript), and I got moved to RD. I applied for math. Do I have any chance of getting in?

Dual enrollment grades were horrible (messed up in like humanities), they tank my overall GPA down to like a 3.2 but in my first semester of college I got a 3.7 and I'm on track to have a 4.0 for spring. High school was like a 3.5 (again mostly due to those horrid DE grades), but I also went to a magnet STEM school with much harder rigor and did well in my math classes.

1510 SAT, research under my belt, solid ECs that filled up the list, good essays

Do I have any chance?

Hi I’m transferring during the fall semester.
I’m currently in GSU perimeter college and just done with my spring semester and I’m going to take summer classes too before transferring to UGA. Should I submit my transcript twice? (When my spring transcript is ready and after I’m done with my summer classes) or can I just submit it once (after I’m done with my summer classes)?

Hi everyone, I am a Highschool senior in Florida and I am planning to start at my local community college (Palm beach state) in Fall 2026. But My dream is to transfer to the University of Michigan.

I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed and would appreciate honest advice about how realistic this path is and what exactly I should focus on other than a perfect GPA. Unfortunately due to personal circumstances my Highschool GPA is not very strong, but I am interested in neuroscience/ pre-med (also considering dentistry), I work part time (40 hours a week), and I am planning on getting above a 30 on the upcoming June ACT.

Extracurriculars: Chinese language study (7 years), piano (self-taught), HOSA competition experience, and some volunteer work helping elderly people with technology.

My plan is to build a strong GPA in college, complete pre-reqs, and maybe apply to Umich after 1 year or 2 years depending on how things go.

My questions:

1. Would I be able to transfer after only 1 year if I build a strong competitive transfer application?

2. What extracurriculars actually make a difference and would make me stand out?

I know how competitive Umich is, and im trying to plan accordingly. Any additional advice is greatly appreciated!

I am a grad student planning to transfer schools for Fall 2026. My transfer is scheduled for early August 2026. Would this be a problem with the new rules coming in?

If the new rules do come in to effect can I chance my transfer date so that it’s before the implementation date (I hear that there is usually a 30 to 60 day implementation period) or will the final publishing of the rule make it not possible to change the date?

I am really worried because I really do need to transfer for personal reasons. What should I do?

Edit : the rules am referring to are the proposed DHS F1 rules. I am an international student on F1 visa. ‘An F-1 student at the graduate degree level or above may not change programs at any point during a program of study.’

I just finished my freshman year of college, and I would like to transfer either next year or at the end of fall. I currently attend a state university my stats are

3.92 gpa.

200 of lab research

A lab publication

200 hr of volunteer EMS

Working at a hospital

I have 3 strong letters of recommendation.

I also do personal lab research as a hobby on microorganisms in soil.

I'm in a few clubs and run track as a hobby. Are there any prestigious schools I can get into with these stats? My major is biochemistry; I come from a low-income family. I would like to be on the east or west coast. I want to go to med school after undergrad. Is there anything eles I can do to improve my chances?

I’m a high school senior with a 3.6w gpa and 5 extracurriculars . I’m looking to major in political science, but I got rejected from a lot of my top choices due to my grades (personal circumstances impacted my grades.) The only good schools I got into are Stony Brook, North Carolina A&T, American University, and Penn State. Which school would set me up with the best chance at transferring to a T25?

What are my odds:

I had a pretty shitty hs gpa with a 1450 SAT

I want to go into Finance and will be going to Lehigh in the fall of 2026 and hope to transfer by fall of 2027

here are my ecs:

• Finance role at a firm analyzing client financial profiles and supporting long-term planning strategies
• Nonprofit internship: contributed to large fundraising campaigns, tracked engagement data, assisted with events and budgeting
• Resale venture: generated revenue through online/in-person sales, managed transactions, optimized pricing and inventory
• Financial literacy initiative: created and led workshops teaching budgeting, saving, and entrepreneurship concepts
• Tech project: built and scaled a platform used by hundreds, using data to improve engagement and user experience

and then a lot of random high school clubs

If i get a 4.0 in college what are my odds of applying to T20 schools: NYU, USC, UM, MIT, etc.

Please offer some advice