Transfer

The Avalon Admission College Transfer Admission Plan is a customized program in which Avalon identifies specific student tendencies and family priorities to identify best fit colleges, builds a highly attractive resume that validates each student’s candidacy at top-tier colleges, then formulates a plan to dramatically improve each student’s odds of acceptance at reach and target schools. Students are coached, advised, and assisted, to any degree necessary, on all aspects of their college transfer candidacy.

Every year, tens of thousands of students transfer to a different college. However, not all colleges welcome or even accept transfer admissions. Middlebury is an example of a college that does not accept transfers. Princeton recently reinstated its transfer acceptance policy, but like Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, and Stanford, it accepts only a handful of transfer students each year.

With freshman acceptance rates at the top 25 colleges at all-time lows, it is highly possible that you did not get into the college of your dreams. That does not mean you should give up on your dreams. There are alternative methods of getting into these top colleges. Of course, one of these methods is to work hard and do extremely well as an undergraduate, and then to attend a top graduate school. If you cannot wait for four years, then you can consider transferring. At some colleges, such as Harvard and Yale, the transfer rates are even lower than their initial acceptance rates. In fact, Harvard's transfer acceptance rate is less than 1%. Generally, they accept somewhere around 12 students out of 1500 transfer applications. For other colleges, however, transfer acceptance rates are equal to, or higher than, freshman acceptance rates.

No, you can’t slack off for your first year or two at your current college and then expect to transfer to a top college; it doesn't work that way. With transfer students, your college grades are far more important than your high school transcript or even standardized test scores. With more dependence on your college GPA, the more competitive that number will become. Furthermore, you will still have to get recommendations from teachers, and these will also go a long way toward your acceptance or rejection as a transfer student. Finally, your essays will hold more importance than they do for undergraduate acceptance. You are going to need to explain to colleges why transferring from your current college will benefit both you and the college to which you are hoping to transfer.

As with freshman admission, most colleges use the Common Application for transfer admission. You will have to set up a transfer account to use this portal. If you plan to transfer in the fall of the following year, your applications for most colleges will be due in March. One notable and significant exception is the University of California schools whose transfer applications are due by November 30, nearly 9 months before the next fall semester begins.

Following is a partial list of colleges whose transfer acceptance rates (shown) are higher than their freshman admission acceptance rates:

•  Northwestern University: 13%
•  Vanderbilt University: 17%
•  Cornell University: 12%
•  UCLA: 26%
•  Wash U in St. Louis: 14%
•  Emory University: 19%
•  Georgetown University 10%
•  UC Berkeley: 25%
•  USC: 24%
•  UVA: 40%
•  University of Michigan: 38%
•  Georgia Tech: 38%
•  Boston University: 38%

Another reason transferring can be so valuable is that you now have a far clearer sense of what you want from your college experience—both academically and socially. As a result, your decisions about where to enroll are more informed, intentional, and aligned with your goals. If you are unhappy at your current college, or simply seeking a different environment, there is no reason to feel obligated to stay. For many students, transferring is not only realistic but highly advantageous.

Your college years are too important to settle for anything less than a deeply rewarding and productive experience. You begin this journey as a teenager and emerge as a young adult; the environment in which that transformation occurs matters profoundly. Choosing the right setting for that growth is one of the most consequential decisions you will ever make.