The Transferring Process
The most important thing to think about before transferring is whether or not you think you can perform at an Ivy League level before you transfer. That means making sure that your grades are high, and that you took a course load that was challenging; basically that what you did before in high school wasn’t just to get into college. Academic performance is genuinely part of your character.
When they use high school GPA and high school test scores, they are using them to predict how you are going to do in college. But an even better predictor of how you’ll do in college as a transfer is how you do in that first year or two. Make sure that you are continuing an upward trend.
It is important to show that you made an effort to become part of your school, like investing time in your interests, pursuing your passions, and getting involved in the school that you were in.
I am not sure how sympathetic transfer admissions committees are to somebody saying, Oh, I got to this school, and I hated it, so I just locked myself in my room and studied. I want to go somewhere else or I am going to hate my life forever.
Be adaptable and to be in touch with yourself. Show that you weren’t just mad that you didn’t get into the school, but that the school really is a better fit for you because something there is really important to you, and it doesn't exist where you are currently.
Make sure that you are getting involved and demonstrating the qualities that you emphasized as a high school student.
Stand Out With Your Transfer Application
The best thing you can do from an application viewpoint is to stand out in your classes. Yes, really try and stand out in your classes and understand that there is rarely going to be a professor who can write a freshman or a sophomore a recommendation unless you start to get involved in research or have built a relationship with the professor outside of class.
Many times it is going to be your TAs who write that recommendation. Don't feel like they are any less valuable. They are the people who are most likely to be reading your academic work and seeing you in class. One of my recommenders was a professor in sociology. Sociology is one of my passions, and I made an effort to stay after class and talk to her.
This is something that felt natural for me, even before I was thinking about transferring, just talking and hanging around after class. When I ultimately went forward and asked her for a recommendation for a transfer, she was like, Definitely. I definitely feel like you would be a better fit at that kind of school.
Just make sure that the people, just as much as in high school, are able to advocate for you and say positive things and that you are still able to illustrate those things by yourself.
Build relationships by going to office hours. Professors always emphasizes office hours, but a lot of students never go. Especially if you’re considering transferring, or if you think you might consider transferring, it's important to take advantage of that one-on-one time with professors. The act of going to office hours in and of itself is key, because Stanford emphasizes the importance of office hours all the time. Show them that you’re the type of person who is going to office hours and making connections with faculty.
It’s a great tangible way to show that you’re going to contribute as a student, that you’re a go-getter, and that you’re going to take advantage of opportunities wherever you end up.
I learned that when I got to Stanford for transfer orientation. Admissions officers like transfers a lot because they engage the opportunities at the university and don’t take them for granted as much as other students who might have just come as freshmen do.
Be able to exemplify that go-getter quality. The reason why top universities like to take transfer students is because they have unique backgrounds and they come from schools that they were dissatisfied with, so they are grateful for their new schools, take advantage of opportunities, go to office hours and take initiative. They show that they’re the type of person who’s taking advantage of all the opportunities that their school now has to offer, and that they would benefit even more from the resources that Ivy League schools like Stanford or Harvard offer.
