Generally no. If you have gotten into other strong schools, I would usually not encourage you to dwell on your first choice school. Move on and enjoy college at another school. However, if you have no other choices that are feasible, you could take a gap year and reapply. Do things during the gap year that could strengthen your application. If your standardized tests were an issue, consider retaking them. If your extracurriculars were not strong, delve into a project or a subject in depth. Be aware though that if you have applied to an extremely competitive school, it is unlikely that you will get into the school when reapplying.
This is a personal decision. Not all schools admit many transfers so you need to check the school policy as they differ from school to school. Some schools adit many transfers, so if you go to a different school your freshmen year and do very well in your classes, you may have a great shot. Many students I work with end up not transferring because they enjoy where they end up. It always works out in the end, sometimes just how it should!
Probably not. First the standards for a transfer student are often higher, and if were accepted you may lose credit for work you did at your other school. Second, most students fall in love with the school they chose to attend and after making friends there they would never want to leave.
I have seen this approach work in several instances. It truly depends on some key factors. How strong was your original application? Does the campus still require SAT scores (key if your scores were low)? Do the college take many transfer students? Can you do more to strengthen your application to meet the standards of your top choice? If you think you can make yourself qualify even more for the college–then go for it. That means you need to get busy. Your senior year grades must be high. Your summer after senior year must be busy with work or service. Your freshman year of college becomes your junior year of high school all over again. You MUST do well in your classes. You must get very busy and engaged on campus. You must go back and visit your top choice and fulfill all the transfer requirements. Some schools won’t require SATs after 30 units, but some will. If tests scores were your nemesis and the school still requires them, then I’m sorry. Barring that, I work with kids all the time who get into their top college as sophomore or junior transfers.
Most highly selective schools take very few transfer student, so if we’re talking about Stanford or Yale, it’s not worth it. You’re better off investing yourself in the school you’re attending and putting your all into being there rather than spending time and energy strategizing another application
Probably not. I don’t want to sound negative, but planning to sit in an academic holding pattern for a year waiting on the perfect school is a lot like spending every weekend at home pining for Mr. Right, waiting for him to dump his current girlfriend. You will waste a year building up a dream of your top school while the opportunities at your current college go ignored. And there is no guarantee the top school will take you the second time around. I’d encourage you to move on, select the next school on your list and make the most of it. Dive into academic and social opportunities on campus and begin to make friends. Accept the rejection and move on – a tough but great life lesson.
Absolutely, unless the school rejected from doesn’t take transfer students, but most do. I’ve done this in the past, & here’s my approach:
If you’re wondering whether to try reapplying to your top choice school after a year at another college, there are a few things to keep in mind.
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