Just curious, what do you not like about Bama?

Yale is very hard to break into socially if you didn’t come in as a freshman. The college system kind of guarantees that. I would suggest that if going to Yale is something your child wants to do, look into grad school. The clock starts over socially and the incoming students come from a wide variety of schools.

High school grades still count. Grades at a school like Alabama are hard to judge. Lots of average kids who get their work done get good grades. Yale will expect more and won’t be able to judge her capabilities.

My son is applying to a Top 20 SLAC and was told by a coach that an athlete wanted to transfer but one bad grade in high school prevented a transfer. And this isn’t Yale.

Anonymous wrote:I know someone who transferred from Bama to Georgetown after sophomore year.

I know someone who transferred from a state school to Harvard after freshman year.

Stats and distinguishing yourself are important.

Having said that, being a top student at Bama could open the door to scholarship money for grad school. Why jump ship?

The Yale grads I know aren’t all that impressive.

I also sort of agree with this statement -- is your kid socially happy at Alabama? Do they want to go to professional grad school where GPA is really what matters (i.e. med or law school)? Maybe graduating with a 4.0 from Alabama isn't such a bad thing. I would think a 4.0 from Alabama would open more doors than a 3.3 (or whatever) from Cornell.

Anonymous wrote:OP’s kid isn’t an athlete or veteran so these pages of posts are irrelevant.

It STARTED irrelevant. Bama to Yale will never happen.

OP’s kid isn’t an athlete or veteran so these pages of posts are irrelevant.

^ my son is at an Ivy. A lot are athletic transfers that didn’t have the stats for pre-read/freshmen year entry. Coaches tell them apply following year.

Anonymous wrote:Vang takes a ton of transfers that aren’t athletes, my dd, college sophomore, knows a few. Apparently it’s pretty widely known that it is significantly easier to get into Vandy as a transfer than as a freshman.

There are a 105 players on a college football team. And Vanderbilt is competitive in baseball too. And their basketball team tries too. That's like 150 slots right there. And almost all of those rosters are changing every year with the transfer portal. I'm sure it's the same at Notre Dame. Harvard will have hockey. Duke is trying to be competitive in football as well as basketball. USC is in everything. So is Michigan. Stanford has their swimmers but does compete in football. Northwestern is heavily committed to football judging by their fancy practice facility on the lake.

Those transfer numbers are all D1 male athletes. It's going to skew the percentages. For non-athlete transfers, I do believe the elite colleges are giving a preference to community colleges. Looking for the bright kids there.

I know someone who transferred from Bama to Georgetown after sophomore year.

I know someone who transferred from a state school to Harvard after freshman year.

Stats and distinguishing yourself are important.

Having said that, being a top student at Bama could open the door to scholarship money for grad school. Why jump ship?

The Yale grads I know aren’t all that impressive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Transfers are very hard. If trying to transfer after freshman year then they will look at high school record. Need a compelling reason for transfer and I think community college students and such are prioritized over students trying to transfer to upgrade without a real need like a niche program not offered at cheer school. That’s my limited understanding from things I’ve read, no personal experience.

Some schools like Harvard also favor military veterans as transfer students. https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/apply/us-military-veterans#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20separate%20or,may%20apply%20as%20transfer%20students.

Take this with a grain of salt. Most colleges go through the motions of pretending to care about military veterans. Given the political slant at most elite colleges, I wouldn’t expect them to make good on their promises.

— Vet who went to grad school at an elite university & got called some pretty nasty things.

I'm a Harvard grad. I am familiar woth the program. A quick google could have givens you the facts, which are:

Harvard College accepts a small number of transfer students each year, and veterans make up a growing portion of that group:

Transfer students: Harvard typically accepts around 12 transfer students per year.

Veterans: The number of veterans at Harvard has increased in recent years, with 76 veterans enrolled in 2023. This is a significant increase from 24 veterans in 2020.

Harvard has increased its efforts to recruit military applicants, and the school has partnered with organizations like the Warrior-Scholar Project to help veterans attend college. Harvard's admissions director, Joy St. John, says that veterans bring a diverse perspective to the school and that public service is a core part of Harvard's mission.