Transfer Smarter, Not Harder

If you’re planning to attend a two-year college (aka community college) and then apply as a transfer student to an Ivy League, be sure to have a backup plan. To be clear, starting out at a community college can be a smart strategy depending on where you want to transfer to; for example, the University of California system accepts a remarkably high average of 33% of transfer applicants. But applying as a transfer student to an Ivy is considerably more difficult than being accepted as a first-year applicant. The acceptance rate for Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Princeton for transfer students is lower than 2%. Other selective schools like Caltech and Penn State also have an acceptance rate of less than 5%. Cornell is the only Ivy that accepts a relatively large share of transfer students, around 15%. 

There are good reasons to complete an associate’s degree before attending a more expensive four-year college, and some selective colleges are making efforts to seek greater diversity by accepting a larger pool of transfer students. While community college offers lower tuition and greater flexibility, if your goal is to secure a spot at a top-tier university, your best bet is to apply as a freshman. These schools usually have higher freshman retention rates, which result in fewer openings.

Whether you are applying to colleges as a first-year or transfer student, Ivy Link can help you build a target list of colleges that best suit your academic journey. Additional transfer tips can be found here. For in-depth application assistance and essay advising, contact Ivy Link today.