kkitkat Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 i'm wondering how hard it would be to transfer from one university to another. i know that most universities don't give credits for previous grad work and that i'll most likely have to repeat the first year and i'm ok with that. i'm more concerned with getting lors and that sort of thing. after all when you accept an admission offer, the department kind of expects you to stick around so the profs might be reluctant to give you good lors. also, if you end up getting rejected by the school you want to transfer to won't the department sort of resent you for wanting to leave? any thoughts? just to give a bit of background, i want to transfer for personal reasons not because i'm not happy with the offer i have now. do you think it would make a difference? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reactor Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 I can see how you could face problems wanting to trasfer but I think that there will be no problem as long as you talk about it to the right people with the right way (in that case honesty is the right way). i have friends who have successfully transfered. just search the forum "phd in economics" with keyword "transfer" and let me know if you don't find my posts.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savingtheplanet Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 i want to transfer for personal reasons not because i'm not happy with the offer i have now. do you think it would make a difference? I'd imagine that it would make some difference. And transferring isn't unheard of, but you will have to do well in your program to be accepted to a place that presumably turned you down this time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asquare Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 Having a personal reason for transfering doesn't make the process of transfering much easier. Applications are due in December: if you want to use grades and LORs from the grad program you are enrolling in this fall, the professors won't have much time to get to know you at all. And in November, professors are often busy writing recommendations for job market candidates, so writing recommendations for a first year who they barely know and wants to transfer might not be high on the list of priorities. Is there a reason not to get LORs from the people who wrote them for you this year, instead of trying to get them from professors you'll know for only a few months? Also, if you don't do well in your first semester classes or don't make a good impression on your new LOR-writers, you will be looking at transfering down the rankings, not up. It's a gamble. How does the school you want to transfer out of compare to the school you want to transfer in to? If you really don't want to be at the school you are planning to enroll at, and you are willing to start all over when you transfer, then why not just wait one more year to start graduate school and apply again this fall, instead of starting and trying to transfer? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savingtheplanet Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 If you really don't want to be at the school you are planning to enroll at, and you are willing to start all over when you transfer, then why not just wait one more year to start graduate school and apply again this fall, instead of starting and trying to transfer? Verily, this is my chosen course of action. (wish me luck!) If possible, you could still take grad classes to strengthen your application. You don't need to send in Fall grades if they aren't great. I understand that some schools require one new LoR when you tell them you are "reapplying", though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reactor Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 If possible, you could still take grad classes to strengthen your application. You don't need to send in Fall grades if they aren't great. Most schools ask for transcripts even if they have no grades but just show the courses that you are currently taking from all schools you are and have attended even if no degree was ever earned. I understand that some schools require one new LoR when you tell them you are "reapplying", though. This happens mostly when you ask the school to re-use some of your application material from last year. Otherwise I don't see why you cannot submit exactly the same material (+the transcript that I mentioned above). As asquare said "If you really don't want to be at the school you are planning to enroll at...." which means "do not enroll to a program that you know you do not want to finish". BUT if I were you, I would try to defer this year's offer; life is full of surprises and perhaps next year you have changed your mind and wish to have enrolled to that program. (for example when I had my application rejected from all schools that I thought I wanted to attend, I wished I had applied to more.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savingtheplanet Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 Most schools ask for transcripts even if they have no grades but just show the courses that you are currently taking Yep. But they dont insist on seeing the grades of Fall courses. So if you do well, you can send in your grades. If you dont do well, dont send in your grades! (i doubt they will conclude that not sending in fall grades implies you did badly --- after all, most people dont bother with 'em) for example when I had my application rejected from all schools that I thought I wanted to attend, I wished I had applied to more. ouch. hope things worked out okay! best, SavingThePlanet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apropos Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 You might want to try to inquire who is teaching the first year courses there. I think a professor who himself thinks about leaving at some point (specially some assistant professors who are looking for a permanent job) might be more willing to write an ethusiastic LoR. Still, a transfer is a difficult proposition.. you probably need to be near the top of their class to get the higher ranking departments interested in you. How do you know you will do well the first year? Next, if you do end up being a top student at a mid-ranked department, you might as well stay and finish your PhD degree there. Some of the mid-ranked departments consistently place their top students at major research universities, sometimes even at top 50 programs, while average graduates at the top 20 programs often get less exciting job offers. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savingtheplanet Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 if you do end up being a top student at a mid-ranked department, you might as well stay and finish your PhD degree there. ah, but there were personal reasons for wanting to transfer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apropos Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 ah, but there were personal reasons for wanting to transfer! Oh I see, there must be a very strong reason though to make one want to go through this whole process again.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reactor Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 Yep. But they dont insist on seeing the grades of Fall courses. So if you do well, you can send in your grades. If you dont do well, dont send in your grades! In general yes but in specific, my friend's first choice school asked for her fall (masters) grades before they can make a decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkitkat Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 If you really don't want to be at the school you are planning to enroll at, and you are willing to start all over when you transfer, then why not just wait one more year to start graduate school and apply again this fall, instead of starting and trying to transfer? well, the thing is that i am quite happy with the school i'm planning to attend this year. however, my partner got a really great offer from another school which is quite far from where i'm going to be. i have a broader range of schools that i can apply to and he got into top 2 school in his field so it really makes more sense for me to try and transfer to where he is. as to waiting one year and reapplying instead of starting and then transferring i have just this to say. what if i won't get in? even if i take more math courses during this year etc. there is no guarantee that i'll get accepted. i see it as a huge risk to turn down an offer that i'm generally happy with when i have no idea whether i'll get any offers next year. any advice and comments are appreciated :). do you think my reason is good enough for the professors to see my problem and give me good reference letters (most schools want to see at least one letter from a current program)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkitkat Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 BUT if I were you, I would try to defer this year's offer; life is full of surprises and perhaps next year you have changed your mind and wish to have enrolled to that program. (for example when I had my application rejected from all schools that I thought I wanted to attend, I wished I had applied to more.) but what's the sense in deferring the current offer? i might as well start and then, in case i won't get into the program i want to transfer to, i just stay. also in my case deferring is a bit tricky 'cause i got quite generous funding package and i don't think i can defer it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reactor Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 but what's the sense in deferring the current offer? i might as well start and then, in case i won't get into the program i want to transfer to, i just stay. also in my case deferring is a bit tricky 'cause i got quite generous funding package and i don't think i can defer it. because it is different 1) to defer an offer and a year later decide whether you want to enrol or not from 2) to enrol now and run the risk to quit a year later and have permanently in your records some transcript (not to mention a year wasted). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karina 07 Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 because it is different 1) to defer an offer and a year later decide whether you want to enrol or not from 2) to enrol now and run the risk to quit a year later and have permanently in your records some transcript (not to mention a year wasted). How would deferring avoid the same transcript issue? (If one were to say take courses during that year of deferral, to keep up the odds of acceptance elsewhere.) And if one just works for a year for the sake of waiting a year, A) one would need to find a good job fast, which might be hard, and B) I don't know but I personally would still count it as "wasting" a year. At least by starting a good program, wouldn't that signal to admissions committees later that the person has something good about them, if they were allowed to start a good program with good funding etc.? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reactor Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 If one were to say take courses during that year of deferral, to keep up the odds of acceptance elsewhere.... Simply put the transcript problem is avoiding by not taking courses! (obvious, huh?) By taking "a year off". If one was to take courses then the transcript problem BY DEFINITION is still present. At least by starting a good program.... Ok, under this assumption I agree. But who said that it is a good program??? If we start this kind of assumptions we won't go anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savingtheplanet Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Ok, under this assumption I agree. But who said that it is a good program??? If we start this kind of assumptions we won't go anywhere. Actually, statements like "if admitted to a good program, then..." can be eminently useful to the OP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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