Which Ivy League school is most accepting of transfers student?

Hey Bridget,

Thanks for the question. I appreciate that you're trying to really think this through before committing to a decision. I have a couple of thoughts on this:

1) Transfer credit is always at the discretion of the receiving institution. It's likely that you could take a copy of your unofficial transcript, "shop" around a few different schools (Ivy and non-Ivy), and get wildly different results with respect to the amount of transfer credit you would receive. With that, I would encourage you to do exactly that - obtain a copy of your unofficial transcript and talk to your prospective school(s) to see the extent of your transferable credit. Most schools are willing to conduct an unofficial transcript evaluation so that you'll know where you stand if you decide to transfer.

2) Since you're studying finance, do you know if your school's business programs are programmatically accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)? I ask because AACSB accreditation is considered to be THE gold medal stamp of approval on business programs. Schools whose have AACSB accreditation for their business programs most likely will not accept any business courses if your school lacks this accreditation. Note that ALL Ivy League schools have this distinction and you can find out if your school has AACSB accreditation by visiting this link: http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/accredited-members/global-listing?F_Country=United+States

All in all, it sounds like you're doing all of the "right" things to be an ideal candidate. Transferring schools is always a challenge and, in your case, that challenge is amplified by the unique nature of business programs, but I hope this will give you a good starting point.

Please continue to post your questions, though, I'd be glad to help out if I can.

Hi Bridget,

Thanks for the follow-up question. With respect to a "cut off", it depends on what you mean by cut off. Most instututions limit the number of credit hours that can be transferred in. There are also certain courses such as Information Technology and Computer Science courses that are generally not accepted after 5 or so years because that content is outdated. English, History, and other similar courses generally don't have that problem. Where you do sometimes find problems, though, has to do with course content. Let's assume you have take U.S. History and a U.S. History course is required at the new school, but the content of these courses are different - that course, though similarly named, may not be transferable based on content.

Another common problem has to do with the courses required to earn a particular degree. For example, many institutions require "X" number of credits in liberal arts courses that may be more than your current institution requires. This, too, could potentially reduce the amount of transfer credit you can receive. As you can see, it gets complicated which is why I always recommend getting an unofficial transcript evaluation completed before you enroll to minimize the likelihood of any surprises.

I certainly don't claim to be an Ivy League admissions experts, but below I've provided links to all of the transfer admissions pages for each Ivy League school. A couple of things stood out to me as I reviewed the requirements: A) Each school appears to accept a very limited number of transfer applications B) Transfer applicants must have completed at least one year of college, but no more than two.

Yale
https://admissions.yale.edu/transfer-details#credit

Cornell
https://admissions.cornell.edu/sites/admissions.cornell.edu/files/Transfer%20Guide%202016%202017.pdf

Columbia
http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/transfer

Penn
http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/transfer-admission

Harvard
https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/application-process/transferring-harvard-college

Dartmouth
https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/apply/choose-your-path/transfer

Princeton
https://admission.princeton.edu/how-apply
**As of right now, they do not have a transfer admissions process; however, that is expected to change in 2018.
http://college.usatoday.com/2016/02/29/princeton-accepting-transfer-applications/

Brown
https://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/transfer-applicants

It depends on the school, it will be helpful to look into more information on this based on your stats and those the school's admissions are looking for. Collegeboard.org is a great resource for this! I poured through the pages of universities all over the U.S. when I was a senior in high school. Collegeboard was my go-to site! They put all of the information in one place and it is very easy to use. They even have various filters you can apply to see only colleges that have programs you are interested. To determine academic rigor, look at the admissions requirements, G.P.A. of past admitted applicants, SAT/ACT scores, class rank etc. This will give you an idea of what scores and grades you need to be accepted. However, don't be discouraged your application will be reviewed based on the full picture! College-board will help you get an idea of what is most important to the specific school you are applying to.