[aptimpropriety]

It's never too late to transfer - and being a transfer doesn't make you ineligible for financial aid!

I went to a major public university my freshman year and transferred to an Ivy League school once I decided I wasn't satisfied with my experience at the public university. It ended up actually being significantly cheaper for me to go to the Ivy League, and opened up a world of opportunity and support I would have never found at my original school.

Since then, my sister has also attended the same Ivy League (you see a lot of families/siblings at such schools) almost free of charge. I could also go on about how the resources and individual support from a private school (effective tuition of 50-60k) far exceed that of a public school - even a top UC.

Feel free to email me if you'd like to chat.

[Crake]

I'm at a community college (because I have no money, not because I'm stupid) and am presently trying to transfer to two "elite" schools. One says pretty explicitly that they don't guarantee that they meet full need for transfers, even though they brag about it for their 18 year old freshman applicants. The other seems more welcoming, but I'm still nervous. I don't know if I've gotten into them or not, either. I can barely afford $3500/year tuition for a community college, much less something way above that while also paying to move and live in another state. (Luckily I got 2 science scholarships to cover my CC tuition for the 2012-2013 year, but I still have to worry about food and rent. The maximum amount of stafford loan I can take out is barely enough to live on, even as an independent student.)

Is it all right to ask what Ivy you went to? Is it the same as the school associated e-mail in your profile?

[Amadou]

> and being a transfer doesn't make you ineligible for financial aid!

That isn't necessarily the case. A close friend of mine attended a school (Bradley University, admittedly not ivy league) that gave a full ride to national merit scholars and finalists, but only if they had never enrolled anywhere else. She was a finalist, but she attended a state school for her freshman year. Bradley gave her nothing, but she still enrolled because money wasn't her biggest concern. She got her degree, but has said on numerous occasions that she'll never give a dime to any of their alumni fund-raisers since she paid the full load up front.

[ryguytilidie]

With the way most schools treat their students as cattle they need to get through the mill as quickly as possible, it amazes me that anyone donates to alumni organizations.

[onedognight]

> It's never too late to transfer - and being a transfer doesn't make you ineligible for financial aid!

This is definitely the case. I went to a state school that was cheap. Transfering to a top school that usually costs 10x but with financial aid ended up being cheaper still.