Students Considering Transferring to Princeton University

Princeton University will alas be admitting transfer students.

For those students considering transferring to Princeton University (if they have the good fortune to earn admission to the highly selective university), know that the transfer application to the university will become available early this fall. As we reported back in March of 2016, for the first time in 28 years, Princeton University will be admitting transfer students to the New Jersey-based school. Princeton, long the lone holdout, will now join its seven Ivy League peers in offering admission to students as transfers. Like for first-year applicants, transfer students will be able to enroll at the university only in the fall — not the spring.

Students Considering Transferring to Princeton University

As regular readers of our college admissions blog know well, we work with a number of veterans each year on a pro bono basis to help them earn admission to the highly selective colleges of their dreams upon the completion of their service in uniform. In almost every instance, the veterans with whom we work at Ivy Coach apply as transfers since the vast majority of these students have completed some college — often at community college or a college we haven’t necessarily heard of. So it was with great excitement that we read a piece entitled “U. to review transfer applications starting this fall” in “The Daily Princetonian” by Shriya Sekhsaria in which veterans were specifically cited by the university as a group of transfer candidates who could add to the great diversity of the centuries-old institution. Amen to that! As Sekhsaria writes, “The transfer program looks to enroll a ‘small group of exceptionally well-prepared transfer students from a range of backgrounds.’ Applications from U.S. military veterans and students from low-income backgrounds and community colleges are particularly encouraged.” We love that…particularly encouraged! Whoot!

Transfer Candidates Around the Ivy League

So how many students should we expect to earn admission to Princeton this coming transfer admissions cycle, you ask? Well, let’s use figures from other Ivy League institutions as a barometer. As Sekhsaria’s piece points out, Yale typically admits between 20 and 30 transfer students from a pool of over 1,000 applicants. Harvard tends to admit around 12 transfer candidates out of an even larger pool of over 1,600 students. 12/1,600! That makes for a transfer admission rate of 0.75% at Harvard. At least it rounds to 1%, right? Brown admits between roughly 100 and 200 candidates from 1,900 applicants to the Providence-based school. Dartmouth tends to take between 15-25 transfer candidates out of 700 applicants to the College on the Hill. Cornell — which of course is quite a lot bigger than Dartmouth — admits around 550 transfers every fall and an additional 100 in the spring. At the University of Pennsylvania, around 200 students are typically admitted to each of the school’s four undergraduate schools from a pool of around 2,000 candidates. And at Columbia University, the transfer admission rate typically hovers around 10%.

Considering transferring to Princeton University? If so, fill out our free consultation form and we’ll be in touch to discuss our services. And if you’re a military veteran hoping to earn admission to Princeton, do  read about Ivy Coach’s pro bono service offerings and get in touch with us as well!