As our review of the freshman transcripts (just the transcripts, not the
entire file!) comes to an end, we will now starting up our transfer
reviews. The transfer decision process is very different from the
freshman process, so please take note. While the freshman decisions go
out at three times during the year (November, late February and late
March), the transfer decisions will go out beginning in February and ending
in late May/early June, and are made on a daily basis. Here are a few notes on the Transfer Admission Process:
Transfer Deadlines
Around this time, we receive a number of questions about why our fall transfer deadline for both applications and college transcripts is April 1. Just so everyone knows, our transfer deadlines are set up as they are for a few reasons. First, the transfer review process is a very detailed and time consuming process, and we set the deadline so that students can receive a decision in enough time to make a decision about where to attend college. With 3,000 plus transfer applications expected for Fall, if we set the deadline at a later time (let’s say June 1), you might not hear a decision until late July or early August. If you couple that with needed to have orientation, financial aid interaction, and making plans for moving (either to Athens or to another location), this timeline just does not work. So we need to have an early enough deadline so we can make decisions in an acceptable timeline.
The second issue is due to the fact that if we did extend the deadline to June 1 or so, we would most likely receive 1,000-2,000 additional applications, at least based on past history when June 1 was the fall deadline (the largest # of transfer apps in recent history was in 2001 with about 4,500). Besides causing even greater stress to the timeline, the additional applications would most likely cause the requirements to go up, as we can only handle so many entering students, both freshman and transfer. Some people might want this, and some might not, but it would definitely mean changes in our decisions.
Transfer Review Process
Transfer decision reviews are not a quick process.
First, the file has to have all transcripts from any and all colleges an
applicant has attended, and we must have any completed work through the
Fall term of the previous year (so for this year, it would be Fall 2011
work). We will review complete summer transfer applicants first, then fall, and we review files for the most part in order of when the file is complete (so the earlier you complete your file, the earlier the review). We then have to review the transcripts, see what classes
transfer in, determine the number of transferable hours, and calculate a
transfer GPA. If we then admit a student, we must plug in exactly how
the transferable courses come into UGA, and whether they match specific
UGA courses or come in as elective work. In addition, we must plug in
the hours and GPA for HOPE scholarship purposes for those applicants
that fall into this situation, and make sure that everything is correct.
In other words, it can take a while.
In addition, the speed of the review depends upon the colleges an
applicant has attended. If we have a large database of knowledge about a
college and the courses from there (for instance GA State Univ.), then
almost all of the equivalent courses are already in our database. But if
you have attended several colleges where we have almost no information
on (for instance, Green River CC and Central Washington Univ.), then it
will take a while to research your classes and determine how the courses
translate over to UGA courses.
Transfer Timelines
As you can guess, this means that I have no idea how many transfer
applicants we can review a day, and how many decisions will go out on X
date. As well, I cannot even begin to guess, beyond a rough monthly
estimate, when you will receive a transfer decision. What I would
suggest is that you should make sure that all transcripts are here
through the status check system, that if you have any other names you
have used (last name is Jones now but was Smith), you should contact us
to let us know after the transcript is sent, and be patient. Remember,
transfer decisions will both come in the mail and will be posted on the
status check. But please do not ask me when you will hear a decision, or if you submitted your application and transcripts on X date, when you will most likely hear. I cannot guess about it, so just be patient.
I hope this helps, and Go Dawgs!