For the first time, Brown's acceptance rate for transfer applications may drop below its acceptance rate for first-year applications, according to Dean of Admission Jim Miller '73. The University received around 1,950 transfer applications this year — a 20 percent increase from last year's 1,621 applications.
The Admission Office has not yet decided the exact number of transfers it will accept, but it plans to offer spots to around 200 students and enroll between 125 and 130. The Corporation approved an increase of up to 50 for next year's transfer class to stabilize the student body at around 6,000, but the University determined a smaller increase in transfer enrollment would be sufficient.
About $400,000 in financial aid will be offered to transfer students, Miller said, the same amount that was earmarked last year.
Transfer students are admitted on a need-aware basis — by contrast, first-year student admission is need-blind. By increasing the number of admitted transfers, the University can also increase the amount of money received from tuition without a significant increase in enrollment or additional strain to first-year resources.
"As a transfer, I would really like if more came, just because the transfer community is really strong and having more people would make us an even bigger presence on campus," said Zoe Hoffman '13, who transferred this year from the University of Virginia. Brown enrolled 110 transfer students last fall.
The application process for transfer students is similar to the first-year application process, Miller said. "We do pay more attention to college performance than high school, but we do factor in, to some degree, high school grades," he said. The Admission Office does not track how many students apply to transfer from four-year colleges compared to two-year colleges.
The University plans to notify transfer applicants in the middle of May, though there is no fixed date.
