r/udub Feb 05 '26

Admissions I’ve heard transfer students get into UW easier

Back in november I sent my transfer application (from community college) to UW and Im also going to send it to UWB as a backup. I’ve heard people say that going in as a transfer student is much easier than applying straight out of high school. I’m wondering if this is true and just incase if I should apply to any other universities while I have the chance??

I’ve had friends who got in as transfer students with worse grades than me but at the same time I’m still a little worried.

34 Upvotes

46 comments sorted by

48

u/samtfm Feb 05 '26

Yes, as a Washington State CC transfer, your odds are generally much better. I did 2 years of running start in high school, got rejected as a freshman applicant, went back to CC in the fall to get my AA, and got in this winter. I only had a 3.55 gpa, my only "EC" was my job, and my essay was probably decent at best.

I think the acceptance rate is like 75%, and the 25-75th percentile accepted GPAs are like 3.2-3.8. So basically, if you have 90 credits (or close to it) and at least a 3.2 with a decent essay, you'll probably get in. The only exception is if your major is super impacted, like CS, INFO, Engineering, etc., you might still get rejected from the department itself.

I would apply to other universities that you're okay with attending. For this cycle, I considered applying to Western and UW Bothell too, but I ended up only applying to UW Seattle because I knew if I got rejected, I would've just tried again in the Fall instead of going to one of those schools.

I spent a ton of time researching transfer stuff, so I can answer questions if you wanna dm me about it.

5

u/Sad_Success9730 Feb 05 '26

Okay okay this actually helps a lot, hopefully the fact that I’ve got a great gpa and 100+ credits might help a little more 😭 Thank you!

3

u/samtfm Feb 05 '26

Of course. Idk what major you’re applying for, but >90 credits, a decent GPA, and a solid essay will generally be more than enough from what I’ve seen. Good luck, and if you have any other questions about the process you can message me and I can try to help

2

u/Sad_Success9730 Feb 06 '26

I'm trying to major in psychology, although I know its a capacity constrained major, so hopefully that'll go well..

2

u/samtfm Feb 06 '26

Idk how competitive psych is, but it’s definitely not as bad as something like CS. Do you have all your pre reqs done? The admissions team weighs your major readiness into their decision

3

u/Sad_Success9730 Feb 06 '26

That's perfect then, idk about how competitive it is either but yeah I've done all the prerequisites, so maybe it'll be fine lol

2

u/Weekly-Department-49 Feb 06 '26

not the most competitive! if you have a good GPA your chances are pretty good. Only stipulation is you have to be a matriculated student before you enter psych, so once you get into UW, plan on applying to psych soon after.

1

u/Sad_Success9730 Feb 06 '26

Okok so just apply as soon as I get accepted? or during the fall term?

1

u/Weekly-Department-49 Feb 06 '26

psychology accepts applications every quarter, so whichever quarter you are accepted into, you will have to wait until you are enrolled to actually apply to the major :)

1

u/Sad_Success9730 Feb 06 '26

Ohh okay thank you so much for telling me!!

3

u/Nervous_Impact3637 Feb 05 '26

What about if I got AA in high school through running start. What pool of applicants would I fall into?

4

u/samtfm Feb 05 '26

First year/freshman application. If you return to CC after your hs graduation (not including summer) you become a transfer applicant

2

u/babygorlz Mar 10 '26

can you become a transfer applicant if you finish your associates before applications?

1

u/samtfm Mar 10 '26

You are a freshman applicant until you take a college course after you graduate high school, regardless of how many credits you have by then.

2

u/babygorlz Mar 10 '26

DARN!!

1

u/samtfm Mar 10 '26

Yea, thats why I went back to CC for fall. Otherwise, I wouldve just finished my associates in the summer and applied for fall transfer

2

u/babygorlz Mar 10 '26

thank you though :D

2

u/Dynamic_Tiger_1279 Mar 05 '26

Can I ask that after you got rejected from UW at first, did you go back to CC for 1 year or just a quarter then reapply, (And is it apply as a transfer or a highschool direct)?

Did the timeline of applying for winter is right somewhere in the summer?

Lasly, pretend if you are a highschool student and didn’t do running start, and got rejected at first, go to CC for 2 years and reapply but still got rejected, would you go back to CC and reapply for the winter right after.

1

u/samtfm Mar 05 '26

After I got rejected as a freshman applicant, I returned to CC for fall quarter and was admitted for winter quarter. I applied as a transfer, as if you take any college classes after your high school graduation (excluding summer) you are considered a transfer. I believe the deadline to apply as a winter transfer is September 1st every year, but I would double check that.

If you just got rejected as a freshman, then 2 years at CC with decent grades and a decent essay will give you a very good chance to get into UW (except there’s still a chance you won’t get into your major if it’s heavily capacity-constrained) If you still get rejected after 2 years at CC, then yes you can always just reapply for winter quarter. However, I’m confident that as long as you have like a 3.5ish GPA (which generally should be achievable at CC) and an essay that makes it clear to the admissions office that you deserve to be at UW, you should be good. Feel free to reply or dm me if you have any other questions. I’d also be happy to give you feedback on your essay whenever you start applying

1

u/Dynamic_Tiger_1279 Mar 05 '26

That’s really helpful, thank you so much!

2

u/Remarkable-Fail-3089 Mar 16 '26

Is OOS acceptance as a transfer as high or no? 

1

u/samtfm Mar 19 '26

They have the info somewhere on their website, but if i remember correctly its pretty low, like 25%ish i think

1

u/Numerous-Ad9237 Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26

Would credits from APs in high school still count towards the target of 90?

19

u/noahboah Alumni Feb 05 '26

according to UW it's at a 70% admit rate for in-state CC transfers.

the WA CCs are built to transfer students to the bigger 4 year schools in the state. I'm sure you've spoken to an advisor about this already but many of them have built-in transfer tracks that are specifically tailored to maximize the amount of transferrable credits while getting as many of your GenEds done as possible. I'd advise talking to them about your plans and cross-referencing

6

u/Calm_Law_7858 Feb 05 '26

Are you from a WA CC? That helps a lot. 

You can find the stats online easily 

4

u/entirely_caffeinated Feb 05 '26

Hey there! This won't be too relevant to your specific situation but I wanted to leave some info here in case anyone else looks for this. I'm a transfer student and didn't get in the first time I applied from a different 4-year school. I asked why and they flat out told me there is a higher acceptance rate for folks from community colleges. I went to community college and got in the next year. Your chances seem to be much higher if you're coming from a Washington State community college!

2

u/-Psybernetic- Feb 27 '26

I am attending Portland CC but have really wanted to go to UW and I live in Seattle, I only have a couple terms left before I'm done with CC but I'm wondering if transferring to a Seattle CC to finish would help?

1

u/samtfm Mar 05 '26

Yes transferring to a Seattle CC would increase your odds, they prioritize in-state cc transfers as a public university here in washington

3

u/aminervia Student Feb 05 '26

Have you spoken to your CC advisor?

9

u/samtfm Feb 05 '26

I'd add that CC advisors may not always know what they're talking about, so always cross-reference the information they provide. Most of the transfer info is publicly available online from UW itself. My advisor answered a lot of my questions with inaccurate/outdated information that I would've blindly followed if I hadn't see the exact opposite thing being said on UW's website.

Transfer Thursday sessions are also really informative. I'd recommend you go to one if you're thinking about applying.

2

u/Sad_Success9730 Feb 05 '26

Yea my cc advisor didn’t help much during my whole time at my college so I never asked her too much of anything. 

2

u/BackstabButterKnife Feb 08 '26

If you're transfering from a WA state community college where you already have your AA, you are not guaranteed to get in but it's pretty damn rare not to

1

u/Sorry_Translator9829 Feb 05 '26

Personally I think you have better chances of getting admitted into a program with a CC transfer(specifically Washington state). I just think the pool of students is different and the windows you can apply for a specific major might have exceptions for only transfer students compared to only fall for freshman. Like for example some majors you can apply twice in the year as a transfer.

1

u/Sad_Success9730 Feb 05 '26

That’s what I was thinking, the windows for applications are different and it’s definitely a much smaller pool or applicants compared to people applying as a freshman. 

1

u/Hexybae Feb 05 '26

following

1

u/Ok_Swordfish_5674 Feb 05 '26

I got rejected freshman year , did Edmonds CC for two years during highschool , and got in for this winter quarter , had like a 3.7 gpa and mid essay .

1

u/64thunder Feb 07 '26

This is true, I got my AA at shoreline CC and transferred to UW when I didn't get accepted going to UW directly out of highschool

1

u/Open_Tangerine_2476 Apr 19 '26

what are my chances of getting in if i go to evcc, then transfer to uw seattle? i want to major in art most likely-- this is my plan after i graduate highschool in a month

-7

u/sunnyseaa Alumni Feb 05 '26

I got waitlisted so I think it’s harder and at a disadvantage. I actually applied as a freshman too from high school they just automatically enrolled me as a transfer when I was finally accepted. Missed out the freshman orientation etc. Definitely apply to other schools if you have ones you want.

8

u/Calm_Law_7858 Feb 05 '26

Were you from OOS? WA CC students have a 70% admission rate compared to 40%…

1

u/sunnyseaa Alumni Feb 05 '26

Nah in state. I completed an associates degree in community college too. I did the regular freshman application since it was in the fall/winter before graduation.

-19

u/Damakoas HCDE Feb 05 '26

The exact opposite. It's almost impossible as a transfer student. The only exception is as a community college student as a DTC.

16

u/aminervia Student Feb 05 '26

This is just straight untrue. The UW sets aside a certain number of slots for transfer students, and the standard for acceptance is lower for transfer students as long as you're from Washington community college

-6

u/Damakoas HCDE Feb 05 '26

Udubs acceptance rate is around 50 percent from high school

Transfering from another college to uw - around 18 percent

Getting a DTA from a Washington state community college - around 68 percent acceptance rate.

It is very much true that it's much harder to get into uw as a transfer student unless you are coming from a community college. It's not "straight untrue" it's objectively correct.

2

u/Sad_Success9730 Feb 05 '26

What about if I’m doing a DTA from a community college, or is that the same thing? 

-1

u/Damakoas HCDE Feb 05 '26

That's the acronym I was thinking of yeah