By Andrea Vasquez
When people think of Ivy League and other highly selective universities, the best and brightest students come to mind. But despite that community colleges nationwide have some of the brightest students looking to transfer into these institutions, few pipelines exist for these universities to notice community college transfer students.
San Jacinto College has been selected as one of nine community colleges nationwide — and the only one from Texas — to participate in the Transfer Scholars Network, a new national initiative seeking to build an unprecedented pipeline. The program connects low-income, high-achieving community college students with 12 partnering highly-selective four-year universities, laying the foundation for those who meet TSN and the institutions’ admission criteria to receive substantial scholarship and financial aid packages—and ultimately earn their bachelor’s degrees. Partners include Amherst College, Bowdoin College, Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Pomona College, Princeton University, Smith College, Spelman College, Swarthmore College, Williams College, and Yale University.
Nominated by their community college, students must fill out a TSN application and indicate the universities they are interested in. Then they can connect with admissions staff from those 12 institutions and receive assistance with the formal university admissions, financial aid, and other application processes.
“The Transfer Scholars Network provides a great opportunity for our students to explore transfer opportunities at these prestigious universities,” said Sonia Townsend, San Jac director of student support services. “The individualized assistance they receive with admissions staff from these institutions is an amazing resource. They can walk them through the application process and help ensure they have everything prepared correctly so that they have an opportunity to stand out in the transfer student application pool.”
San Jac student Elsie Bura learned about TSN through a professor. She is considering Pomona College, Williams College, MIT, or Yale University since each offers a cognitive science degree and provides financial aid to international students.
“I would tell other students to always seize the opportunities that are presented to them because you never know where they may lead,” Bura said.
The College also hosts transfer webinars with other colleges and universities throughout the year. Students may participate in campus tours and meet with university transfer representatives.
For more information about TSN and other transfer opportunities, visit sanjac.edu/admissions-aid/transfers.
