What You Need To Know About The Ross Transfer Admission Application Process
Toward the end of the fall semester, the Ross Transfer Application will go live as we begin to prepare for the second BBA admission cycle. This made me think about our process and how it might be worth a deeper dive.
Each year, we enroll around 125 transfer students when the sophomore core curriculum begins. We seek to enroll approximately 100 cross-campus transfer students through our U-M Transfer Applicant process and 25 students from institutions other than those at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor through our external Transfer Applicant process. This process enables us to enroll around 625 students for each BBA class.
U-M Transfer Applicant Process
The university has made the commitment that students will have the opportunity to apply to another school or college on campus — widely known as a “cross-campus transfer” — if they come to campus undecided or decide to change their major (which happens most often during that first year on campus). Students must be in good academic standing with their “home school” and not on probation at the university. (Yes, we do look at conduct reports.)
For the Ross Transfer Admission application, we also need students to meet a few academic requirements. These include being enrolled as a full-time student and completing the following courses with a grade of C or better by the end of the winter term in which they apply: the LSA First-Year Writing Requirement, Economics 101, and Math 115. More information on our U-M transfer requirements can be found here.
If you are considering transferring, I recommend attending one of our application workshops during the winter term where we present screenshots of the application and give tips for applying. I, or C.J. Mathis, our assistant director for Outreach and Transfer Initiative, present workshops regularly, and registration can be found here.
Pro Tip: Do not stress about the application right now. We intentionally do not make the application live until after the last day of exams. Make sure to prep for finals, and don’t worry about writing drafts of your Ross admission essays. Focus on earning strong grades!
Transfer Application Process — applying from an institution outside of U-M Ann Arbor
We seek to enroll around 25 transfer students from institutions other than U-M Ann Arbor, with a focus on Michigan residents who are attending in-state community colleges. For all transfer students (U-M transfer included), applying to Ross as a transfer student is a fresh start. We do not look at high school grades or standardized tests. By not considering high school performance, students who begin their degree at a community college for academic or financial reasons are at no disadvantage in our process. We know that academic performance can change and encourage those applications!
Similar to the U-M Transfer process, students from other institutions apply directly to the Ross School of Business using the same application. The academic requirements are the same, but coursework from the home institution must transfer exactly as the LSA First-Year Writing Requirement (or request a Sweetland waiver), Economics 101, and Math 115.
The key difference is the Transfer Supplement. Because our transfer applicants are applying from a variety of institutions, we need to know a bit more about that calculus or economics course taken, and will ask a few more questions related to the previous or current college coursework. But don’t worry; C.J. Mathis hosts information sessions for transfer students applying from other institutions, and also contributes to the university's Transfer Tuesday program. We are here to serve as a resource for applicants! But remember that we do not critique essays before submission; that is what the review is for. :)
The BBA Transfer Application:
- Available in late December
- Application submissions accepted Feb. 15
- Application due Mar. 31
- Transfer Supplement (for students applying outside of U-M Ann Arbor) available early May
- Transfer Supplement due June 1
- Decisions released in late June
