Parbatya.. the possibility of getting RA/TA positions depends on which degree and department you are applying for. Some departments reserve their TA/RA posotions only for PhD students. I am in the psychology department and the way it works there is... after you get in you schedule an appointment with the respective Prof and they interview you and appoint you for the position. I think you should speak to your department advisor for details. I am an undergrad but I am doing research with a prof. and our GRA is from sociology. After getting in she was really disappointed because she could not get assistantship because it was reserved for Phds. But she took an appointment with my prof. and came for an interview and got the position. She just did not inquire about it before getting in the program.. so the best thing to do would be to talk to the advisor!

The deadline for Fall '07 is somewhere in March.. so yeah thats gone for now! I would not know how to answer your transfer question. If you were an undergrad I would know better.. but for grad. students I dont really know!