A Giant Thank You and Request for Advice

Parents Forum
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<p>I've always seen the parents' forum as a wonderful place for advice and perspective. And so I've come here with my happy dilemma.</p>

<p>I am currently a student at WM, where I've been unhappy. I applied for transfer and was overjoyed to get into Brown, Columbia, and Harvard (Spring).</p>

<p>(Earlier in the year, some parents on this forum reviewed my transfer essays for Harvard after I made a request. To all who did so, thank you! I obviously could not have done it without you, and I mean that. Your assistance made today's envelope-tearing possible.)</p>

<p>My dilemma is this: I'm choosing between Columbia and Harvard, and I'm not sure which way to lean. I've always liked Columbia, but I never thought about Harvard because I never thought I'd get in . . . and now I have, to my surprise.</p>

<p>But I'm unsure about whether I should take a spring transfer, because though I know transferring is pretty hard, it seems like a spring transfer would be even tougher. Besides that, Harvard will give me less credit than Columbia because Harvard does not recognize any AP testing--limiting my options, for things like electives and study abroad.</p>

<p>I've also heard bad things about the quality of life at Harvard, which lead me to question whether it's a relentless pressure cooker.</p>

<p>I'm wondering if any one has any advice on spring transferring or transferring in general, or any opinion at all. It's something I would appreciate.</p>

<p>Do you also think it would be a good idea to ask the admissions office if I can get my Spring admission changed to Fall? Would there be a chance that they would do it?</p>

<p>Furthermore, if we had to rush-visit from Richmond to MA (I've already seen Columbia once), this week, does anyone have any advice on how to do it? Especially considering the holiday this weekend . . .</p>

<p>Thanks for reading this.</p>

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<p>Not on the ivy league level, but at KSU I was a spring transfer and if I had to do it over again, I would wait until fall. It is soooo much easier to meet new people when everyone starts in the fall.</p>

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<p>Can you tell more about yourself, your interests and your plans?</p>

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<p>I don't know much about transferring, Spring or otherwise, but I do have a daughter at Harvard, and she has never described it as a pressure cooker. She loves it at Harvard. She is good friends with all the kids in her dorm, and they all help each other. The academic standards are high, but the study groups are cooperative, not competitive. A lot of work - yes. Pressure cooker - no.</p>

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<p>"Besides that, Harvard will give me less credit than Columbia because Harvard does not recognize any AP testing--limiting my options, for things like electives and study abroad."</p>

<p>If study abroad is really important to you, look very carefully. This is not something that Harvard is known for, and relative to most prestigious institutions, the percentage of students who do it is very, very small. It may be even smaller among transfers.</p>

<p>I have no idea if that is true at Columbia, but I'd "kick the tires" if that is an issue. (If you are unhappy at WM, my feeling would be "why wait?" But then I would have chosen Brown....)</p>

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<p>Huh? Harvard promotes study abroad very heavily. I thought it was Yale that wasn't all that keen on study abroad. From the Harvard website: <a href="http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Eoip/study_abroad/intro.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~oip/study_abroad/intro.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"If you are going to come to Harvard, it would be very good to have a passport."</p>

<p>and</p>

<p>"The report of the Harvard College Curricular Review of April 2004 recommends that there be an expectation “that all Harvard College students pursue a significant international experience during their time in the College.” This recommendation is based on our belief that for students to make the most of the opportunities available in the globalized world of the 21st century, they must develop global competence – knowledge about and an empathetic appreciation of another culture, together with the ability to work as part of a team across cultural boundaries. The best way to develop such global competence is to have firsthand experience living abroad.</p>

<p>One of the very best options for such international experience is study abroad, during the academic year or in the summer...."</p>

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<p>Sorry. It is was Marite who said the number who actually did it was not much larger than at Yale, where it is (according to their website) approximately 100 a year (which is a very small number.) I actually don't have any numbers for Harvard (not counting summers - summer study abroad is common at all colleges where there are wealthy students.) Last time I looked, they had only one program of their own (in Chile), though this might have changed.</p>

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<p>Harvard has study abroad links to programs all over the world:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Eoip/approved_programs/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~oip/approved_programs/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Oh, I knew about the links - virtually all colleges have such linkages. The question posed by the number of their own programs, is how much Harvard contributes to their academic (or overall) quality, and views them as integrated with what they themselves have to offer.</p>

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<p>I have a S at Harvard and read The Crimson on line regularly. Very few Harvard students study abroad on structured programs and they school is trying to increase the number who do so; however, I do not have specific numbers to cite. That is one reason why so many kids take 6 years to graduate Harvard -- they spend time setting up their own internships or travelling abroad on their own. I do know of Harvard students who apply for and receive research or grant monies to study/work abroad during the summer.</p>

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<p>546mp - I have been vigilantly watching for posts from you since helping with your (excellent) essay. Congrats!!! I am thrilled for you to have such wonderful options. You have earned them.</p>

<p>I don't have much info on your immediate questions. Just to say that back in the dark ages when I hung out at Harvard with my soon-to-be-H, the environment was no pressure cooker. It was just as coureur described and a wonderful rich environment (as, of course, Columbia would be). Let us know what you decide.</p>

<p>My gut instinct would be to choose unrelated to the spring vs. fall transfer. Back in the dark ages, I too transferred (into Wellesley). It is true that a lot of bonding has taken place, so that your route to making friends will be a little different. But I did not feel that my fall transfer was the slightest bit easier than spring would have been. My advice for transfers (which I didn't follow - wisdom comes easily looking backward) would be to quickly get involved in ECs of strong interest to you. It seems to me that will create the opportunities you want re connecting with people and the place regardless of when you start.</p>

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<p>Thank you all for your responses.</p>

<p>I'm leaning towards a physics major, and one of my worries is whether it is easy to go from one school's program into another. Since hard sciences aren't taught as holistically as some of the humanities, I'm wondering what it might be like to transfer.</p>

<p>Additionally, is it possible (as a transfer) to take on roles of leadership in extracurricular activities, especially as a school as driven as Harvard?</p>

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<p>I don't see the big difference in "drivenness" that you seem to ascribe to Harvard and Columbia students. They're both very bright, high-energy kids on urban campuses. </p>

<p>Hanna, a transfer to Harvard and poster on these boards, has written in the past, if I remember correctly, about transfers at Harvard all being put together in one house (dorm) when she transferred there; this may have changed, but I don't think she liked it. I would PM her and ask her about being a transfer to Harvard.</p>

<p>Congratulations!</p>

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<p>Thanks for the response . . .
I see now that what I meant wasn't clear at all. I was wondering how tough it would be to become heavily involved with new ECs as a spring transfer, especially at a school (like Harvard or Columbia) where students may have been working for leadership roles for several semesters.</p>

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<p>Couldn't you take a whole year off, do something interesting, and request that Harvard defer your admission for a semester until Fall '06, which would probably make integrating a bit easier. That way you could even do an independent study abroad during your year off, if that's really important to you.
Of course, this is assuming you don't pick Columbia anyway :p.</p>

<p>Btw, congrats on getting such wonderful acceptances!</p>