Advice for a first-year thinking to transfer

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi guys! I'm pretty okay with my school now but I am thinking to transfer. </p>

<p>COST. This is a private school. Even with scholarships and finaid, the amount I have to pay will add up if I stay here all 4 years. I don't know how likely the chances of me getting a full scholarship/close to full within the next few years would be, either. I know I may get more, or perhaps even less or the tuition may go up.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Building up on this, my school is not particularly KNOWN for my program. I'm studying advertising, and although it is decent (as in, not bad), it's not a big named school everyone's heard of. Not sure how that hurts me in the job market.</p></li>
<li><p>Alternatively, because of cost, I want to go back to my local state uni. The price to fly back and forth will add up substantially since I am across the country and back home, I won't have that NOR will I have to pay for dorming! And the tuition is also one of the cheapest in the nation.</p></li>
<li><p>I am afraid with the job market being bad, I won't be able to pay off my debt until I'm like, 40 or 50. I also plan to go to graduate school if I really can't find a job in my career field or an internship.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>So what I want to know is, should I even think about transferring? Some people I've talked to say that those reasons aren't good enough. For example, my parents tell me that by going to this school (better than my local uni), I'll probably make more money in the long-run and be able to pay off those debts.</p>

<p>Alternatively, my friends say that I took all this effort to change my life by leaving home, in the end, only to crawl back like a weak person. I guess this is more of a pride thing, that I /don't/ wanna go back because I want to be able to prove that I can live on my own. Because I can.</p>

<p>Anyway, really, is transferring even good? Is the job market predicted to get better? Should I just get my BA at my local uni and go to graduate school somewhere better? Would any of it matter? Should I stay here another year and see how bad the financial burden is/will get?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>P.S., just to say, my family isn't really well-off but we are not bad either. My mom is working 50~ish hours a week while my stepdad works almost every single day with 2 jobs just to make money to save for the future and to pay off my loans. I also am working on campus. I am thankful BUT I feel terrible for having to put them through all of that working just to put me through school when I may have a cheaper alternative that could still benefit my future. That is all.</p>

2

<p>BUMP! Also a first year looking to transfer from a Top 5 university to a small, liberal arts school like Pomona or CMC or Swarthmore. I hate my current university and truly feel that I made a huge mistake. Cost wise would probably be the same, I would still have to take out loans, but I might be a lot happier.</p>

<p>Sorry to crash! Help is also appreciated :)</p>

3

<p>@OP, you have some really great reasons for transferring. If you feel like that’s what is best for you, then definitely go for it.</p>

4

<p>OP, I don’t see any reason for you to stay where you are. Why pay a lot more, directly and indirectly, when you think the academics are nothing special and there’s no other compelling reason to stay? Who cares what anyone else thinks – go to the school that makes more sense for you.</p>

5

<p>My only reason /to/ stay is that I have heard multiple seniors and some adults tell me that my education is an investment and that money shouldn’t matter. </p>

<p>I may or may not be in debt for the rest of my life, I may or may not have a successful career. it’s just that, the economy and the job market looks gloomy.</p>

6

<p>^^^ HAH! If money doesn’t matter, maybe they’d like to pay your bills for you. You might also ask yourself whether seniors are really in a position to know how their own debt is going to affect their lives (never mind how it will affect somebody else).</p>

7

<p>"My only reason /to/ stay is that I have heard multiple seniors and some adults tell me that my education is an investment and that money shouldn’t matter. "</p>

<p>In ten years, when you’re not drowning in debt, you’ll look back on that and laugh. It’s YOUR life and if you don’t want to start out with huge sums of money owed in loans, then that’s your business. </p>

<p>“If money doesn’t matter, maybe they’d like to pay your bills for you. You might also ask yourself whether seniors are really in a position to know how their own debt is going to affect their lives (never mind how it will affect somebody else).”</p>

<p>Agreed x1000</p>

8

<p>^^^ Sorry to bump this up but I am pretty convinced that paying virtually nothing > being in debt for undergrad.</p>

<p>How can I convince my parents this? I actually am being restricted from transferring out (they believe that this private school + being in debt will be worth it) and it’s complicated without my parents’ support.</p>

9

<p>Go to the FA & Scholarships forum and ask about debt and how much you’ll need to pay and for how many years, then show that to your parents. </p>

<p>Start a thread on the Parents forum or have your parents make a membership and have them do it. There are a lot of these kinds of questions and the advice 99% of the time is to save money on your UG degree. About the only time people argue for going into debt and making huge sacrifices is when it’s one of the highly selective colleges that some people think will help down the line.</p>

<p>You want your parents support, it will make everything simpler for everyone involved. So start collecting the data to support your argument. If you can provide any information about the colleges involved and costs, that would be helpful.</p>

<p>p.s. You’re not crawling back home, you’re making a mature, rational decision.</p>