<p>I'm currently a freshman at UC Berkeley. I am completely miserable here and I don't know what to do. I'm an out of state student from Colorado so tuition is exorbitant and I miss my family. I am having a difficult time adjusting here. I haven't felt comfortable being here since Day 1. The classes are huge and the campus is overwhelming. There is no good advising system where you actually have someone you can count on to help you out. It is extremely difficult to get an appointment with an academic advisor. I hate my dorm situation. I get along with my roomates fine but I feel alienated from the rest of my floor. I spend all my days alone walking from class to class and I don't fit into the social scene here. Everyone either goes to frat parties or sits in their rooms watching TV. My parents keep telling me that I should just come home next semester and go to CU. I know that I am definitely not coming back here next fall. I am considering many options for the fall (University of Colorado Boulder, Vassar, Barnard, University of Chicago). I'm wondering if I should even bother to try and stick it out one more semester? Anyone have any suggestions of what I should do? I would love to hear recommendations of good schools to transfer to that would have a smaller, more intimate environment with small classes and a residential campus feel.</p>
<p>Here are my stats:
ACT:33 with writing
SAT: 2030?
GPA:4.8 weighted/3.9 unweighted
7th in a class of 500
IB Diploma recipient</p>
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The classes are huge and the campus is overwhelming. There is no good advising system where you actually have someone you can count on to help you out. It is extremely difficult to get an appointment with an academic advisor.
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<p>Unfortunately, when people don't like Cal, they usually cite the reasons you've given--while a great school, it just isn't the right place for everyone. Although CU is home, it seems like it might have some of the same problems for you as Cal, and maybe even more so.</p>
<p>How are you doing grade wise this semester? If you're doing well, you might just want to hang in there so that you can know that you gave it a good shot before moving on.</p>
<p>Another thing to take into consideration, is that many schools only count you as a transfer if you've completed a full year of college work. So if you leave Cal after this semester, you'd have to apply with freshman admissions (by Jan 1) in order to be admitted for next fall.</p>
<p>For example, here's what Swat says:</p>
<p>"Students who have completed the equivalent of two or more semesters of university-level work must apply for transfer admissions. Admissions status for students who have completed less than the equivalent of two semesters of university-level work will be decided on a case-by-case basis."</p>
<p>From your tentative list, it seems you prefer cities to rural?? Rice comes to mind if you're OK with TX. WUSTL, Brown, Pomona and Swat come to mind.</p>
<p>Gradewise I'm doing pretty well. I have A's in 2 of my classes so far. A/B in my 3rd class and lower B/C in my 3rd class (Econ 1 which is a very difficult weeder class).</p>
<p>I thought that if you have completed any college coursework after graduation you are considered a transfer student. My impression from what you are saying is that it depends what the admissions office wants to classify you as. Is this correct?</p>
<p>I do prefer cities but I'm up for rural too. Is "Swat" Swathmore? I will do my research but I have always thought that Rice was just another big school like Cal?</p>
<p>Thank you soooo much for your help! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.</p>
<p>Please ignore my comment about the size of Rice. I just looked it up and it is very small compared to Cal:) I don't know why I thought differently.</p>
<p>What are you looking for in a school? Barnard is very different than Berkeley or Boulder. Vassar is liberal, alternative, a good bit of drugs,etc. Your list of schools is certainly focused on liberal colleges & universities. UCs are well known for huge classes & tight budgets. You may be able to transfer easily to another UC. UCLA is quite different than Berkeley & UC Santa Barbara is a wonderful place to spend four years. UC San Diego is strong for sciences, but also has huge classes. Other than the chance to live cheaply in a California coastal location, I never recommend students pay out-of-state tuition for any UC.
To what other schools did you apply last year? What do you want to study?</p>
<p>How you're classified depends on the transfer policy of a specific school. I just looked up UChicago:</p>
<p>"Who does Chicago consider to be an transfer applicant? You are a transfer applicant if you have completed one term as a full-time student in a degree-seeking program at another college or university."</p>
<p>Whereas, Yale states:</p>
<p>"To be eligible to transfer, students must by June of the current academic year, have a high school diploma or GED, and at least one year and no more than two years of transferable post-secondary-school college credit.</p>
<pre><code>•If by the end of the current academic year, you will have completed less than one year of full-time college study, you should apply through the freshman admissions process."
</code></pre>
<p>So if you stay the full year at Cal, you'll be a transfer to any college. But if you only do one semester this year, you would be considered a freshman applicant at some schools and a transfer at others.</p>
<p>I agree that UCs are generally not a good choice for OOS students unless money is not a concern at all. Seems like many of the LACs would fit what you're looking for, it just depends on what you prefer as far as location, the personality of the school, major, etc.</p>
<p>Coldwind: I'm looking for a smaller environment where the campus is pretty residential. There also must be small classes. I would like to be somewhere that is close to a city so transportation is easy and fairly inexpensive. Last year I applied to some business schools because I originally thought I wanted to do business but now I changed my mind and I also applied other places. I applied to USC, UW, University of British Columbia, Brandeis, Colgate, NYU, Georgetown, Wharton at Penn, and Claremont McKenna College. I was rejected from Wharton and CMC and waitlisted at Georgetown and accepted to the rest. I want to study something in the social sciences. Possible linguistics or sociology or perhaps psychology. I'm also looking for a strong foreign language program.</p>
<p>Entomom: Would you recommend trying to stick it out through the spring semester or should I transfer for next semester? I think my options are getting more and more limited as time passes:(</p>
<p>My advice to you is to try and stick it out. Your grades tell me that you can hack it at Cal, if you get yourself done with all the weeder classes you should be in a much less stressful position academically, which will give you more time to branch out socially. Classes will get smaller once you get past the initial hurdles of freshman year too. </p>
<p>Socially, Berkeley, and the SF bay area in general has something for everyone. If you continue to stay at Cal you will get resident status by the end of your second year (i think) which will mean a significant drop in tuition costs if you do stay. </p>
<p>One of my best friends is at Vassar right now and loves it, so if you are looking into LAC's that stress community and has a great social climate I'd also recommend Vassar. </p>
<p>If I were in your position, I'd app to Vassar and Barnard as well as Boulder if in-state tuition is attractive. Have you thought about Colorado College? I hear its an excellent LAC.</p>
<p>Edit: Have you thought about looking for classes in smaller departments? Some departments at Cal are tiny and very obscure, though the material and faculty they have to offer are very engaging.</p>
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Would you recommend trying to stick it out through the spring semester or should I transfer for next semester? I think my options are getting more and more limited as time passes
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<p>That's really a difficult question to answer, you're gonna have to dig deep and think about whether or not there's anything you can change (socially or academically) to make next semester better. You'll be working on your transfer applications this winter, so what situation would be best: continuing at Cal, changing schools to CU or taking spring semester off (I don't know if this is a possibility or not)?</p>
<p>Whatever you decide, don't lose heart, you'll find a school that's right for you, the doors have NOT closed.</p>
<p>One advantage you have is that you have a pretty good idea of the range of schools to look at based on where you were accepted and denied last year. As a soph transfer, you will be assessed more on your HS record and test scores than on what you've done your one semester in college. </p>
<p>Beyond your academic interests and size of the school/classes, what else are you looking for as far as geographic areas, personality of the school, etc. LACs are not my strong point, but I'll give it some thought if you can narrow down the factors that are important to you.</p>
<p>It sounds like your concerns are mostly social rather than academic. Cal is a great school, so I would urge you to at least give it a whack before abandoning the place. What are your interests outside of your major? Have you joined any clubs? I know some people in the anthropology department at Cal and they are very friendly, low-key folks. Is living outside of the dorms in a shared apartment an option for you at all? If you're able to find roommates you like, that can go a long way toward making it feel like home. </p>
<p>If it is just not the right place for you, you might want to take a look at Reed or Oberlin. They're definitely much homier places, but have a similar ethos. Good luck.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear it isn't enjoyable so far, and hope it gets better.</p>
<p>Two of the best universities in the country are Chicago & Northwestern University. Of the two, Northwestern is probably what you are looking for. Of the top rated national universities, Northwestern reports the smallest class sizes to USNews, but intro courses can be large. The good news is that Northwestern University is transfer friendly. Remember that you can make a large school small, but you can't make a small school big.
I sense that you are not picking schools that will meet your needs. And I am trying to think of schools with small classes located within easy commute of large cities, yet maintain a residential campus. My son had similiar concerns and is now at Northwestern (where he started as a freshman & we couldn't get him to come home), although he also felt at home during two summers at Harvard. Northwestern & Tufts are two that you may want to consider. I am reluctant to recommend any LACs because the luster can wear off during the second year & you have already missed the best year for attending a LAC. The freshman year bonding at LACs is intense.
Consider Chicago, Tufts & Northwestern. At Northwestern look into two of the six schools. One is unique, SESP, in that it is the only undergraduate program of its kind in the country. SESP = School of Education & Social Policy. If you want small classes, intimacy & incredible advising near a major city this is the best kept secret inthe US. Being admitted to SESP entitles you to double major and/or minor--if you prefer-- in the WCAS (Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences).
Two beaches right on campus, walk into upscale Evanston for great meals & very good shopping.</p>
<p>Canescans: I have thought about Colorado College but if I were to go to school in Colorado the only school I would want to go to is CU Boulder. Still, I don't know enough about the school so I am considering visiting in when I am home for Winter Break. I know there are many small departments here at Cal but I do not want to be here. Being on this campus hasn't felt right since the first day. I don't feel comfortable.</p>
<p>Entomom: Geographically, I'm looking to be either in Colorado, Illinois, or somewhere on the East coast. I want to be somewhere there is a very limited or there is no Greek life. I want to be on a campus that is very residential. I also would like an environment where the faculty are very easy to communicate with. For financial reasons, my parents would prefer that I am in somewhere that is relatively close to a big airport in order to try to keep transportation as low as possible.</p>
<p>themovies: I know it is a great school and I appreciate your advice, it just isn't the place for me. I feel like it's really difficult to join clubs right now because everything is already in full swing but I'm going to try again next semester. I will take a look at Reed and Oberlin.</p>
<p>Coldwind: Thank you for the advice. I will research these three schools. I am looking for a school where the party scene doesn't dominate social scene. From what I understand the Greek life at Northwestern is big? Do you think it's completely hopeless to attend an LAC after first year? I won't have anyway to form connections and everyone will already have their friend groups? SESP sounds very good to me!
Just curious, why do you think I'm not picking schools that fit my needs? What other direction should I go in when choosing schools?</p>
<p>Questions to all:
-How many schools do transfers typically apply to?
-How do I approach getting recommendations from professors when all of the classes I am taking this semester have 400 or 800 people? Can you get a rec. letter from a teacher's assistant?</p>
<p>I agree that UChicago, Tufts and Oberlin are good possibilities. Since you're thinking about Barnard, how about Smith or Wellesley? Wesleyan? Vassar?</p>
<p>The problem with many of these is that they're pretty reachy given your admissions results from last year, so you need to get some less selective schools too.</p>
<p>I must admit, I'm worried about CU because I think you're going to run into a lot of the same problems you're having at Cal, and more so because: the population will be less diverse (more instate students than Cal), the student body will be less academically inclined as a whole and there is likely to be a fairly good sized Greek presence. Also, you're looking for a residential college feel, and I'd assume that like most state schools, the majority of kids start moving off campus by jr year at CU.</p>
<p>Last year my D applied to 5 schools, because most of them had acceptance rates in the low single digits. Do a search for last year's results thread and you can see how many schools people applied to.</p>
<p>For LORs, you really have to make an effort to get to know profs and TAs through office hours, contributing to the class discussion, etc. Yes, you can definitely use TAs, I think the Transfer Admissions 101 sticky thread discusses this.</p>
<p>If you got into Brandeis originally, you'd most likely be accepted as a transfer. It's a small University with almost no Greek scene (whatever they have is not official, so it's off-campus). Very strong academics, easily accessible professors, residential college reasonably close to Logan airport in Boston. Wesleyan is a good option, too. Bradley Airport in Hartford is not far from the campus and Southwest Air has great prices. You're an excellent student and sound as if you know what kind of school would make you a lot happier. I'd say transfer as soon as you can.</p>