<p>I just got accepted to Rice and will be attending this January. I applied for basically two reasons.</p>
<p>(1) I wanted more rigorous computer science and math programs and I wanted some opportunities for undergraduate research in math during the school year (Rice has VIGRE). This is the big reason.</p>
<p>(2) I did great in high school but didn’t even apply to top 20 colleges as a freshman applicant because I wanted to go wherever my friends went. When I realized how naive this decision was, I started looking into schools to transfer to that I felt would suit me well, not schools at which I happened to know a few people from high school.</p>
<p>I’m a transfer student as well. I switched LACs, not changing the student population. </p>
<p>I transfered for 3 reasons that I tell everyone:
My advisor told me that if I wanted to major in history, I’d better get the hell out of there because she didn’t see any potential additional funding for her department to make it stronger. Also, Colgate had a stronger history curriculum all-around.</p>
<p>2) My former LAC had a completely different student culture and is known to be one of the most liberal LACs around. I THOUGHT I was liberal until I got there. I was also uncomfortable with the students’ attitude towards diversity.</p>
<p>3) Distance. I felt psychologically isolated (like you, soccer) even though it was only 5 hours car ride… but there was really no other way home as I didn’t have a car, train ride was like 10 hours, and bus was 13 hours.</p>
<p>I would’ve left that year anyway due to personal reasons and would’ve eventually returned.</p>
<p>Now that I have been out of undergraduate for a year and half, it was still the best decision that I have ever made. However, I will warn you that it’s common among transfers to think “what if” until their graduation. I really thought about returning to my old LAC for my senior year just to graduate with my class that I entered with. My senior year was bittersweet that way. I always wondered if I was ready to go back since I had grown up a bit more. But I was having such a great time and the thought of leaving my professors and close friends was too painful.</p>
<p>I would’ve made the best of both schools anyhow, but the decision to transfer was largely for academic reasons, not quite necessarily for student life and opportunities.</p>
<p>I still relish on what my former LAC had taught me and actually talk about it a lot more than Colgate because it was such an excellent experience to be in a completely different setting.</p>
<p>That said, soccer, if you said that you were looking forward to being in the South, what does it mean? Did you anticipate hanging out and meeting the Southerners? Why are you still hanging out with the Northerners? Maybe you should mix up your circle of friends…</p>
<p>I transferred from Columbia to Dartmouth. I wanted a much more traditional “college” experience, and really appreciated a more tightknit community and a more undergrad focused experience. Best decision I’ve ever made.</p>
<p>My husband and I graduated from Lafayette in the 1980’s. We always marvel at how many friends we have from school compared to our friends that went to large Universities. Our friends from big schools tended to travel within one small group. When we walked into the Lafayette/Lehigh game this past Saturday we could barely get to our seats. There were so many alums to catch up with. This goes for your prof’s as well. It just seems that there is ample oppurtunity to form bonds with them as well. A small LAC can really be a great community. Best of luck with the transfer.</p>
<p>My d transfered from a large school to a small baby Ivy at the end of her freshman year and she is thrilled (now aborad for junior year). She knew by Oct of her freshman year that the large school was not a good fit for her academically, or socially. She loved being in New York but not enough on the plus column to continue as a student. The reason she chose the school ED soon became the reason she wanted to leave! It was only by being at a large city school where she often felt “lost” that she realized that a small school was a more nurturing environment for her. Make a pro and con list and the answer should be clear. My D also visited some high school friends at their mid-size school and realized what she was missing by being at a large city school.</p>
<p>hey, I saw you transferred to Duke, and I am thinking about transferring there from the University of Georgia. Any advice, application- and essay-wise? :)</p>
<p>i transferred from a top public school to an Ivy. I love where I am but I could also have made my old institution worked for me. Academically, it’s not that different. My advice is that you need to make a list of your top priorities regarding to what you look for in a “perfect” college. Whether it be financial aid, majors, or social acceptance…</p>
<p>Once you’ve done that, you can really see if there is a need to transfer. I know it is tough to work extremely hard in high school and ending up at an “okay” college. But at the same time, you should realize that the more prestige you are looking for, the more work and the higher chance that you will fail. Taking pre-med for example. I would have done stellar at my old public school but I am an “average” student at Ivy. Had I stayed at my public school, my medical school admissions was almost 99% assured but now I am not sure if I will be able to stick with pre-med. </p>
<p>Think VERY carefully about this decision. If I had to do it all over, I would have just gone to a decent school, do stellar in it, and end up at a top medical school rather than going to an Ivy and end up not getting into medical school at all…</p>
<p>First semesters are hard. My daughter partied too much and got D’s and missed her friends; at Christmas break she said she didn’t want to go back. We insisted she take a leave of absence, not quit. Luckily there’s a decent community college in our town. She took a full load there and did well. She was accepted to another school filled with her friends. By the time summer rolled around, she had reevaluated all her earlier decisions and decided to go back to school number one where she is happy. She says she was horrified by her screwup and just wanted to run away. In reality, she needed to rebuild her confidence. If you need to jump now, consider a leave as the least stressfull option, which will give you time to work the transfer. Another girl I know transferred to the new school over summer term which gave her any easier time to get adjusted. Good luck.</p>
<p>hey dont know if this comes in a bit too late, though I guess il tell you my story to see if it helps you at the very least.</p>
<p>After graduating from HS I decided to enroll at this college (it was a 4yr college many of the post here come from 2 yr ones) which I found to be my most afordable option, and brought with me the idea that under said major that i choose it would have been a good choice. However after spending a two semesters in there I didnt feel like it was a place I wanted to be in. I didnt want to transfer because I thought since I was in there already, maybe I should just go all the way, plus the “friends factor”. However I wasnt happy with it in any regard (mostly personal). You could say I conformed with it but I became angry at it because it just wasent what I wanted my college experience to be. Before I knew it summer came and my view of that college had not changed so a day came, during august, that i just got up and went to this other college not far from where i was attending which I knew had rolling admissions and enrolled for their fall semester which was starting in less then 2 weeks from that date. At that point I didnt know if what i was doing was right but in the days that followed I figured that it was best I go for something new and realized that spending another 3 yrs at the other college would have been dreadfull for me mentally/emotionaly. </p>
<p>To be honest now that I have done one semester at this new college I can tell you I DO NOT REGRET IT!!! without a doubt!. Has it been the best decision? maybe but its not the school I wanted to transfer out too, I wanted to to go to another school of the same level I was attending but as a liberal arts school (I was atending a polytechnic school and wanted to go to a liberal arts school of the same tier). But like I mentioned I transfered two weeks before fall semester began and the LBA School’s admission deadline was way overdue. However I am now trying to transfer out of the new school Im attending but I am happy with where I am to be honest.</p>
<p>HOPE MY STORY HELPS IN ANYWAY!, dont let the friends factor stop you.</p>
<p>SFC2NYC, why are you trying to transfer out of the new school? are you going to go back to where you started? don’t you think that’s a lot of moving around?
your story definitely did help because it sounds very similar to mine and i am still trying to decide if my current school is right for me or not. i can see my decision definitely coming 2 weeks before i return to school next fall but i doubt it would work out as easily as your decision did. it would probably be too late for me.</p>
<p>I want to transfer to the University of Texas in fall 2010 I have a 3.5 gpa and I want to go into the field of kinesiology is that a good enough gpa or not?
for those who have transferred what was your gpa?</p>
<p>I’m assuming you mean the Kinesiology program in the College of Education? You should be fine with your GPA. I transferred into COLA with a 3.6 and was told that the minimum a transfer should aim for is 3.2 (although some with lower stats do get in) and a 3.5 or above is generally considered safe. Where are you transferring from and how many units do you have so far? Good luck, and hook ’ em!</p>
<p>I agree with liek0806. It is like high school all over and it is very frustrating when you still have classes to take care of. I transferred from my school after freshman year. I wanted to be challenged and my school as not providing that. I had a 3.3 gpa without any great effort and made the deans list. I ended up applying in the spring when i orginally wanted to transfer in the fall. I ended up applying any where i could go and rejected by some and the others i could not afford.I ended up accepted into a 4-year university which was very costly move for me to make but i ended up with enough grants and loans. I definitely enjoy it here and it has so much more opportunities for the future.</p>
<p>Just be aware that sometimes you may regret that you transfer and make sure you know that the school you pick is the right choice. It is hard to develop friends once everyone knows each other but hangout with fellow transfers at school(that is what i did and we now all have our own friends we talk to)</p>
<p>yes, the college of education. I want to go into the sport training program because I want to be a Physical Therapist. I am not sure how many units I have now, but by the end I will have a little over thirty hours. I am in programs such as, Students Government, M-class. I have taken two honor classes and maybe more with this next semester coming, I have done a lot of Community service and I have a job that I have had for three years.( if that even matters) but nonetheless I have been wanting to go to UT ever since I learned HOw to do the Hook em sign. I hope i get in!!</p>
<p>It definitely sounds like you are on the right track for admission. Come on over to the UT specific board, there will be a lot of other transfer students there with great advice and who will be waiting for news this spring just like you will be. ;)</p>
<p>Transferring is a lot of legwork. The hardest part is getting letters of recommendation and school official’s reports. So, if you transfer, do this two or three months in advance.</p>