<p>I'm currently a student at RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) in Troy, NY. I'm from Oregon and I've had pretty much a miserable year so far. I've thought about transferring almost everyday since I've been here, but I'm not sure where I'd go. I'd really like some suggestions.</p>
<p>I have a stronger liberal arts background in high school, but obviously I'm currently at a polytech school. I'm not really sure what I want to study, but I'd like a school that is strong in sciences (such as physics) and semi-strong in music. I want a university with a strong reputation, but not a dreadful transfer rate such as Stanford's 1.5%.</p>
<p>Currently, I have a 4.0 GPA from my first semester and a 4.0 GPA from high school. My SATs (if it matters anymore) were 720 on each, plus 800 on Math II, 710 on history, and 680 on chemistry.</p>
<p>Also, if anyone knows anything about any colleges in Ireland, that would be helpful. I was thinking about studying abroad in Ireland, but I am also considering just transferring to a university in Ireland since I want to transfer anyways.</p>
<p>There are many with good reputations such as Harvey Mudd, Rice etc. Frankly, if you are geting a 4.0, I wouldn't recommend transferring. Why?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>First your GPA from your freshmen year will dissappear and not be counted in the overall GPA by your college</p></li>
<li><p>If you are doing that much better than everyone around you, you will probably keep doing that well at RPI. If you go to a different school, you take your chances with the competition.</p></li>
<li><p>A high GPA will get you a great job and great chance at grad school.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>With that noted, if you still want to transfer, you might consider schools like Cornell, Brown, Harvey Mudd and Rice, as noted above, Williams, Pomona and other Claremont schools, Tufts, Penn, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Duke, Northwestern and University of Chicago. This list should get you started.</p>
<p>Honestly I think your happiness is more important than your grades. If you are really unhappy, definitely pursue transferring. I'd also suggest Rice and Harvey Mudd (very strong in sciences). </p>
<p>What type of "feel" are you looking for at a college? That might help people give you suggestions. What is it about RPI that you don't like?</p>
<p>consider Johns Hopkins--very strong is sciences but also in humanities and social sciences. And it includes the Peabody Institute--which has both the Peabody Conservatory (very high level) and Peabody Prep (everything from beginners in music up to the conservatory level).</p>
<p>Its not easy to transfer to Hopkins--but its probably easier than Stanford. </p>
<p>how did you pick RPI? What have you learned from how you ended up there so that you'll avoid a similar mistake as a transfer?</p>
<p>I say this because I don't see a lot of specifics about what you don't like or what you're looking for. Size of the college, location (urban, rural, etc) and part of the country, level of academic challenge, type of students it attracts, what people tend to do in their free time, etc. I'd hate to see you jump at some name proffered here instead of taking the time to really think about what you want and then spend the time to find a basket of schools offering it.</p>
<p>I can name five that are better than NU (no particular order):</p>
<ol>
<li>Case Western University - Cleveland Institute of Music</li>
<li>Indiana University - School of Music</li>
<li>University of Rochester - Eastman School of Music</li>
<li>University of Michigan - School of Music</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins University - Peabody</li>
</ol>
<p>That's not including conservatories like NEC and the usual suspects.</p>
<p>Peabody is a conservatory, i was talking about universities with music departments</p>
<p>the only thing i could find is this, and although i think it's pretty discredited, you're right it ranks iu michigan and rochester above northwestern.</p>
<p>Rice has a better music school than Northwestern. Northwestern can't even compare to IU. Northwestern is a good music school, but not in the league with Rice, Indiana or Oberlin.</p>
<p>As for the "feel"...at RPI, I don't really like:
the professors (I don't think they're really into the whole teaching aspect of things)
the people (mostly the ones from the NE who seem really distant and introverted, also because they are at a tech school)
the ratio (although it is like 2/3 guys, I think I'd like it to be a bit more equal)
the food (tastes unhealthy, which I know will probably happen anywhere I go)
the atmosphere (not what I would consider lively...a bit reserved)</p>
<p>Also, I know that I like smaller colleges (definitely under 10,000 or more around 6,000), I don't mind if it's rural or urban since I hardly go off of campus, out of the NW, challenging, and...as for what people do in their free time...maybe one where people don't always drink or anything but also they don't go waste all of their time on video games. It'd be cool if there was a college where I could continue competing in ballroom dancing, which I've been doing at RPI.</p>
<p>I'll look into the schools mentioned, but I'm not sure how much of a chance I have at most of those. When I was applying at schools as a senior in high school, I managed to get into Northwestern, Willamette, Washington University in St. Louis, and RPI, but RPI and Willamette were the only ones to give me any aid which I need in order to go to college basically. =\ I wasn't able to get accepted to Berkeley or any of those Ivies of course.</p>
<p>Sam Lee- My D looked at all the top music schools and got in everywhere she applied but Julliard. She chose Rice. She was not very impressed by Northwestern for voice, but I have talked to a few posters here on CC who liked it a lot and convinced me that in many disciplines it is excellent. It was my daughter's first choice until she visited and did more research.<br>
Rice is a conservatory-level program and is extremely selective. That said, it is possible that Northwestern has the greatest trumpet teacher in the country. I know for awhile the top in some instrument was at Arizona State. So much depends on the teacher. As a whole, Rice has a stronger reputation in music than Northwestern, but that doesn't matter in the slightest if the best people for YOU are at a particular school.</p>
<p>I'll add another vote to look at the Claremont Colleges. As mentioned, Harvey Mudd has a reputation for being an extremely strong science school, plus you can take classes at any of the others. They meet 100% of demonstrated need. </p>
<p>I took another look at your original post and maybe Pomona would be the best of the Claremont schools for you. Checking the boards, Harvey Mudd is more engineering oriented, and Pomona more oriented towards other sciences.</p>