I’m currently a freshman at Bryant university. I applied to transfer out of Bryant back in December because I didn’t feel that my major (biology) worked well with Bryant. I applied to northeastern, and got accepted. I completely regret applying in the first place. Not only did I make amazing friends at Bryant, but we have a bond as well as that sense of community that I feel I can’t get at other schools. Maybe I’m just ignorant. Anyways, when I visited northeastern, EVERYONE seemed to keep to themselves. The social atmosphere seemed nonexistent. I’m no drinker, so I know the parties don’t really appeal to me. So here’s the thing, at Bryant, I made so many friends, and stood out as a hard worker in ROTC. However, northeastern offered me a scholarship for ROTC as well, so that’s pretty even with Bryant. Here’s the major decision: do I leave my happiness at Bryant to pursue my academic career at northeastern? Or do I remain happy at Bryant and risk my academic future. I know it seems obvious, you’ll make new friends right? Well, I don’t know. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.
If it’s working where you’re at, stay there. Why fix what’s not broken? Stability is a good thing. My two cents. If you’re happy you’ll stay motivated and do well in your career.
I honestly think you will make new friends, especially within ROTC. But if you are happy at Bryant and intend to serve in the military after graduating anyway, then you can also stay there.
What’s your plan after graduation? Why can’t Bryant academically provide for your plan?
I’m a NEU student and love it - I think you’re a bit off-base with “EVERYONE seemed to keep to themselves” - I can believe that some schools offer a better community, but there’s plenty going on socially here. I don’t see how you could get a good handle on that from just a tour.
That said, fit is important. Unless you really can’t accomplish what you want at Bryant, I don’t think you need to transfer. If you do though, in all likelihood it’s going to be better than you expect based on your expectations here.
Stay at Bryant. You’d actually be risking your academic future along with your happiness if you leave a school you love for another school just because it’s perceived to be better.
Thanks for all the advice. I knew it was a wise decision asking all of you. You all know what you’re talking about. With that said, I’ll be making the decision soon, and I’ll let all of you know. But thanks for taking the time to help me during this situation.
If 1) you are happy at Bryant 2) you are doing well at Bryant and 3) Bryant has the academics that you seek (you did not say if that is the case)…then why transfer? It sounds like the school is a great fit for you. The grass is not always greener on the other side.
Why did you pick a business college to study biology in the first place?
What’s your endgame with biology? Public Health? Health Administration? Bioinformatics?
What’s the Biology program like in relation to you plans? Probably fine if you aim for med school, but may be iffy if you aim for a PHD in Bio (I’m sorry to say you’d have to offset the fact Bryant is known as an excellent business school, which doesn’t mesh with bio all that well, except some specific fields. Which loops back to “what’s your endgame with biology”?)
Ask where Biology majors go afterwards.
Can you do research as an undergrad?
Why did you apply to Northeastern in the first place?
Are you dying to go on co-ops and, if so, could you just do the same from Bryant?
OP, My DS initially felt the same way as you did, when he started at his college. He applied to another college, and ended up transferriing there, despite the fact that he was having 2nd thoughts by the time his first year had ended.
What happened?
He hated it at the new college,happily returned to his old college and had a great experience after that.
Save yourself the time ,trouble, money and grief and forget about transferring.
bloom where you are currently planted!
What’s missing from this conversation is why NEU is better for biology than Bryant. If NEU is truly a much better academic program, then that can make a big difference. If Bryant is only really known for Business, then it seems like it wouldn’t be the best choice.
I’m in agreement with @choirsandstages , but the OP never answered any questions on that unfortunately. I suspect that there isn’t some huge missing factor that makes it worth the transfer in this case, but you never know.
Unless I am missing something big, Bentley [doesn’t offer a major in biology](Majors | Undergraduate Degree Programs | Bentley University). The closest thing they offer is a major in health studies, which they describe as “an innovative program that integrates the Natural and Applied Sciences health and psychology curricula with our core programs in business.” There are some biology courses required, but not many, and it’s not even close to a minor much less a major in biology.
So the question “why do you want to major in biology” becomes relevant.
If you want to take your major into medicine or another health profession, or want to enter the working work directly (perhaps a pharmaceutical or biotechnology or other health-related job with a BA), you could stay put at Bentley and make it work with a health sciences degree, perhaps paired with a business minor. There’s no reason to leave your friends and contentment with the atmosphere to make that work unless it’s otherwise really important to you personally to major in biology.
However, if you have designs on doing advanced academic graduate work in biology - like getting a PhD and doing research in the field - then yes, you’d need to transfer. Not only can you not get the foundational biology background at Bentley you’d need to succeed in a graduate program in the field, you also can’t get adequate research experience in that area at Bentley. It might be worth it to investigate whether you could pick up the equivalent of a minor at one of the chose colleges/universities (Brandeis, Lasell, Boston College, Tufts, Harvard, MIT), but if you really had a passion for biology and were sure you wanted to do that on the grad level that wouldn’t be enough.
@julliet I believe the program that the OP goes to is Bryant University not Bentely. (I have definitely gotten those two confused on occasion as well). Northeastern is relatively strong in the biological sciences and they always have innovative things going on there. My friends that go there have reported they are satisfied with their social lives. However you are right that you are likely expected to be more independent than at other colleges. One reason is that you are going to college in a city, which means a good part of your experience will likely be exploring all the things the city offers. The other reason is because of Northeastern’s co-op program. Because the majority of students participate in it, students will likely come and go at different times during the semesters and it is not the same as having a traditional college experience. Nevertheless, the decision is up to you and perhaps other posters will be able to provide more insight into these colleges than I will.
Sorry I haven’t been answering the questions lately. To answer majority of the questions:
Bryant does have a biology major, and I’ve been able to succeed academically at bryant (4.0 gpa). They do offer research, as I started doing antibiotic resistance research in their labs. However, my ultimate goal is to become a biomedical engineer. Bryant DOES NOT offer any engineering courses, so I was thinking of getting those courses from another institution if possible during the summer/winter. Furthermore, both ROTC programs will give me the same amount of money. In the end, my goal is grad school for biomedical engineering. The reason I chose a business school was to not only get easy access to research experience, but to get that business background in the case of leading a biomedical business/institution (also a career I’m interested in).