<p>I'm gonna go to a state university this year and am wanting to transfer to nyu or brown after sophomore year. I'm just wondering because I heard that most schools won't keep your previous gpa's after a transfer. So would that mean that my cumulative gpa will just be made up of junior and senior year?</p>
<p>Nope. AMCAS GPA is ALL classes every taken (UG and up).
But I wouldn’t suggest NYU or Brown unless you’re being offered a full-ride. The cost won’t pay you back. Additionally, you’re going to miss a lot of opportunities (at both the state school & NYU or Brown) transferring so late in the game. I’d say your current plan just sounds like a plain bad idea if you’re going into medicine…</p>
<p>What do you mean with oppurtunities?
Well if thats a bad plan what do you suggest I do? I really dont want to be at this school. And I love NYU and Brown. Why wouldnt you suggest the 2?</p>
<p>First of all, you’ve already built relationships w/ faculty at the state school. A 3-4-year ongoing academic/research/advisor relationship w/ a professor trumps anything you can do in 1-2 years, regardless of the school. Simply put, the professors at your state school are still likely to be well-respected and known (just as much so as the ones at Brown or NYU, to be honest) and it’s those faculty’s recommendations that will boost you above your peers, so the better a professor knows you (and length of time known is a big part of that equation), the stronger your letter and the more weight it will be given by reviewers. Additionally, you never really know who has connections with whom.</p>
<p>Secondly, the expenses don’t make any sense. Unless you intend to go into academic medicine, the school you go to has literally no bearing upon your future career. When adjustments are made for caliber of matriculants, there is no significant difference between an average in-state school and a top 10 medical school. The difference in each case (both UG and med school) is primarily in terms of the caliber of applicants, not the caliber of education. As a result, assuming IQ were to be a perfect measure of one’s potential for professional success, a 130-IQ kid who graduated from U of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and Harvard Med would have the same earning potential (other other factors held constant). Of course, there are advantages the Harvard kid has. First off, he has connections, right? Oh… wait… sorry, the biggest guy in field X who has all the connections (what Mr. 130 wants to do) actually teaches at U of I, not Harvard. Well, umm… cost right? $42,500/yr base tuition for Harvard (not bad, actually, many privates are far worse) vs. $26,113/yr base tuition for U of Iowa (in-state). All this being said, I strongly suggest the in-state schools over the big-name schools. The fact of the matter is that the only people who care about the school you went to are those in academic medicine. Outside that, I’ve had many doctors tell me it doesn’t matter. As a result, i really cannot see the purpose in incurring so much more debt with such minimal returns. Especially in this questionable economy and very questionable time for the future of medicine where $100k of debt is probably not the wisest of things to incur, much less twice that!</p>
<p>im kinda in the same situation as matt. I want to transfer after my sophmore year as well since I don’t like my current university and I really like the college i am looking into for transferring (McGill). I am confused as to what I should actually do. I understand the faculty aspect of it, but at the same time i’m not too thrilled about staying at my current university…</p>
<p>Tompi, if you have legitimate complaints about your school, those may outweigh the disadvantages of transferring. It’s really up to you to make that decision. My earlier response was mostly to the idea of transferring from a decent school to what one perceives as an excellent school (which NYU and Brown certainly are, but they’re not that excellent) to improve one’s chances at med school. If you hate your current school and aren’t getting any opportunities whatsoever then it may make sense to look at another school. Realize, though, that until you’re actually attending a school, you really have no idea what it’s going to be like. Sure, you may have this “feeling” about it, but the fact is, you’re completely ignorant of 99% of what goes on at that school and, truth be told, you’re going to find things you dislike about every school you ever attend (every job you hold, every church you go to, etc.). It’s simply a fact of life.</p>
<p>thanks apumic, I do realize that if I transfer that my life won’t exactly be “perfect” and there will be things that I dislike. However, my school is primarily an engineering college and I find that biology programs in general are “less valued” by the university in terms of funding. There are research oppertunities available but I am really looking for uni that has a lot academic and research flexibility for the biological sciences. That’s why I wanted to transfer. Is this reason valid enough?</p>
<p>idts. i think you actually have to hate the school to be valid, but hey, if it not having the type of research opportunities ur looking for makes you hate it, then i guess so.</p>
<p>haha, nice acceptd, lol…</p>
<p>That’s up to you, really. I don’t think that’s a judgment call anyone else can make for you. If you really don’t think you’re going to get as much as you’d hoped out of the school, it may be worth transferring. All any of us can do is give you our thoughts and support you in whatever choice you make. Good luck with everything. If you’re going to transfer, I’d probably do it sooner than later.</p>