Ive posted this before in another section, but want to see it from a lifestyle perspective.
So in early April I was having an extremely difficult time deciding between St. Bonaventure (a small, bit less selective school) and Penn State Main campus. On April 28th I enrolled at Penn State, and on April 30th enrolled at Bonaventure (I rescinded PSU as soon as reasonably feasible).
I felt that I had made the decision that would give me a better chance at getting a high GPA in order to position myself for dental school admissions, since that was the ultimate goal. I was never 100% on board with Bonaventure, and Penn State was always were I saw myself going, but turned away after seeing how large the freshman “pre-health” bio classes were. Other than the small class size, their is literally nothing I like about Bonaventure more.
So I went to orientation, and was not really impressed. I mean I appreciate the close community and the opportunity for legitimate interaction with professors, but it got to the point where I was sitting on a bench with my parents explaining how I was already considering transfering. It just wasn’t clicking for me. I old them I would give it one year, put my all into my work and build a very high GPA, but wasn’t willing to say that I would stay.
I went to the PSU transfer webpage and found that I might only be able to transfer after two years, not one. I don’t like this becasue I really think that Penn State is where I need to be, but can’t justify sitting out an entire year and reapply as a first year.
I’m not even completely sold on dental school, which is the only reason I chose Bonaventure, I’m a business major taking science pre reqs
Do I have any options? Any and all comments are greatly appreciated and id love to give more info if helpful.
“I envisioned the move in day, comparing 500 freshmen to probably 8000. I realized I need professors and advisors who not only know my name, but actually understand my goals. I decided that I’d rather live in a smaller community, not the mini cities that are PSU residence areas.”
“Ultimately, I wish that I could make Penn State work, as it has been the school that has been around me all my life. But it just wasn’t meant to be, right after I submitted the deposit I felt a void in my heart. Not to mention that two schools I was considering (Bona was one of them) called that evening to check up on me. To those schools I was a unique individual, to PSU I am just a number they can use to fill up their football stadium (I had to “take” a number just to get into the information session).”
You seemed pretty against it before…
And they over-enrolled this year, so even if you could get your spot back, you’d be SOL on housing. Then you really would feel like just a number.
Re: transferring – you’d have to transfer to a branch campus after one year or UP after two, iirc. Really want to transfer twice? Or wait two years to switch schools?
Oops, forgot to add my main suggestion. Making yourself miserable for two years before transferring doesn’t sound like a great idea; you need to focus on your grades and may not do great if you’re unhappy. So a gap year sounds like a decent idea. Investigate something to do…work, volunteer, whatever.
On the other hand, as I quoted above, you were pretty set on not going to Penn State. There must be a reason it was so hard for you to choose, otherwise you would have just gone to PSU. So perhaps what you need to do is go to Bonaventure and remember what made you choose it over PSU.
@bodangles When I really think about it the only reason I chose Bonaventure is becasue I knew it would be easier to build a GPA base for dental school admissions. All if that other stuff was pretty false and I just tried to justify my decision by making Penn State look not as appealing. I always had a transfer in mind when I made that decision, but I really wish that I could accelerate the transfer to one year.
I can’t likely justify a gap year to my parents, especially since one went to Bonaventure, and the branch campuses are all really downgrades. Unless I can miraculously get admissions to listen to me and allow me to transfer in after freshman year, then I guess I’d wait one more year.
Really I want an idea of how I can evade the system and get in after 1 year, any suggestion is helpful.
On the contrary : you WILL have ideal conditions, with small classes where you know your professors, an environment where you can strive, a close knit community that’s rightly proud of its school. Do NOT think it’ll be a piece of cake being on the top 10% of every class you take.
What are your scheduled for so far?
@MYOS1634 I’m scheduled for
Bio 105 (pre health),
Accounting 203,
Critical literature 111 ( the advanced frehamn lit) Uni 101,
Some theology course that’s required
Another business course.
I don’t think it will be “easy” being top 10%, but I know that I will be top 10%.
@50N40W I understand exactly what you are saying but nevertheless it’s an unnecessary problem that ideally would disappear.
I don’t know anything about Bonaventure. Is it that much easier than Penn State?
Many students have some doubts about their decision. Usually that goes away and they come to love their school. You need to give it some time, make a few friends, and get comfortable with your surroundings. I predict your misgivings will quickly fade.
^It’s definitely not easier in terms of content but there’s less weeding and its less anonymous.
Accounting 203 sounds like a second year class - must you take it then? Can you take a premed pre-reqs req instead, such as biostatistics, sociology, or psychology?
Did you get credit for micro and macro economics as well as calculus?
@ucresearcher444 You would be right in most situations, and maybe even this one. But I feel my case is different in that my heart chose Penn State first, but my brain told me Bonaventure would be easier on my GPA. I went as far as enrolling at Penn State, and now it is killing me that I can’t be their this fall. I never loved St. Bonaventure, it only had one pro over Penn State, and one pro shouldn’t make a decision.
To quote Tim Gunn: “Make it work”. Stay at Bonaventure and enjoy it. It sounds like you really don’t know what you want and may end up changing your path anyway.
I went to SBU and graduated 20 years ago. A year or two ago, my husband and I went back for a spur of the moment visit with our kids on a Saturday. None of my professors were around (a random Saturday) but a couple of my husband’s former professors were in the new business building. They remembered him. They knew him by name. How likely is that to happen at Penn State? We went to the bookstore where my husband had worked for two years (one as a manager intern) and while no one he had worked with happened to be there, two of the employees there knew who he was when he said his name. I am completely serious. People who didn’t know him at the time had heard of him (in a good way, or so they said, lol). And my husband is not a famous guy or anything.
We were self touring buildings and in two different buildings, professors who were there who started after we graduated stopped what they were doing and gave us tours of their departments and told us about changes that have happened with buildings and staff since we left. They spent well over an hour each with us. Keep in mind my kid were elementary/middle school age so no one was trying to sell us on the school for them. That is the kind of connection you CAN make at Bonaventure but I will warn you now, if you are there with one foot out the door, you won’t feel it. No students at any college are going to be warm and accepting of students who think their school isn’t good enough.
I wouldn’t underestimate Bonnie’s in business either.