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 On April 28th I enrolled at Penn State, and on April 30th enrolled at Bonaventure (I rescinded PSU as soon as reasonably feasible).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.
Do I have any options? Any and all comments are greatly appreciated and id love to give more info if helpful.
An additional note**. I can’t say for certain that I even want to go through with dental school, which would defeat the whole purpose of going to Bonaventure ( I’m technically a business major taking science pre reqs
It sounds like you know in your heart what you want to do. IMO, it would be detrimental to you to attend a school you really don’t want to be at. I don’t know what you can do at this point, but perhaps call Penn State and ask what route you could take, since you realized you really would rather be attending there.
Penn State over-enrolled this year. They offered some students the option of attending a branch campus and getting free tuition the first year (1+3 program), then finish at main. Did you receive an email about that?
So I don’t think you can now go back to PSU main. You might be able to go to a branch and then do the 2+2 program, but really I would think that Bonaventure would be the better choice.
I have heard good things about it. You would be in a smaller, more supportive environment.
Yes, at PSU the premed/predental science classes will be huge lectures and weeder classes.
You can call Penn State and find out what your options are. Did you get accepted to any other schools?
@MYOS1634 I’m very much leaning towards two years Bonaventure, two years Penn State. That was actually the path that I envisioned when I enrolled at Bonaventure, since it will give me a great GPA base and I an avoid many of thr large lectures that PSU students go through the first two years. But now I want to accelerate the process to one year, which I know is unlikely, but I’d like to give it a shot.
It’s simply not possible unless you have 27 credits ’ worth of AP credits from Bonaventure.
To the best of my knowledge, transfers with fewer than 56 credits are examined on a case by case basis, probably for specific majors like agriculture or liberal arts.
And with overenrollment this year, I doubt they’ll take many students as sophomore transfers next year.
Start first semester then.
So, here’s your first semester schedule :
Uni 101
Freshman composition 111
Arabic1
Biostatistics or calculus or economics or intro to business (depending on AP credit)
Biology for pre health majors 1
"the intellectual journey "
Second semester would look like this
Arabic 2
Biology for prehealth majors 2
Chemistry
Foundations of the western world or inquiry in the social world or, if AP credit, sociology or psychology
Biostats or economics or business
To me, it feels like you’re going back and forth because it’s hard for you to decide. And it’s totally understandable - kids decide on colleges without really knowing what they’re going to be like.
You’ve essentially already made an irrevocable decision for the upcoming year, which is fine. My opinion is that they would probably both be great for you. Focus on what you like about Bonaventure! If after 2 years you don’t like it and transfer to Penn St - you really haven’t lost very much. You’ll still get a Penn State degree.
