CogSci Major at UGA, worth transferring to UMich or any other schools?

Transfer Students
1

I am currently an international student (freshman) at UGA and just declared my major (Cognitive Science) a month ago. UMich has been my dream school.

Here are my concerns:
I was doing IB in high school but my final score was not so well (there is no way to calculate my GPA based on the IB grading system).

After checking the credit transfer equivalency of UMich, I don’t see most of the core courses I take at UGA that can be transferred (like philosophy, biology, psychology, CS and so on), so I don’t know if I need to take them at UMich or somewhere else since I need to complete the prerequisite of UMich before I am able to transfer. This also means that I will probably be at least one semester behind.

I am going to study abroad at Waseda University in Spring 2019, it is possible that none of the courses I take over there can be transferred to UMich. (btw, I am minor in Japanese)

I know that UGA is a good school, but I found the Cognitive Science major is just not as strong as that in UMich.

Because I will definitely go to the grad school, would it be better if I just got my Bachelor at UGA in a relatively less stressful environment (for the concern of my GPA) and went to a more prestigious school for my Master, or transferred to a stronger yet more challenging school with a better CogSci program?

2

You are doing well where you are. Stay there. Then go to a good grad program afterwards.

3

@happymomof1 Thank you for your reply! I just don’t know if going to UMich would benefit my application to grad schools…

4

Talk with your professors at UGA about your grad school goals. They will have ideas for you.

5

I agree with @happymomof1 --keep in mind that your chances at graduate school are completely contingent on your GPA and required testing (GRE, etc.), NOT what undergraduate school you went to.

Best of luck!

6

@TransferStalker Thank you for your reply! I actually don’t know if the undergrad research experience would be another big thing when applying to grad school…

7

@happymomof1 I’ll definitely go to talk to my professors. I am still exploring what I want to do for graduate school, so no rush :slight_smile: