Colleges- excellent stats, but a twist

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello! First post, but not a troll lol. </p>

<p>I'm just looking for some advice for re-applying to colleges. I was accepted at the University of Chicago, went there for a quarter and a half, but needed to return home due to health issues. Since it was too late to register for classes at any of my local colleges, I worked alot, full time at the moment. Now that I've had surgery and my issues are resolved, I am INCREDIBLY eager to go back to school. Had lots of interesting experiences in my time off.</p>

<p>A little background- I am white, female, graduated from a private high school in 2008. Had lots of APs, 2200 SATs, etc. Got accepted at UofC, so I am capable of getting accepted at decently selective places. </p>

<p>I am a Physics major, and plan on pursuing a PhD at a top grad school. I'd really like to go to MIT for grad school. </p>

<p>However, I'm not sure if I want to go back to the UofC. I really really liked it. . .but if I return, I would not be able to start on my major until next autumn, since the sequences are offered in such a way. I would be VERY behind. And I'm not sure if I would be able to live in my original house where all my friends are. Also, the thought of going to a "easier" school is sometimes really tempting, because then I wouldn't feel like an idiot all the time. . .</p>

<p>Also, I have a boyfriend of a year and a half who goes to school in Western New York. I'm really terrified of going away too far from him. I know this is very silly, but I am. Also, I apologize if this comes out the wrong way, but I know trust is important and whatnot. I'd rather not talk about it on a college message board. . . I'm just looking for schools.</p>

<p>So how do I go about applying as a freshman? How badly will this "time off" look to schools? Etc. </p>

<p>And where should I apply? lol</p>

<p>I am looking for a great physics program, and a club women's ice hockey team. Not sure about size, since I don't mind UofC or SUNY Buffalo, and they are vastly different sizes. Mostly I am concerned about making friends and the types of people. I'm no religious fanatic, but I'm not looking for people who are only interested in drinking and sex. I like my friends at Chicago who are interested in lots of things, kind of on the nerdy side, yet can still party. Oh and no all girls schools. </p>

<p>I'm looking for maybe 5 schools. MIT is my ultimate reach school. </p>

<p>Thinking about Carnegie Mellon and Colgate too. SUNY Buffalo is my safety.</p>

<p>I'm really really really worried and stressed about this. I might end up back at UofC anyway and this won't matter, but I thought I'd see. Basically, I need to be a physicist, and am not sure how to go about getting there (preferably before I am 30. . .). </p>

<p>Thanks so much! xoxo</p>

2

<p>Cornell sounds ideal for your situation. Western New York plus top physics programs and a vibrant social scene. A decent fall back might be U of Rochester.</p>

3

<p>Oh right! I just wasn’t sure if I even had a chance there. . .and I was a little worried that it might be too intense, since everyone seems to say it’s kind of a party school for an Ivy. </p>

<p>Also. I’m applying for next fall, but can I take classes during the spring semester at SUNY Buffalo before that? Honestly, I am so so so sick of not being in school. I love school. I love going to class and taking notes and learning and stuff. I do not particularly like my job, even if it is working at a environmental testing lab and is kind of sort of sciencey. </p>

<p>I’ve been trying to research these things, but I’m guessing I’m goign to have to e-mail all the schools individually. But if anyone knows how they’d handle these things, that’d be great.</p>

4

<p>First and foremost, while boyfriends/girlfriends are important to who you are at this point in your life, they should not decide where you go to college. You might survive but you might breakup and then what? So keep it in your keppe, but don’t make it the determinative factor of where you go.</p>

<p>Second, taking longer than 4 years to graduate is more common than you think. Lots of kids have the problem, because of finances or simply cant get into crowded classes etc. So relax about that a bit. Go where you will thrive, first and foremost. Worry about graduation dates later.</p>

<p>Third, if you are intent on leaving UChicago and go to New York, URochester, Cornell, Colgate, Syracuse, SUNYBuffalo are all fine schools. So is Hamilton. </p>

<p>Glad your surgery was successful. Now get on with your life and good luck!</p>

5

<p>Thank you ghostbuster! Feelin’ good.</p>

<p>However. I am pretty stressed about re-applying. You see, I went to a private school with a guidance counselor who gives the boss in “The Devil Wears Prada” a run for her money. She wasn’t a gc who didn’t do anything- she was a gc who did EVERYTHING, yet all the while making the entire senior class feel like absolute crap. I hope this doesn’t come across as callous, but I feel as though why I had to leave is private. I’m not sure how to get my transcripts and recommendations without sharing my reasons for doing what I am doing. </p>

<p>And I’m wondering how I should go about applying. Should I contact each school and ask? </p>

<p>If by some miracle I get into MIT EA, can I take classes the spring and summer semester before I go in the fall of 2010? </p>

<p>I’m sorry if this is in the wrong forum, though it did start out as a college list. </p>

<p>And does anyone know about the Presidential Scholarship at SUNY Buffalo? While I had excellent FA at Chicago, the thought of having EVERYTHING taken care of is VERY tempting. </p>

<p>Thx so much!</p>

6

<p>You are all over the place, what is wrong with you? You are already in UofC, you liked it there but for some unknown reasons, you don’t want to go back, or maybe you do, I don’t know. You can’t go back to UofC until the Fall because you are behind so you will start the whole process over so that you will not be able to start at the new school in the Fall anyway or maybe it’s going to be for mid year acceptance? Which in this case how do you know you won’t be behind at the new school? And you would instead settle for SUNY Buffalo because it is near your boyfriend but MIT is your dream school that is also pretty far from western NY.</p>

<p>Don’t take my tone the wrong way (it was meant to jolt you hopefully in a good way), but you need to wake up and straighten yourself up a bit here. My advice is to go back to UofC and study hard and if you do really well there, you should be in good position to go to any grad school you want including MIT. Get over all these indecisions and choices and focus what you need to do at UofC and move forward from there. Again, I don’t know everything that you are going through, I am sorry if I am overly judgemental here.</p>

7

<p>What about Syracuse or Ithaca?</p>

8

<p>I think you should make it a little easier on yourself and just go back to U of Chicago and give it more of a chance. I"m assuming you took a leave of absence and don’t need to reapply. At all of these top schools, there are many students who feel “stupid” compared to the others. That’s a pretty normal feeling, since most students were used to being at the top in high school and now are just one among many. Give it a chance now that you are on better footing in terms of your health. </p>

<p>Don’t base your decision on a boyfriend. What if you do and then you break up anyway?? </p>

<p>You will have to start afresh no matter where you go, so minimize the stress and go to where you’ve already started. Chances are, if you go somewhere new, you’ll end up comparing it to what you had at Chicago anyway.</p>

<p>If, after giving it a full time try, you decide it’s not the right place, then you have a better base to make a decision on whether and where to transfer.</p>

9

<p>

You can’t apply to MIT as a freshman applicant if you’ve been a student in a degree program – you’d have to apply as a transfer.</p>

<p>As a graduate student in the sciences, I would strongly advise you not to worry too much about being “too old” when you finish your PhD. Many people in my PhD program took time off between high school and undergrad, or during undergrad, or between undergrad and grad school – there are relatively few people marching straight through and getting a PhD at 26. And those who do march straight through are prime candidates for burnout around the middle of their graduate careers.</p>

<p>One option you might consider, which would alleviate your boredom and help you get into graduate school, would be to do research in physics at a local university while you wait to get into another school or to return to Chicago. </p>

<p>I would advise, as others have, returning to Chicago if it’s a place that makes you happy. I can promise you that getting into a top science PhD program will make you feel stupid quite frequently, and my experience has been that it’s better to deal with those feelings of stupidity and inadequacy during undergrad, rather than in graduate school.</p>

10

<p>Hey thanks guys. I was pretty upset and discouraged by one of the posts.</p>

<p>It’s true. I am all over the place. Hence why I came on CC. If I knew what I wanted I wouldn’t really need to post here. Also I have reasons for all the schools I mentioned, and each has one big-ish flaw. </p>

<p>I don’t know it’s just going back there does not excite me. I kind of want to start over. I kind of want to avoid the awkwardness. I’m thinking of other options too that I never once considered when I was a silly hs senior. Such as the possibility of a state u that will pay for everything. </p>

<p>As for my bf, he’s almost a fiance and my best friend in the universe. Sorry I kept it in consideration. We did the long distance thing while I was at Chicago and it sucked pretty bad. Just seemed like if I went somewhere like Cornell I could see him every other weekend and still be at a good school.</p>

<p>It just seems REALLY tempting to go somewhere else, and especially tempting to go to UB. I mean, what would it matter if I got into a good PhD program where I went? It would be free, it wouldn’t be as hard, I have an awesome room in a house close by already with cheap rent, and I’d have the love of my life close by. At least understand why I feel tempted in that direction. </p>

<p>@molliebatmit. Oh I just figured I didn’t have enough credits to transfer. And if that is the case, I’m pretty much toast. The kind of toast that sets the toaster on fire. lol.</p>

<p>As for the research, I thought about that, but wouldn’t it be unfair for the actual students who want research opportunities? </p>

<p>And MIT’s website says to be a transfer applicant I would have to complete two terms. Which I did not. They SAY that they cannot accept applications from students who have only completed one term. But I assumed that was just to prevent rejected applicants from applying again so soon. Am I basically ineligible for either way of applying? That would be kind of amusing in a weird way.</p>

<p>Thanks again guys. Sorry about all my insecurities.</p>

11

<p>

No way – I mean, professors can decide for themselves who they want in their labs. No need for you to worry about it.</p>

<p>

By my reading, yes, you’d be ineligible to apply this year as a freshman or as a transfer to MIT. </p>

<p>

Where it matters is that it’s not equally easy to get into a good PhD program from different schools. It would definitely be more difficult from day to day as a student at UChicago, but when application time comes, it would be easier for you to get into a top PhD program. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful from an in-state public, but it will just be more difficult.</p>

<p>I do feel for the boyfriend situation – I picked my PhD program in part because I could live in the same city as my then-boyfriend (now husband). But if you’re serious about being together in the long term, you have to make long-term decisions together. Some of those long-term decisions suck in the short term.</p>

12

<p>Just for the record, I called MIT to make sure and they said I could apply as a freshman if I do not take classes spring semester, and I could apply as a transfer if I do. So I am applying as a transfer. Probably not going to happen, but who knows.</p>

13

<p>Beware that FA/merit $ is often less for transfers than for incoming freshman - so UofC may offer you better FA than a new school. Some colleges have updated their policies due to this economy so check with each school. Does UB offer the same aid to transfers? I’m not sure if our instate schools offer merit scholarships to transfers, although they probably offer FA.</p>

<p>Some schools may consider you ineligible to apply as an incoming freshman since you already enrolled at another college. I think I remember an adcom telling my son not to take classes the summer after HS, because then his college would consider him a transfer. He had taken college courses while still enrolled in HS and that was ok. So check with the schools you’re interested in BEFORE signing up for classes at UB. BTW, you said you attended for a qtr and a half. Did you withdraw or take a medical leave? or did you simply not finish? There is a difference. Hopefully your transcript won’t show that 2nd semester since you will need to supply transcripts from UChicago to any schools you apply to as a transfer student. If you take classes at UB this spring, you will need to send those transcripts as well. </p>

<p>Your situation is a bit unusual because schools often expect transfers to have a yr or more of classes. College GPA is often more important than HS stats when applying as a transfer but in your case, I imagine both HS and college will be important. </p>

<p>Beware that kids sometimes have trouble tranferring credits from a qtr system school to a semester school. They often recommend you take a full year of say calculus to equate to a full yr at the new school. Even though you probably learned in a qtr what other schools teach in a full semester, schools don’t always see it that way and you might not receive ANY credit for those one qtr classes. My DD attended a qtr system school and saw this happen to kids who transferred out.</p>

14

<p>I’m a parent, and pretty new to CC myself-- but one thing I see here is that you get advice from all kinds of different viewpoints and some will be a much better fit with your own sense of things than others. So just take what feels right and don’t worry about suggestions that don’t work for you. You’ve had a lot of upheaval in a short time, your bf is very important to you, the relationship feels solid midst all the change. I don’t think it’s wrong for you to consider that now. Physics is way out of my line (I mean WAY out)-- but it seems to me, if UB can offer you what you want there, and you’re settled in Buffalo and like it now-- by all means, transfer. If you do well there it should not limit your grad school opportunities. Just be sure the school does have a good department.</p>

<p>For the rest, I would call individual admissions offices and explain the circumstance, ask how best to go about a transfer at each school. And, as others have said, there’s no need to panic. You’ve got a serious interest that you want to follow out-- that’s more than many people your age can say.</p>

15

<p>From my personal experience, MIT and CMU are almost impossible to transfer in due to their size limitation. CMU is much easier to get in as a freshman. IMO, Cornell is much easier transfer than those schools because it is much bigger school and has a lot more space available. So I would target Cornell, maybe Colgate and Buffalo. Also, University of Rochester is another possibilities.</p>