<p>Descartesz - are you saying that UNC Chapel Hill accepts 75% of its applicants? It is no where near that.</p>
<p>@ Descartesz
UNC-Chapel Hill admits 32% of its applicants. Maybe you’re referring to one of the branch campuses of the University.</p>
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<p>How many parents are going to say “he really likes the strength of the bio program and feels like the research opportunities here are excellent compared to other schools he applied to” compared to “he likes to surf”?</p>
<p>All of them? We lie like thieves about stuff like that! No one wants to say, “My daughter chose this college because of the great hook-up when she visited.” No one even wants to know that! It’s always the strength of the bio program and the research opportunities.</p>
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<p>LOL. No truer words had been spoken on this thread. My experience has been that people go to great lengths to make their kids look good. A friend whose son is a border B/C student was telling me that his son is choosing his schools based upon the ‘quality of the engineering programs.’ My son who is a good friend of this kid says this kid ‘just wants a big party school.’ Moral of the story: don’t believe everything people tell you about their kids.</p>
<p>I agree that if not all, 98%. If a kid picks a school based on the party scene, what are the odds he likes to party? If a kid picks a school based on the opportunity to surf, what are the odds that he will likely spend a lot of time surfing? I just don’t think it’s “incredibly judgmental” to make a logical conclusion based on facts given. Plus, it’s true that if those ARE the reasons a kid is picking the school, the parents aren’t typically announcing them as such.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s just me, but none of the parents I know ever said anything like that about their kid’s school choice.</p>
<p>I just think saying that the kid is going to want to transfer when he realizes the time school takes is judgmental.</p>
<p>A friend of my D’s left after 2 months at Yale - he could not deal with the academics. Mind you he had incredible credentials and was val at a small public HS. My point is that as selective as colleges may be some kids just don’t understand that it is not as easy to “ace” a class in college as it was in HS (his words).</p>
<p>The inability to fail and defining oneself by their grades or achievements is absolutely why a lot of kids flake out, especially at very selective schools. We had a big parent meeting about this very subject while reading the book Mindset. While I don’t necessarily agree with everything the book promotes, I will say that I am so very glad I promoted effort and persistence as the goal and not grades and/or an expectation that my kids were “smart” based on grades or results. Finally! One thing I may have done right!</p>
<p>Quote - MomofWildChild: UChicago doesn’t handle transfer students well once they get there. They are put in a dorm in a pretty remote place and don’t tend to integrate well compared to some other places. (post 108) - Quote</p>
<p>S has a very different experience. UChicago accepts at least 50 transfer students each year (usually 75 or so) which is more than a lot of other top colleges accept. By putting transfer students together in the same dorm, these students are able build up a social life together with peers who are also new to the scene. It allowed my S to build up a social network in a very short period of time. A huge dorm where many freshmen used to live (not in use anymore since last summer) was much further away from the centre of campus than the ‘transfer student dorm’ which happens to be a very nice, relatively new building with rooms that are great and spacious. Four students share a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment with a large living room and a kitchen. It is not in a remote location. On the contrary! You only need to cross the street to catch a train. Buses to campus and to the centre of Chicago (express) stop right in front of the entrance door (day and night). The main shopping centre of Hyde Park is only 2 to 3 blocks away. The walk from the centre of campus to this dorm is nice as you pass a lot of restaurants and shops. It only takes about 20’. S has had a great first year thanks to UChicago’s transfer student approach.</p>
<p>Quote:
My daughter is there as a Marine Science/Biology/Chemistry triple major. We met the parents of another Marine School student at orientation. They said their son chose Miami because he likes to hang out at the beach and surf. He is just the type of kid that will probably transfer once he finds out he will be spending most of his time trying to pass his Micro Biology and Organic Chemistry classes! </p>
<p>I think you’re being incredibly judgmental and short-sighted with this statement. Who says a kid who likes to surf isn’t looking for challenging academics too? </p>
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<p>Knights09</p>
<p>I did make a mistake in not relaying our ENTIRE conversation with his parents. They also said that he hated math and science!</p>
<p>Too many kids think of Marine Science as diving, playing with dolphins, or hanging at the beach. Miami has a sizable drop out rate from the Marine Science program because students do not realize how very difficult the program is. It is the toughest at the university.</p>
<p>I have absolutely nothing against surfers and of course know that smart kids are into all sorts of different activities.</p>
<p>TaiTai- I know 2 students who transferred back out of UChicago due to the dorm situation and feeling isolated. One of the parents posts a lot on CC. My son considered Chicago for transfer and was accepted but decided to stay where he was. I went to law school there, and am a fan of the school, but I have been surprised at the number of transfers who haven’t really liked the situation. I’m glad your child had such a good experience!</p>
<p>Speaking from personal experience (at the end of my freshman year of college I transferred to a different college), I think not enough has been said about the difficulty of making a 4 year decision of any kind by a 17 or 18 year old. Choosing a college is a HUGE decision that requires a lot of self awareness, and most 17 or 18 year olds don’t know themselves that well. Many people choose a college because it reflects who they would like to be, not who they are. They choose locations that are not locations they have ever lived and schools that may be too big or too small for them to be comfortable. In some ways they see this as a chance to reinvent themselves and they are still in the process of maturing. Some kids get lucky with a fit (or are incredibly self aware and incredibly familiar with how that college will be) and some kids will make mistakes. I think most times it is the student, not the college that makes or breaks a situation. The college is what it is. The student is often growing and changing. Even something as simple as sharing a living/sleeping space when a student has been used to having his or her own room can make a huge impact on this transition.</p>
<p>When I took my D on college tours, I made sure to include a very large public, large private, medium private, and small LAC. Surprising both of us, she decided to only apply to small LACs on the opposite side of the country from where we live (before the trip she thought she wanted a larger school). Is this going to be the right choice for her once she gets all of her acceptances and rejections and makes a decision 2 months from now? We won’t know that until she is there. I would not want any student to pull the plug too soon (because adjustment challenges can be overcome), but sometimes changing is the right choice.</p>
<p>The Val. of S1’s class left Wake Forest after one semester. She didn’t like the social scene and was homesick for her h.s. bf who was a senior in h.s.
She came home, went to the local state u. for Spring sem. and applied for transfer to UNC-CH for Fall. She was accepted and enrolled there (along with the bf) and was very happy.
She is now a Med. student.</p>
<p>I had a friend transfer away from GW as well because of the “lack of ambition of his fellow undergraduates” and is happily working hard at UVA now.
I had a friend transfer away from Millersville University ¶ because the music program there was ridiculously corrupt (professors sleeping with the majority of female students, accused of murdering their wives, etc). She is now at… Penn State! Loving it.
I had a friend who wanted to transfer from Kettering University because of the smallness of it and the co-op experience but she ended up sticking it out.
I know no one who has tranferred from UVA.</p>
<p>As a freshman at UMiami I’d like to add to the conversation.</p>
<p>I picked UM over 3 higher ranked private schools b/c UM gave me good amount of merit scholarship and I thought I wanted to study marine science. As one mentioned, the marine sci program is TOUGH. I just didn’t wanna keep doing such sci-heavy stuff so I’m now studying Intl studies/polysci and maybe geography.</p>
<p>But I am thinking about transferring (already applied but not sure if I will leave) to some smaller, more academic atmosphere.
But the campus, although becoming much smarter, is still has a lot of party-minded students that are a bit stuck-up (yes this is a huge generalization) but yes there are lots of kids from jersey/long island that like to club. The social life is almost exclusively off campus and extremely expensive and just not my type.
And honestly I just haven’t found a group of good friends. So I’m thinking a fresh start may be best for me.</p>
<p>BUT I have found the academics, and for the most part, the professors to be very good. There are very smart kids here. Students who passed up Ivys and duke, emory, vandy, etc to come to UM. </p>
<p>It is definitely not just sun and clubs, but many students still have that attitude</p>
<p>And to add on, I want to be closer to home!</p>
<p>And I do love the scuba club at UM! But it’s not like I go to the beach or pool every weekend (especially when its 55 degrees like right now)</p>
<p>“By putting transfer students together in the same dorm, these students are able build up a social life together with peers who are also new to the scene”</p>
<p>Umich at some point tried to do this, too. In some cases, trying to bunch the transfers together does not help make them feel a part of the school-- it just makes them feel like a bunch of misfits together. But I suppose that has more to do with the other aspects of how the school treats transfer students.</p>
<p>Everyone I know who transferred did it to move up to where they believe they rightfully belong.</p>
<p>BC/Nova to Notre Dame/Georgetown.</p>
<p>State school to Cornell/Columbia.</p>
<p>Well, I left Emory for community college (temporarily)…so I guess maybe my situation will be an interesting addition to this thread. </p>
<p>Basically, I didn’t think it was worth the money my parents were paying for me to go there. (full price: approx 50k/yr) I also HATED that the school was run like a business. Anything that the school could possibly make any money on, they did. Everything was so over-priced i.e:</p>
<p>housing: ****ty rooms, 3,500/4 months for a shared room and a public bathroom when I could easily have an entire apartment to myself for less right across the stree</p>
<p>food: mandatory freshman meal-plan @ 2,200 / semester - this would be okay if the food weren’t so disgusting. </p>
<p>Parking: parking pass = $600…$600! - come on. Not to mention the most convenient parking garages are only given to staff and seniors and leaving your car anywhere unauthorized at any time of the day, any day of the year = minimum $75 fine. I literally got $600 worth of parking tickets in 4 month’s time. </p>
<p>I also didn’t find many of the professors to be overly spectacular. They didn’t justify the $18,500 in tuition each semester. I never studied and pulled off a 3.5…I really wasn’t challenged. </p>
<p>Socially, I met some amazing people, but the average person there was boring and/or weird. </p>
<p>I finally came to realize I was only going to the school because of it’s US News ranking. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan ahead and missed the transfer application deadline to Florida State, where all my best friends attend. I moved to Tallahassee anyways and enrolled as a non-degree student at the CC here. My professors are wonderful (ironically my accounting professor is an Emory MBA graduate) my living accommodations are 10x better and literally half the price, and now I live 2 minutes away from all my best friends that I grew up with. I couldn’t be happier. I look forward to going to class instead of loathing the very idea of it. I have since been accepted to FSU and will start there in the summer. I can’t wait. </p>
<p>Basically, my want for prestige clouded my judgment and unfortunately it took a year and a half and around $90,000 before I realized where I belonged from the start. I should have realized when I picked Emory over even more prestigious schools because of it being the best school in the closest proximity to my friends that maybe something was off, but hindsight is 20/20. </p>
<p>I do miss my good friends from Emory all the time, but I don’t regret my decision in the least.</p>