comm major at maryland looking to transfer

Transfer Students
1

<p>i'm currently a freshman at the university of maryland - college park. however, i don't think it's for me and i think i could do better academically. it's not awful, i just feel like this isn't the place for me. i'm looking to transfer, although i have no idea where i'd like to go or what'd be a good upgrade from umd. i definitely want to upgrade academically, and i'd like a pretty school - preferably medium/large-ish - in a decent college town that has more to offer than college park (which is SO icky). i'm from nj and i'd prefer to stay on the east coast. the most important thing to me is the quality of the school's communication(s) program (public relations, specifically). and in case i do end up switching majors, i'd like a well-rounded school. i want to be proud of where i attend school... and i'm definitely not proud to say that i go to maryland.</p>

<p>i'm reasonably smart, but i'm struggling a little academically... i think in part because i'm so complacent here. i have A's in three of my courses and D's in two, one of which is about to be a C and one of which i plan on retaking.</p>

<p>i came into college with 22 credits (APs and syracuse courses) and i'm taking 13 credits this semester at maryland.</p>

<p>high school:
GPA - 3.4ish. only because i had a couple of crazy concussions which really messed with my grades, so i feel like i could weasel my way out of the gross high school gpa with a letter from my hs counselor.
SAT I: CR-680, M-630, W-700
SAT II: English Lit-670, US History-600</p>

<p>i also had an array of extracurriculars. </p>

<p>any suggestions would be amazing!!</p>

2

<p>My friends at Maryland love the school, but I suppose everyone has different tastes. Here are some decent schools to consider: </p>

<p>Target: </p>

<p>Penn State
UVA (high target)
Boston U (good communications)</p>

<p>Reach: </p>

<p>Johns Hopkins
Duke
Penn
Brown</p>

<p>Although your GPA is iffy for Hopkins/Duke/Penn/Brown.</p>

3

<p>Penn State is probably the best fit. Great Comm and super fun school!</p>

4

<p>OP isn’t getting into any of those reach schools and definitely not UVA with those first-semester grades.</p>

5

<p>If you can get in state tuition, than what about Rutgers? </p>

<p>Also, if you can’t get into UVA, than I don’t know that there are any schools that you can get into that are stronger or more prestigious than UMCP. Maybe Penn State, but the difference between there and UMCP is marginal. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Why? I think Maryland is a great school, one of the better publics in the country.</p>

6

<p>Duke, Brown, Penn, Hopkins, UVA? Are you serious?</p>

<p>Unfortunately OP, to get into a better school you would need to transfer as a junior and have 3 great terms after this one. Good Luck!</p>

7

<p>Two of the best communication schools in the country are NYU and Ithaca College. Steinhardt at NYU is amazing. The Park school is nationally known as well. You have a chance to get into the Park School but NYU is probably a reach.</p>

<p>BTW… I’m from Annapolis, MD.</p>

8

<p>Penn State is definitely a great college town, very fun from what I hear and would be an academic upgrade. If you’re okay with waiting until junior year to transfer I would definitely say that would be one great option, just get good grades in college because your high school GPA is already pretty good and your SATS are great IMO as well! </p>

<p>Other school suggestions (since you want to stay on the east coast, good college town, good comm program and medium/large school): </p>

<p>University of South Carolina, Syracuse University, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

9

<p>Well, I’m from the West Coast but I heard great things about UNC-Chapel Hill.
They have a really good Journalism program, so I guess their Communication program won’t suck either.
Good luck!</p>

10

<p>I’ve heard Maryland’s comm is really good. I’d see what some professionals in the field think.</p>