I was hoping to gather the experiences of any other community college transfers. Personally it’s been a nightmare for me and I’m wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences?
Ever since coming here, transfer credits have been an issue. Geneseo only accepts 60 from community colleges as opposed to accepting 90 from universities. I had 72 community college creds coming in, resulting in Geneseo accepting only 58. Not the worst issue I’ve faced though it is quite annoying.
Geneseo also requires up to 201 for foreign language requirements [a lot of other SUNYs require much less]. Some might say that this comes with Geneseo’s reputation, etc. etc… but is Geneseo’s reputation even close to what it used to be? Will the law schools I apply to even know what Geneseo is? Most out-of-states will just see a SUNY and immediately stigmatize the school. In short, nobody outside of New York cares.
It is also imperative to understand that transfers start with a fresh GPA, sweet deal right? Well… the issue with this is that:
-You are given much less weight to your grades
-Other students who started here as freshmen have padding from their lower-level classes
-And you have much less time to take your higher-level classes which make up a majority of your GPA and hence you will be encumbered by less weight given to your GPA in addition to a ridiculous course load (I’ve had to take 2 400-level English classes per semester for the past year).
Next, scholarships…
I came in with a 3.7 from my community college, and Geneseo told me they “only look at GPA’s 3.75 and above for scholarships”, oh what luck [My last 3 semesters at community college were 3.75+ but I didn’t know I wanted to go into law my first year, resulting in slightly lower grades… shame on me].
Finally, socioeconomic diversity [or lack thereof]…
a majority of students here I’ve noticed have their entire education paid for by mommy and daddy, in addition to food, cars, phones, computers, and other luxuries. This must be a nice perk and all, however there is practically no working-class representation. Finding self-made students who have paid their way through college on their own, who work, and are involved is quite rare. And this wouldn’t be an issue… if Geneseo cared the slightest bit about any of it in regards to scholarships, awards, honor societies, etc.
I know other transfers who have faced similar and worse issues, most of whom have transferred out. Have any of you, or is this more isolated than I think?
Thank you for your time.