Hi. I am currently an undeclared major at Clemson University. I am considering transferring to a smaller liberal arts college for multiple reason but have not yet found the one for me.
I am from NYC and being in rural South Carolina has been an unpleasant culture shock, and I would rather be at a more liberal leaning school.
I also want a school that is more supportive in helping me find my major, with less Gen Ed requirements so that I have more freedom to take classes I am interested in to help me better find my major.
I also really dislike the school spirit and party school energy at Clemson, and would rather be somewhere with more academically driven students without being too academically competitive. I think a smaller school would cater to my needs better and not make me feel so lost within the crowd.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to schools I should look into? I would prefer small to medium sized. Thank you so much.
Are you a first year ? Have you sought out clubs of like minded kids ? Are you in Honors ?
There are partiers everywhere and there are serious kids everywhere. So I hope you give it more time than a month - if you are a first year.
As for schools, there’s many LACs in the NE, too many to name. And it will also depend on your academic profile where you can get in. Not all will be transfer friendly, especially after one year.
I hope you give Clemson a full on chance…maybe go see a counselor or talk with a professor 1:1, seek research opportunities.
Both my kids are at party schools - one doesn’t and is in academic and outdoor activities. There are clubs with like minded kids…I promise.
The other is in a sorority but finds herself attending their parties less and less and focusing on a club she started helping refugees.
Clemson may or may not be right for you. But if you’re a first year…not sure you are…it’s likely too early to make that determination.
Good luck
Ps many schools - most schools - have Gen Ed but hopefully offer interesting ways to achieve.
LACs with essentially open curricula include Amherst, Smith College, Hamilton and Grinnell. If you would like to emphasize less selective schools than these, that list can be fairly long. For suggestions to be helpful, then, you might want to post information on your academic profile. Alternatively, you could name a school or two representative of the selectivity target range you seek. To offer you a sense for this, Clemson might be equivalent in selectivity to, for example, Dickinson College.
I’m sorry to hear you’re having a tough time; are you a freshman? Have you joined any clubs? I know it seems like Clemson is only a big FB school, but there is a wide variety of groups on campus. DD is a left leaning, MechE Honors College student who loves musicals, Marvel movies, D&D and art, pretty much the opposite of the stereotypical southern college student; there are many like her. She found her “people” through her clubs. Dorms also have a big variety of personalities; shoeboxes and Douthit are known for partying, Lever and Byrnes for the more studious “geek” culture. I can certainly offer suggestions to help you find your “people.” Even if you decide transferring is best, it could at least help while you decide. What types of things do you you like to do? Have you visited career services on campus for a career assessment? If you can narrow down your interests, it will help in choosing a major. https://career.sites.clemson.edu/michelin_career_center/career_development_recruiting/assessment.php
Did you tour Clemson prior to going there? I think their school spirit is very apparent when you step on campus and a big selling feature. My NJ is at a southern SC school and yea culture shock but for the better. People are just so much nicer there she says! You can’t change things like the culture so definitely consider some northern schools if that isn’t your thing.
Before posters can make any college recs, what were your HS stats? If you are a first year at Clemson, your HS stats will be an important part of the transfer admissions decision.
If you are a second year at Clemson, please share your Clemson GPA as well.
Where else did you apply out of HS? It would be helpful to share acceptances and denials.
I am a first year, and think my main issues with the school are not really able to be changed. Sadly, the culture and the lack of support I feel due to the size of school will not change even if i find more like minded students.
My high school did not give GPA’s but I had a 4.0 according to Naviance. My SAT was a 1440.
I did not apply to small/ medium schools since I thought I would like the large size of large southern school. The other schools that I got into were University of Florida, Florida State, UT Knoxville, Eckerd, College of Charleston, and Fairfield University. As you can see I applied almost exclusively to large southern schools.
However, being here has given me perspective and time to reflect on what I think I need. Even with the career services, the school still has made me pick 2 majors of interest without taking any classes other than Gen Ed Math, History, and English.
I am most interested in math, business, or education at the moment. Thank you so much for all of your responses.
Had you visited Clemson before you decided to attend?
What appealed to you about large Southern schools and did you not find it there, or did you find it was there but you didn’t like it?
Did you get into Honors anywhere?
Are you full pay or do you have a budget (ie., how much can your parents afford)?
You can definitely email Eckerd and see if you could transfer for Spring, since they admitted you, though if you had scholarships they likely wouldn’t have the money anymore.
What math class are you taking, Calculus (1 or 2), Applied Calc, Statistics, Calc-based stats?
What classes are you taking, exactly?
You did not apply to just large southern schools. Eckerd is small and is in the south but not southern. It’s not rural. Charleston is mid size Uber urban with a large OOS and NE population. My kid has small classes there. She’s complaining about a 45 this semester. Her largest. But it’s not the most academic school. Fairfield is in Connecticut.
Do any of those interest you ? If so check out the transfer policies or do you want to create a new list ?
My high school was project based so limited AP exams, I took AP physics and AP calc and passed both exams. I am currently in Calc 2 at Clemson. I only applied honors to Charleston and got in, and Tampa also offered me a spot in their honors program without having applied. My high school English and History classes were equivalent to honors courses.
I did visit Clemson before I decided to attend, and at the time the large size and campus appealed to me. The size is my biggest concern, as well as the southern culture of the school. I think I expected to like the big city to small town move, and just find the culture of the south to fall flat for me.
I did get pretty hefty scholarships to all the schools I got accepted to, which I realize will not be the same if I choose to transfer. Budget is not a big limitation.
I am still interested in Charleston and Eckerd, although the academics at both do not seem as rigorous as I maybe would like. I also want to add more schools to my list that I did not apply too, since those are the only two I would be willing to reapply to.
Did you apply to honors? My daughter is a sophomore and applied last fall. She switched from Econ to pre-business last year, the plan is to major in finance but the goal is actuarial science. She joined the future actuaries club and the advisor took on the role as her actuary advisor, helping her plan courses to prepare her for the exams. She also wants to pledge the business fraternity, which she hears is a lot of work but worth it (she’s also in a sorority). Most of my kids went to large colleges, there are ways to make them smaller. A lot of her close friends are from the northeast, and the Clemson area is so different from home, but I think she’s enjoying something new, like a vacation. She did say folks in the south love their Jesus.
Clemson does seem to draw significantly higher stat students than either COC or Eckerd. This is further evidenced by Clemsons acceptance rate of 49% vs COC at 72% and Eckerd at 70%.
Given you will have already transferred once I would not risk being dissatisfied a second time. You should use your Clemson experience to ensure fit across geography, size and academic rigor as these appear to be your hot buttons to ensure your next stop is the school that make you happy and from which you graduate. Don’t compromise.
My kid is in Honors at Charleston. Small classes even in non honors. Sub 50. Do kids party ? Yes. Charleston. Eckerd. NYU. Harvard.
Yet there are kids….even at Clemson…who take studies very seriously.
Charleston has Charleston Fellows. It’s the top of Honors. You have an interview weekend. Not sure if you could transfer in.
If it’s not right for you at Clemson it’s not right. But you’re going to run into these types of students everywhere. You have to seek your crowd. And that’s what you may be missing.
If your username is a reflection of your real name, I would recommend that you change your username. For instructions, please see: How Do I Change My Username?
If you do pursue a transfer to a liberal arts college, this path would seem most suitable for you if you could see yourself exploring in traditional liberal arts fields, such as classics/philosophy, religious studies, political theory (government, sociology), literature, history, studio art, geosciences and astronomy (or in a comparable selection of personal interest). Your major (and potentially minor) could then grow out of this wider exploration. Based on what you have posted, you would want to take math, economics and education studies courses in particular as well.
Agree. Our daughter is at W&M and they follow the liberal arts education and have required COLL courses that are on purpose interdisciplinary in nature to teach critical thinking across different subjects. This can also help students to identify or discover passions they did not know about.
This is not a short list. But I feel as though you’re still exploring and trying to find the right fit. A big university in a small town (pop. 17k) in a conservative southern state wasn’t it. You also seemed to have a definite desire to experience something very different from your time in New York City, based upon the colleges you applied to. This list is primarily of schools in the northeast and Midwest, with a couple of southern-ish ones (Meredith and Hampton). I focused primarily on schools that were either in cities or had close proximity to them and that had good participation in your majors of interest. There’s also one HBCU and two women’s colleges on here.
I would recommend visiting schools, because there’s a big difference between 20k undergrads vs 5k vs 1500. Look through the course requirements. Run the Net Price Calculator and see if the numbers look affordable for your family. See what the transfer options are and what kind of aid is available for those students.
Bradley (IL): 4300 undergrads in a town of about 120k about 2h from Chicago
Brandeis (MA): 3600 undergrads, just outside of Boston
Butler (IN): 4500 undergrads in Indianapolis
Clark (MA): 2300 undergrads in Worcester
Drake (IA): 2900 undergrads in Des Moines
Duquesne (PA ): 5100 undergrads in Pittsburgh
Hampton (VA): HBCU with about 2900 undergrads, in the Norfolk/Newport News metro area
Lake Forest: (IL) 1700 undergrads in a suburb of Chicago
Loyola Maryland: about 3800 undergrads in Baltimore. Can also take advantage of the consortium with Johns Hopkins, and others by taking classes at the other universities.
Marquette (WI): about 7700 undergrads in Milwaukee
Meredith (NC): Women’s college with about 1400 undergrads in Raleigh
Merrimack (MA): about 4100 undergrads in a town on the outskirts of Boston
Nazareth (NY): about 2k undergrads in Rochester (city, not county)
North Central (IL): about 2400 undergrads in Naperville (pop. 150k) less than an hour from Chicago
Ohio Wesleyan: About 1400 undergrads about 30m outside of Columbus
Otterbein (OH): About 2200 undergrads in a suburb of Columbus
Simmons: Women’s college with about 1800 undergrads in Boston
Stonehill (MA): About 2400 undergrads, located about 45m from Boston and 35m from Providence
SUNY Geneseo: About 4500 undergrads, and you’re in-state
Susquehanna (PA ): About 2200 undergrads less than an hour from Harrisburg, 2.5 hours from Philly, and 3.5 hours from NYC
Wheaton (MA): About 1700 undergrads, about 30m from Providence
Widener (PA ): About 2800 undergrads in a suburb of Philly
Xavier (OH): About 5100 undergrads in Cincinnati
Once you start getting a better sense of what you want (and don’t want), then posters can give you more targeted advice. For instance, you might say X college/state is way too far away. Or, I want to be in a big town but not a major metro. Or, I really like schools that have Y quality. Or I want to avoid schools that have Z. As you eliminate suggested schools, think of why you’re eliminating them and then let the board know so that suggestions can be improved.