Could Anyone Help Me; I'm Desperate to Transfer

Transfer Students
1

<p>I'm really unhappy at my current college. I'm a freshman this year, and I have no idea how I thought I would be happy here, so I'm frantically looking into other colleges.</p>

<p>I (or, more accurately, my parents) are paying about $17,000 a year for me at a fairly reputable private school, and so I don't want them to have to pay much more than that, if I do transfer. </p>

<p>Therefore, I'm trying to find schools that are reasonably generous with financial aid. I'm looking for liberal arts colleges (preferably but not necessary) with no more than about 5,000 people. I'm actually not terribly picky about the location...I'd consider anything BUT midwest, south/southwest, and deep south.</p>

<p>I was a reasonably good student in high school (top 5%, many AP classes, 2200 SAT) and I plan on that streak continuing into college, so I'm imagining that any college that offers merit aid to transfers I can probably get into.</p>

<p>So if my requirements occurred to anyone reading this that they might have a college that fit in mind, I'd be so happy to hear your suggestions. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>Do you go to SMU?</p>

<p>Your specifications are pretty broad. What do you not like about your current school? What is your intended major? Are you interested in primarily west coast/east coast schools? What other schools did you turn down?</p>

3

<p>Haha, no, I shudder to think that I'd probably be even more unhappy there. I go to TCU, which is a good school, just not for me.</p>

<p>I don't like it because:
-I don't like the very prevalent Greek scene
-I don't like Texas in general, even though I'm from here
-I'm much more socially liberal than the average student here, so I always feel like I have to hide what I really think about issues
-It seems like an extension of high school, and no one here seems very interested in learning. Even my honors classes aren't much better.
-I hate the hot Texas weather!
-I feel like I could do bigger and better things at another college.
-It feels too big for me.</p>

<p>My major is currently Polisci, though that may change to International Economics, or even Business with a French minor. If I transfer to a school with a reputable business program, I will almost definitely change my major to reflect that.</p>

<p>Honestly, West/East coast doesn't matter much to me. I can imagine myself being just as happy in Seattle as Chicago as upstate New York.</p>

<p>I'd also like to be on a traditional campus, reasonably near a big city instead of being at an urban campus.</p>

<p>I turned down SMU and George Washington University (sometimes I really regret turning down GW, because they offered me half-tution, same as SMU and TCU did, but GW is a much cooler college, especially for Polisci.) I wanted to go really, really badly to Vassar, but I got rejected. I hate myself for not applying ED, but can't change that now.</p>

<p>I also applied to Georgetown SFS and Swarthmore, both of which I knew I had no chance, and got a cold rejection. So essentially, I really screwed up my senior year, and completely neglected to apply to any match schools. </p>

<p>I really feel bad about wanting to transfer somewhere that might be more expensive, especially if not all my AP credits and credits at TCU transfer, but I really think my parents will support me.</p>

<p>I was also a NM Finalist; I know most colleges probably only care if you're an entering student who put them down as first choice, but just in case some don't, I thought I'd mention that.</p>

<p>I'm hoping to transfer for Fall 2007, also. I know I'm starting too late to think about Spring 2007.</p>

<p>Thanks for any and all help.</p>

4

<p>Apply to Austin College as an ultra-safety! Haha. The polisci department is great (and we have a specific International Economics and Finance major) and it is a much more liberal campus than the rest of Texas. It's also pretty small. The only problem is that there isn't much to do in BFE Sherman, and it is still Texas. But I totally get what you mean about TCU... I hate Texas too. :(</p>

<p>I would probably suggest applying to Vassar again, maybe Swarthmore but they only accept 10-15 people a year. GWU and Georgetown are pretty big, but if you're ok with that you might apply there as well. You might also consider Tufts, NYU, Wesleyan, University of Chicago, Rice, Pomona, and Claremont McKenna. It seems like your high school stats are excellent so possibly any Ivy Leagues and reaches like Swarthmore or Amherst, those schools with single-digit percentage acceptances, would be good as long as you essentially have a 4.0. </p>

<p>Also, if you don't mind women's colleges you should look into the Seven Sisters, especially Wellesley and Barnard because they are all by big cities and in Barnard's case, it's almost like a co-ed school.</p>

5

<p>"I also applied to Georgetown SFS and Swarthmore, both of which I knew I had no chance, and got a cold rejection."</p>

<p>Your SAT Score is good. I think you should reconsider other factors in your application before sending it. 2200 should have given you a pretty good chance if others had looked good as well.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for all the help! It's really encouraging to think that I might have actually been a competitive applicant at my reach schools. </p>

<p>You know, I actually have a friend who goes to Austin College, and he freaking loves it there, so I'm actually quite jealous of him, haha. I don't know why I never considered it myself...probably because I had never heard of Sherman, so I figured it was probably a really small town or something. </p>

<p>I was wondering, if, say, I got into Vassar as a transfer student, do schools offer transfer students that one year deferral option, so I could maybe work for a year and cover the costs a little better?</p>