<p>I attend a Cal state university, and for months I've heard rumors detailing the exodus of very important professors whose credentials and talent have fueled their respective departments. It seems that the problem is now affecting the departments that deal with my major(s). </p>
<p>I am a philosophy and psychology double major and have witnessed at least three faculty members declaring sabbatical (and that is just from one department), others are retiring, etc. The departments were small to begin with, and now those individuals who served as repositories of knowledge are all packing up and leaving...</p>
<p>I'm not sure what to do. Perhaps I should transfer? I just don't know how, whether I shouldn't even bother, or which colleges to apply to.</p>
<p>All of the other posters seem to have flawless academic histories (and mine is extremely blemished, i.e. high school) which is a little intimidating. If I should transfer, what chance do I even have?</p>
<p>Here's a brief summary just off the top of my head: </p>
<p>High School:
3.6 GPA
A.P. Scores:
5/4 on English Lit and English Lang.
3 Statistics
3 French.
Extra-curricular:
National Youth Leadership Conference, Washington D.C.
French and German Club.
Debate Club.
CIF finals qualifying track and field athlete; Individual
league champion. Scholar Athlete Awards.
Helped in the establishment of a new community service organization in city and signed the charter, etc.
College
3.9 GPA, will be a sophomore fall quarter.
CCAA finals, ranked athlete (top 5% percent)
Sorority...
Honor Society & Philosophy Club.
Scholar Athlete of the Year
Justice Corps</p>
<p>I would very much appreciate any suggestions or constructive criticism. </p>
<p>When you say "field" do you mean the top porfessors nationwide? If so, then no, they were not top in their field. But they were the backbone of my campus departments...what do you mean by pipeline?
I'm not sure what I want to do with my degree, perhaps law...but it seems like that sort of thing would need to be mauled over with an advisor...which ironically was another function those professors served. =_=</p>
<p>A few questions: what is blemished about your hs record? where would you want to transfer? how long are the sabbaticals of the profs you like (one quarter? one year?) </p>
<p>The profs who served as advisors to you - I would suggest you talk with one of them, even if they are about to retire or take sabbatical. Get their take on the strength of your department and find out whether some of the rumored departures are just that - only rumors. I think they would give you the best advice.</p>
<p>I don't see a weak profile in your record. If you are thinking of a transfer to another Cal State or into the UC system, you might want to post on our UC Transfer subforum for input from posters with more direct experience.</p>
<p>Thanks Andale, I will definitely chat up one of my profs and try to get to the bottom of this whole thing...</p>
<p>And yeah my high school career ended very poorly. I did not attend the marjoity of my senior year due to personal reasons (3 family deaths and a harrassment issue caused by other students). So even though I passed my AP exams with relatively good scores, my grades in each class suffered because of it.<br>
I actually had applied to a lot of Ivy's and UC's and got admitted, but most rescinded my admissions once they noticed the decline in my grades. Luckily I had a high GPA before that, so one or two bad grades didn't kill me (though it still was bad enough for colleges to drop me).</p>
<p>Yeah, the sabbaticals are each lasting a minimum of one year...</p>