<p>*college experience they would not have had if they had remained at the lower-tiered schools they initially started out at after high school graduation. *</p>
<p>This may be necessary for students who need to be in the middle of the academic curve, but I have seen other students who decided to attend state schools or " lower tier" private schools on generous scholarships excel because they had the drive and the intellect to benefit from college no matter where they are.</p>
<p>You really don’t need a Columbia or a Williams to get a great university education.</p>
<p>Actually, even today, it is likely that most students still go to a in-state public school, often a local state university or community college. Obviously, the community college students eventually have to transfer if they want to complete bachelor’s degrees, but that is different from those who change four year schools for whatever reason.</p>
<p>"ABOUT a third of students change campuses on their way to a degree, but it’s often a bumpier ride than they expect. "</p>
<p>this opening sentence is from the above mentioned article- maybe that’s’ where the 1 of 3 figure came from? If so, the reason that % is so hi is because it does includes students moving from a CC to a 4 year college to finish their degree.</p>
<p>That’s assuming the state schools or lower-tiered privates had a critical mass of students who could match their academic capabilities and had bureaucracies which allowed them to advance without red tape. That was not the situation with the above-mentioned high school classmates who ended up being so hamstrung by that very red tape that they were bored to tears and felt they were wasting their time effortlessly getting A/A+ grades while the vast majority of their classmates were struggling to pass/flunking the courses.</p>
<p>You’re right that they’re the types that want to be challenged and prefer to be in the middle of the curve. However, the mismatch of their first undergrad institutions is further underscored by the fact they still excelled at the elite schools they ended up graduating from as mostly STEM majors…top quarter to fifth at the very least. </p>
<p>You’re right that one can get a great education without having to attend a Williams or Columbia…but in the case of those classmates…they needed schools with comparable academic rigor to feel sufficiently challenged and not feel they’re wasting time at schools where the course pacing and rigor has been reduced to extremes. </p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that not every state has great state universities like UW, Berkeley, UMich, U Wisconsin, UVA, UNC, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t get what the value is in “sticking it out” if you learn that a purchasing decision you made wasn’t optimal, especially if changing doesn’t create a lot of new costs. if I did my research and bought a Toyota Camry, only to decide after driving it for a few months that the driving position really wasn’t that comfortable, what would be the big deal about trading it in on a Honda? Would that be some kind of moral failing? If you go to one college, and decide that you really don’t like the weather, what is moral issue with tranferring for that reason, as long as you’re not imposing a bunch of extra costs on somebody other than yourself?</p>
<p>if I did my research and bought a Toyota Camry, only to decide after driving it for a few months that the driving position really wasn’t that comfortable, what would be the big deal about trading it in on a Honda?</p>
<p>And according to the NYT article, the Honda would be more expensive & would require tuneups from the dealer in the city instead of being able to take it to the neighborhood shop.
Wouldn’t it be worth putting a little more thought into than changing a sweatshirt?</p>
<p>But I can’t test-drive the Camry for three months. No amount of research is really going to tell me whether the seat will seem as comfortable then as it did when I tried it out. Or maybe the GPS is too bright. Or maybe it turns out to be annoyingly difficult to keep the rear-view mirrors adjusted properly. So sure, I’m going to do my best to find out if the Honda would really be better or not–but if I can reasonably determine that it is, and I can afford to make the change, why is it anybody else’s business? What’s the moral failing?</p>
<p>I will add that this has actually happened to us–we did a ton of research and bought a car that we ended up hating. It got good ratings from Consumer Reports, we liked it when we tested it out, and it seemed to fit our needs quite nicely. But as we drove it, we realized that it really wasn’t a very good car. We traded it in as soon as it made financial sense to do so. This was strictly a purchasing decision on our part. I felt no “commitment” to that car, and no need to “stick it out” other than to avoid losing money. A lot of these college transfers don’t involve losing any money. So what’s the big deal?</p>
<p>Students who are anticipating transferring before they have completed 1/2 yr at their freshman school don’t always seem to be thinking clearly. When you don’t have the facts you can’t make good decisions.</p>
<p>I also agree with Hunt post 66, it’s not a moral failing, “as you’re not imposing a bunch of extra costs on somebody other than yourself”. But that’s an important caveat.</p>
<p>Things just don’t work out the way you think they will sometimes whether it be a college, a marriage, a house or a job. I’m not sure why once a person makes a decision, they are stuck with it forever. An emotionally healthy person sees that things, reasons, feelings change and then they take the positive step to make changes in their life as necessary. Most people view this as moving forward. On the other hand, unhealthy black and white thinking tends to say that you are now stuck with that decision, no matter what. While some people do go through life not putting much thought into their decisions, even when you do there is no way to predict with 100% accuracy how things will be once you are actually in that situation. Too many unknown unknowns. </p>
<p>If my child had sound reasons for wanting to transfer, I would fully support that decision (within the limits of our financial situation).</p>
<p>Erin’s dad, even the ones that do provide merit aid to transfers the amount is so much lower than with entering freshmen. We found that to be true universally in our searches.</p>