Duke vs. Binghamton

Transfer Students
1

<p>I am currently a freshman at Duke. I messed up first semester. I got a really bad grade in a class which I should have withdrew from (a lot of people withdrew) and my GPA is currently less than 3.0. </p>

<p>I feel pretty confident that I can bring my grades up though, mostly because I'm going to stop worrying about having to be social all the time and start studying a little more. I will find out where the library is and go to it, :-p. I'm just going to tell myself that no matter how lonely college can seem at times that I have great friends back home and by being less down, I can focus more on studying.</p>

<p>There are many reasons why I can't say that I'm satisfied socially with my current college. I've been finding it hard to find a social niche. I have branched out to a lot of people and I know a lot of people from random places on campus- mostly people I met in class or during the first week and of course there are my dorm buddies, :D. Most of the things I don't like about the social scene at Duke is that it's full with a bunch of rich, spoiled kids. I guess that's to be expected from a school that costs 40K a year. I met many down-to-earth, intelligent, and nice people at Duke but I feel the majority is not so, except for the intelligent part. Everyone at Duke is smart, there is no doubt about that though.</p>

<p>I'm going to work harder than I have been and hope to bring my next semester grades up to 3.5+ and with hopes I can do that again the semester afterwards. If I can get around this range at Duke and still feel that I'm not entirely satisfied with the social aspect of Duke, would it be for the best to send a transfer app to Binghamton and just spend my last two years there? I would be saving my parents a lot of money and I already know a lot of great people who are at Bing (including close friends and my twin sister), people who are every bit as intelligent as most of the people I met at Duke. </p>

<p>We can just afford it, but not by a lot, and I feel bad for going to such an expensive school. My parents are willing to pay the money for Duke since it's such a great school. The policy was either TOP school or state school. So I only applied to TOP schools. My parents are convinced that a Duke education is superior to a Binghamton education and they will definitely let me stay all four years as long as my grades don't go down from where they are now...</p>

<p>My question is if I continue to be dissatisfied with my experience at Duke, even if I'm getting good grades there, would it be for the best to save my parents the money and transfer to Binghamton?</p>

<p>Also if I were to go to Binghamton, should I just use my AP credit to skip a year and then take a 'gap year' prior to law or business school or whatever it is I decide to do?</p>

2

<p>Tough call. A couple of things, though:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>It takes time to find your niche in college. But if you focus on the aspects most important to you, you'll find people that share the same interests. At such a competitive school, you're going to have to sacrifice a good amount of free time to stay afloat in class.</p></li>
<li><p>Not to knock Bing., but if you can manage a 3.5+ at Duke, you'd probably be better off staying in terms of graduate school opportunities. You've obviously worked hard to get in to one of the best schools in the country, so don't be too quick to pass up the opportunity.</p></li>
<li><p>I don't know your financial situation, but if you want to help ease your parents' burden consider getting a private loan in your name, or even talking to the fin. aid office at Duke. I'm sure they can help you.</p></li>
<li><p>As far as whether or not to transfer, the best thing I can say is follow your heart. Happiness is surely important, but so is the rest of your life. If I were in your shoes, I'd stick it out because of the doors a Duke education can open. But that certainly doesn't mean you can't do just as well at Bing.</p></li>
<li><p>No idea about the gap year, sorry.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Best of luck :)</p>