Hi all,
I am currently wrapping up my Fall semester at UC Berkeley. I enrolled here as a freshman in the Fall of 2014 and then took Spring 2015 off (I went backpacking for three months). I reenrolled in Fall 2015, continued through Spring 2016, took a few classes over the summer, and now here I am. I suppose that makes me a sophomore who is just finishing his final semester of sophomore year (in semester count alone).
This is where I’m having some trouble; I want to transfer. I’ve come to realize that Berkeley just is not right for me, and I am really interested in small Liberal Arts colleges, especially those with strong English/Philosophy/Literature programs. Almost all of the Spring transfer deadlines have passed, and so I’m left with Fall 2017 transfer. Should I still take classes and remain enrolled here at Berkeley next semester (spring 2017)? This will put me at 5 semesters total as an undergrad. I’m not sure if the colleges to which I’d be interested in transferring will have aversions to a student who is more than half-way done in their semester count. Will completing my fifth semester here bar me from transferring? Will it lower my chances substantially? I think that, regardless, I’d be spending 4 more semesters at the school to which I transfer because I’ve not made huge progress toward any one major. I entered as a Philosophy + Math major and recently switched over to the English Department, with a minor in Philosophy. I am not declared.
Here are some stats;
HS GPA: somewhere around 3.7 from a selective private school
SAT: I think 2250 superscore, 2210 singe sitting (750M, 800W, 660CR)
Lots of Academic awards in HS (including $60,000 RPI STEM Scholarship, Theology and Science Dept. Awards)
Founded an online tutoring website…was a large part of my initial college Apps.
UC GPA: Roughly 3.6, will likely be at a 3.66 after this semester closes out.
Upper div courses in Rhetoric, Sociology, Philosophy, English, Slavic Literature, Classics, Comparative Lit, etc etc
Arts Journalist at Daily Cal (student publication) for 3 semesters (also worked as Receptionist in the office)
Deans List
One summer session at NYU; took upper Div English course and got 100% (I have a transcript for this)
I am looking at the usual suspects for LACs right now; Amherst, Williams, Wellesley, CMC, Pomona…anywhere else I should look?
If anyone has an answer to my main questions above - regarding my eligibility after 5 semesters - I’d appreciate some advice. I am prepared to take this Spring off if it will render me ineligible to transfer.