Freshman Wanting to Transfer Out of A Top 100 University

Transfer Students
1

I am a freshman at American University. It’s been a little bit over a month, and while I’ve tried (and continue to try) to keep an open mind, I am unhappy here and I genuinely cannot imagine myself spending the next four years here. As of now I plan to stay at AU this year apply as a transfer for next year.

Why I want to transfer:
I am undeclared in the College of Arts and Sciences, but I am very much interested in majoring in journalism (print) and am also interested in the idea of majoring in business (specifically marketing). As one may expect, the academic environment is dominated by international service and politics. As someone who isn’t interested in pursuing a career in either field, I feel that my interests/career aspirations are irrelevant. Because I don’t receive any merit scholarships/grant money, my family is paying full tuition for me to go here and I feel that the reputation/quality of education that I am receiving isn’t worth the $63,000 price tag. Beyond academics, I don’t like the campus. Throughout the college process I really wanted a charming campus with a lot of character (think Boston College, Brown etc.) and I don’t get that from AU and every time I walk onto campus I feel like there’s so much missing aesthetically (I sound so annoying I apologize). I also hate AU’s location- I thought that I wanted a true campus in a quieter area of a city, and AU definitely fits that, but AU feels so removed from everything and when I was little I lived around 5 minutes away from AU so the area feels far too familiar. Socially speaking, I have a small group of people who I like but I don’t really like the people on my floor and I’ve found it difficult to meet people elsewhere as so many people have locked in their friend groups and are really cliquey. As a freshman, the party scene is insanely frustrating as it requires trekking around the city to find an off-campus frat house that hasn’t been busted/isn’t full. Most frat parties reach capacity fifteen minutes after they start letting people in because the frat houses are so tiny. While this is irritating, it’s not a main reason why I dislike AU- there’s plenty of other options for parties in DC.

My profile:
I am a white female from Texas. I went to a top 5 private school in Texas and while I didn’t start out with good grades, I improved greatly over time, finishing senior year on honor roll. I run a volleyball-themed instagram account with 130,000 followers and I promote/work with companies on my account- I would consider this to be my hook (if I even have one haha).
ACT: 33
HS extracurriculars: club, school and beach volleyball, mentor for underprivileged middle school students, National Charity League, political society, creative writing etc.
Job experience: This summer I ran the blog and created/produced videos for an international outdoor furniture company
Current course load: I am currently taking 16 credits, mainly ged ed courses in order to fill requirements. I am trying to attain the highest GPA possible and get involved in different school publications/clubs.

Schools I am interested in:

UT Austin, Georgetown, Boston University, Vanderbilt, Emory, Northwestern

I understand that a lot of these are reaches- I am open to other schools that are either on the East Coast or closer to Texas, as I would love to be closer to home despite not loving the South.

I would love to know what you think/have your input. Thank you so much!

2

Can you talk to your HS college counselor for some assistance? They might still be helpful to you. Good luck -

3

Where were you accepted last year?

Why did you choose American?

If you are serious about journalism, which of the places on your current list offer good programs for that?

What connections does AU have with the Washington Post? Can you get an internship (even an unpaid one) there?

4

“Throughout the college process I really wanted a charming campus with a lot of character (think Boston College, Brown etc.) and I don’t get that from AU and every time I walk onto campus I feel like there’s so much missing aesthetically”

I see you have BU on your list. Have you visited?

5

Yes- I have visited and I completely agree that it totally contradicts what I previously said. I think that I would be willing to go to school without a true campus if it were in a more urban area. But it’s definitely something to consider given that I don’t think AU’s campus is charming enough haha.

6

I applied to Georgetown, BC, Fordham, Trinity University, Dickinson College, University of Richmond, American, Villanova and University of Denver. I got into Dickinson, Villanova, American and Trinity.

I wasn’t particularly excited about any of the schools that I was accepted to. With that said, I chose American because it fit the criteria for what I wanted- a small/mid-sized school in the residential area of a city with a real campus. While I didn’t really like the school in person, it fit what I wanted on paper. The biggest factor in choosing AU was the fact that my aunt (who I’m extremely close to) lives five minutes away.
It was comforting to know that I could have family nearby if needed. Also, it has a journalism major and has plenty of internship opportunities, so it seemed like a good fit.

Georgetown only has a journalism minor. BU has a good journalism program, as do UT and Northwestern. Emory and Vandy wouldn’t be great for journalism. It’s definitely something I should prioritize and consider when I start creating a concrete list of schools to apply to.

7

UNC has a really good journalism and business program.

8

“I feel that the reputation/quality of education that I am receiving isn’t worth the $63,000 price tag.”

To me, a school has to be very close to perfect to justify paying $63,000 per year. Over four years this becomes a HUGE financial investment even if you can do it with no loans at all. It sounds like where you are is not perfect for you. As such I think that it makes a lot of sense to consider other options.

We live in New England and as such haven’t considered anything as far away as Texas. I have however heard good things about UT Austin as well as Austin in general, and to me it seems to make a lot of sense for you to seriously consider transferring to something in-state for you (which obviously is different than “in-state for us”).

9

However, beware that you can’t “reapply” to colleges you applied to as a senior where you didn’t get in. You might be able to if you apply for Fall 2019 but even that would be a long shot since you were previously denied.

10

Do you mean Fall 2018? Every school that I’ve looked at has said that you can reapply after a year if you already applied and were denied. I’ve also been told that it’s not a long shot if you have a year of strong grades in college…?

11

You need a full year of grades before you apply so you could potentially apply for Spring 2018, but spring intake is always smaller and there’s basically-no to absolutely-no financial aid.
So, your best shot is to apply with three semesters of college grades, in winter 2019, for Fall 2019.

At this point, there’s nothing different between you as a HS senior and you as a freshman - you would only have a semester’s worth of grades and it’s highly unlikely you managed to stand out in a way that makes you better than someone finishing their sophomore year, it’s impossible in so little time.

Of course you can reapply. It’s not illegal. There’s no stopping you. However, years and years of applicants indicate colleges don’t change their minds - unless your college profile is much, much better than your high school profile they won’t admit you if they denied you before. Basically, it takes something pretty rare for a highly selective college that turned you down to admit they made a mistake and accept you the second time around.
Transfer admissions at the Universities you mentioned are more selective than freshman admissions.
You can however reapply to the colleges that admitted you - that would be in your favor.
(For instance, if you want a defined campus with lots of community life, Dickinson would be a good choice and you’d have a good shot at transferring there.) Since they already admitted you, you could apply for Fall 2018 (check to see if they take freshmen spring transfers… And whether any financial aid is available.) However they will likely no longer offer the financial aid they’d offered to you as a freshman.

12

Thank you for your input- I am planning on applying for Fall 2018, after completing 2 semesters of college. In my case, I didn’t do well in my freshman and sophomore year of high school, and in my junior year I still did poorly in math and science. Because I was rejected from some schools that I am still interested in applying to with a spotty high school transcript, I believe that having two semesters of strong grades in college could change my admissions outcomes at these schools. I obviously have no experience applying as a transfer student, but I have been given the impression that it’s not a complete waste of time to reapply to these schools.

13

You cannot apply for Fall 2018 with two semesters of grades: you’ll have your Spring grades around May 2018 and the deadline for transfer application is February or March.

14

I don’t think you’d like BU if you want a charming campus. There are many other smaller, charming colleges in Boston or other urban areas. Good luck!

15

What’s your expected GPA at the end of the semester?
What about Macalester? Reapplying to Dickinson? Northwestern, sure, but what about Mizzou? UMaryland?
Have you already applied to UT? It’d have allowed you to apply as a freshman since you’d have fewer than 30 credits and for spring 2018 if you applied by October 1st, and you can apply as a transfer for Fall 2018 if you apply by March First.

16

“beware that you can’t “reapply” to colleges you applied to as a senior where you didn’t get in”

You can reapply. The issue is that you probably won’t get in if you didn’t get in originally. The thing to think about is why would they accept you now if they didn’t before? Well, now you have all of your senior year grades from high school. Were these good enough to make a difference? OP did say “finishing senior year on honor roll”. The admissions may very well decide after you have completed one semester of university which is enough for them to look at, but probably not enough to change their decision if your overall high school grades weren’t good enough.

However, unless I am reading the thread wrong, OP didn’t apply to any in-state schools straight out of high school. To me it just doesn’t make any sense to be be full pay at a private school that you don’t like that doesn’t have a strong program in your major. However, it also doesn’t make much sense to transfer unless you are transferring to a school where you believe that you will be happy for the rest of your undergraduate years.

Not knowing OP’s original high school stats, and not knowing much about public universities in Texas, I am wondering whether there are public universities in Texas where OP would be comfortable for the last 3 years of undergrad and would have a chance to get in based on high school grades (and possibly one semester of university). If so then OP should probably apply now to transfer and see whether she gets in.