Future Transfer?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Don't get me wrong...I love my current school, I do. It's a top public school in the United States, but I really believe that there are better opportunities far, far away from here (at a particular prestigious university).</p>

<p>I spent Fall Break with my best friend, who currently attends said prestigious university. Everything about the atmosphere was different: the dining hall system, the residential college system, the way everyone interacted...and...
I fell in love.</p>

<p>I would really like to apply as a Junior transfer to said prestigious university (and I'm not being specific because generalization really keeps those unwanted biased posts away), but I'm worried about what I'll leave behind. I'm REALLY involved in activities on campus, mostly because I have A.D.D and NEED to be involved lol, and I have officer positions in many of these organizations (including ones I helped found). The question is... what should I do about these organizations that I've invested so much time in? In addition, will I sever relationships with certain professors I've done undergraduate research with by leaving? </p>

<p>I really feel like I have more to gain than I have to lose, so that's been my argument for a while. Everyone around here is really close-minded and conservative, so I don't really talk about my desire to transfer, especially since many people would like to be in the position that I'm in right now.</p>

<p>I also think that I should continue to invest time and get the most out of my current institution, even if at the moment it doesn't compliment my mindset about equal rights for everyone and liberal research....stuff like that. </p>

<p>Also, I have to apply as a Junior transfer because I don't think that as a freshman applicant to the university I would have been a strong candidate academically (I had TONS of research experience and random STRONG ECs) and I believe with two semesters under my belt including an SAT retake, I will be a more competitive applicant. </p>

<p>Thoughts, Comments, Concerns?? This is not really an organized post, so sorry guys (:</p>

2

<p>I saw elsewhere that you turned down Oxford, Brown, and UChicago during freshman admissions. You wouldn’t happen to be aiming for Yale or Harvard, would you?</p>

<p>Why exactly do you suspect that you’ll have to apply as a Junior, if you were competitive enough to have gained admissions to those three as a freshman?</p>

<p>How have you attained officer positions in many organizations already?</p>

3

<p>I realized how unhelpful that was but my edit time expired as I was typing this next thing up. Not sure how much more helpful the following will be, but here it is</p>

<p>Further, if monetary reasons prevented you from choosing one of those three (assuming you would have otherwise chosen one of the three), do you have reason to expect differently next time around?</p>

<p>Regarding those organizations: I think it’s extremely laudable that you are for equal rights for everyone and liberal research. If your activities emanates these two aims, then you could probably use that to your advantage in explaining why you prefer so and so’s collective and administrative mindframe (though I wouldn’t know whether your preferred destinations indeed have this–it’s hard to tell without being there, and saying you like college A because of this when in fact it holds the opposite view might be shooting yourself in the foot. soo you should find out first).</p>

<p>For example, if you’re part of student government or a grassroots campaign, they can serve as evidence of advocacy for change (though I never understood why student government people would want to fight for the change and then bail only not to see the implementation, but maybe that’s just me).</p>

<p>About not wanting to leave those behind: Is it the people with whom you work? You say everyone is closeminded and you are unlike them, but maybe clubmates are different? If it’s the activity itself, you can surely continue at so and so’s counterpart. If it’s not wanting to abandon your body of work, then you may have a legitimate reason to stay, to see it through to the end. You might have to do some cost-benefit analysis (which all things seem to involve nowadays hmmmm) and consider whether overall improvement (if it is such over your current insitution) in other areas outweighs this one portion.
Nobody else knows exactly how you feel about the organizations, so I’m not sure anyone can help you there.</p>

<p>Other than that, I’m not someone who can delineate the process, as I’m in the same boat as you (in fact, probably in deeper waters because you were presumably a great high school student).</p>

<p>Someone who transferred into Harvard was hosting a Q&A session a few days ago but he has yet to return. I’m not sure whether he specified whether he was a sophomore or junior transfer but his thread has some good stuff, especially regarding pinpointing the reason(s) why.</p>

<p>Other than that, good luck and give me a heads-up if you develop a breakthrough masterplan.</p>

4

<p>Wow, thanks for responding so quickly and for taking the time out to actually READ and analyze my post. :)</p>

<p>Last year, I did turn down Oxford, Brown, and UChicago, but each university for incredibly different reasons. Oxford was entirely too far away from here and my mom flat out told me that she wouldn’t feel comfortable with me being out of the country (and wouldn’t help pay for anything lol). Surprisingly, I got offered more aid outside of the country than if I would have stayed here! Brown was just not economically feasible for me last year. My mom was one of those parents on the ‘cusp’ of a great financial aid package. She just made too much for me to get the desired package and made too little for me attend the university. I really REALLY did not feel comfortable taking out student loans to pay for undergraduate education as well. Also, after visiting Brown and the University of Chicago, I found that Brown wasn’t really a good fit for me. I ultimately decided on Clemson because I did get the most financial aid from them (hooray for Merit Scholarships and In-State Tuition). In addition, one of my professors actually matriculated from the University of Chicago and spent time with me comparing the department that I was interested in. It basically came down to same education, cheaper tuition.</p>

<p>Now, my family’s financial situation has taken a drastic turn for the worse. Although my mom wasn’t really contributing to my tuition anyway (she didn’t need to based on grants and scholarships), now she REALLY wouldn’t have to worry about me paying for my education if I decided to transfer.</p>

<p>Now, you assumed that I had great high school stats based on my acceptances from last year, but truth be told…I really believe that great SAT scores, essays and ECs really solidified my acceptances. I didn’t stand out academically as most other CC posters usually do. I stood out more so in my essays by exhibiting passion for what I was interested in (especially conducting pre-undergraduate research). </p>

<p>You also correctly guessed that I was interested in Yale. As you can probably tell, I didn’t pick my current university based on prestige. Yale offers the ability to take courses across different areas of interest, but at my current university, I have to take courses based on a pre-established track. I am double majoring in Microbiology: Biomedicine and Modern Languages: Spanish with a minor in Entrepreneurship. I would much rather be double majoring in something like South Asian studies because through research in high school, I found a brilliant way to link my two areas of interest. Because my two majors are a B.S and a B.A, respectively, I have to have a minor if I’m majoring in a Bachelor of Arts. :expressionless: I know that academically here, I wouldn’t have as much opportunity as I have at Yale.</p>

<p>Socially: I already mentioned I was involved in leadership positions at several clubs here. I wouldn’t mind leaving them behind, I would just be agitated with the amount of time invested, but again–a lot of clubs and organizations are all talk and no results are produced. I know from first hand experience and observation that this is completely different in New Haven. At my school, the focus is placed more on football and alumni donations than academics. Recently, officials have been trying to turn this around and have been aiming to be in the TOP 20 PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN AMERICA (Yes, they capitalize this in emails they send us.) Anyway, I firmly believe that a school shouldn’t be aiming for a spot in the Top 20. They should earn the spot based on the investment in the interests of their undergraduate community. Yale doesn’t have to work for a ranking because they invest in the interests of undergrads. </p>

<p>I intend to try to change things around here whether or not I am accepted (but I have an entire academic year left to prove myself to admissions counselors). :slight_smile: </p>

<p>This was a ridiculously long post, but I remember you! Your quote stuck with me & is on my wall of favorite quotes! </p>

<p>“There are no impossible challenges; the ones that you overcome or fulfill without maximum effort are not challenges to begin with.” STILL MOTIVATES ME!</p>

<p>Also, if it’s not too much trouble, where are you looking to transfer and when…and WHY?</p>

<p>Lol. If you don’t want people being all nosy, feel free to PM me!</p>

<p>Thanks for everything!</p>

5

<p>I think you should get to know that school you wanna apply for transferring a little bit more than just being there once…Everything can be so nice at the first glance~But if you feel your school is not focus on academics, transferring may be a nice choice~Loosing the RA position you have now may be a lost, but you are likely to meet professors that can guide you more on undergraduate research~That’s my opinion~</p>

6

<p>Thanks, EyeOfChaos. I visited more than once, but this time I actually stayed for a whole week and I was able to have a true undergraduate experience–much more than a generic tour or info session. Obviously, I’ve researched what I want in a university very thoroughly–this isn’t just a spur of the moment decision on my part.
Also, I doubt that losing any positions I have no would be big of a deal as I feel there are much better opportunities elsewhere. Thanks for your post, though!</p>