<p>When you guys asked for the rec letters from the professors for transferring, did they ask you about why you wanted to transfer or even try to persuade you not to? Or were they open and encouraged you to transfer?</p>
<p>I am very close to couple professors who know me well and have written recs for me before for internships, but i fear that they might take it to offense that i want to go to another school? iono if that makes any sense.</p>
<p>I'll let you know after tonight when I go talk to the first one of my two...</p>
<p>I think if you are close to them, as long as you have a good reason and explain it well, they should understand. It isn't about them, I'm assuming, so you shouldn't be offending them.</p>
<p>Just to update you (I said I would), I went and talked to my professor last night, my first ever visit to his office, actually. I was so scared to go talk to him that I was literally shaking. The visit completely surprised me. It was honestly one of the best conversations I've ever had in my life, very insightful and very helpful, and even very emotional at a few instances. I explained in detail the problems I was having with my school, what I still loved about my school, and what I was seeking elsewhere. He did not get offended, did not try to convince me to stay, and did not seek to explain away the things I feel are wrong with my school/don't fit me here. At the same time, he did not try to convince me to go. He told me of his own experiences as a transfer student. He and I talked about my chances of getting in (while I'm not applying to HPYSC, the LAC's I'm looking at are very selective about transfer admins), and he admitted that I might even fail but encouraged me to try anyways. He did not encourage me because he thought I should get out, but so that I could keep my options open and have the experience, even if it meant rejection. I asked him if he thought I should "waste" money going to visit so far from home, since I am low income and traveling there will be a hardship, and since I might not even get in to any of them. (Is it worth it to go and fall in love if I don't even end up getting to go there?) I even spoke with him about my financial situation, and his advice was to try anyway, even if it meant I might get into my "dream" school and end up stuck at my current school because I can't pay. His philosophy: "Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all." He also offered me advice for how I can make the best of the spring semester and suggested trying one of his purely discussion-based classes so that I can put myself out there (I am often painfully shy), and I am considering it, though I don't know if I will or not. He was extremely honest with me, the most honest anyone has ever been with me in my entire life. Again, it was probably one of the best conversations I've ever had, two hours (I know! And I needed to study for finals!) well spent. After speaking with him on this matter, I think he may even be the smartest person I've ever met, and I am in awe of the many new perspectives he showed me. And yes, he agreed to write one of my recommendation letters.</p>
<p>I can't wait to go talk to my next professor about my other rec! :)</p>
<p>The moral: Don't be afraid of offending him/her. Maybe your experience won't be as good as mine, but you'll never know until you try. The worst that could happen is that he/she is understandably upset to lose a student that he/she is close to. But no professor worth half his/her weight is going to hold you back, and he/she may even share a perspective with you that you never would have thought about. Take every word with a grain of salt, but at the same time, be very open to what he/she has to say. I would say my experience could possibly be life-changing (only time will tell).</p>
<p>I had a similar experience with a professor. In some ways she encouraged me to transfer if I wasn't happy at the current institution, but did admit that it is tough to transfer. She underdstood my reasons for leaving and wasn't offended that I was considering to transfer. I didn't ask her for a rec yet, but I will eventually.</p>
<p>On the other hand, my advisor was the one that gave a little trouble. Although she was polite in understanding my reasons for transferring, she tried to encourage me to stay by finding alternatives in my current school.</p>
<p>just wondering, what were the reasons you told them for transferring that made them so accepting?</p>
<p>Thanks for the update
i plan to tell my professor on friday; hope it goes well.</p>
<p>In my case, I told her that what I'm looking for (cirriculum, student body, name recognition) were not present and that I am looking for a more competitive atmosphere. </p>
<p>I guess professors are generally accepting when hearing about transferring. However, it may be a little different if the professor actually studied at your current institution, but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>i only applied to 2 schools during high school. However, this time around I am looking to apply to a lot more. I was wondering how the process is like in terms of asking professors to write like, say, 10 letters of rec.
Especially if the schools have different deadlines and some even have different forms. Do they really need to write so many separate ones? I feel bad asking them to do so much work...</p>
<p>when I asked for letters (I transferred last year), I approached my professors with a written letter as to why I wanted to transfer. I came into their offices and discussed my qualms with my current predicament (do it tastefully). I laid out what I wanted to do and what I wanted out of my undergraduate experience and I told him why another school would be a better fit. All the professors were very receptive and wrote me great recommendations.</p>
<p>yourfire_escape:::: im planning on transferring too. i was just wondering. if you went to your professor's office for the first time, did you not know him/her too well before? im asking you this because i dont konw my professors too well this semester because i havent thought of transferring till a few weeks ago. And now that i know i want to transfer, im thinking if im supposed to reach out to my professors next semester now that its too late, or i could still have a conversation like you did. Any suggestions? thanks</p>
<p>just to update my situation,
I asked my first professor, she was more than happy to write the rec and was very supportive of my transferring. She understood my reasons well and agreed that if im paying so much for school, might as well get into one that can give you the best opportunities. Also, even told me story of her old professor that she worked for in grad school, who transferred to Caltech and ended up being successful and famous in his field. </p>
<p>However, im not so sure how my next professor would react- hopefully just very encouraging. I think yea it depends if whether your professor actually went to your institution or else usually all should be very supportive as long as your reasons are decent.</p>
<p>xfer101-I explained very honestly what I did and didn't like about my school. I told him that I like my classes and find them very interesting, but I also wonder if I would be happier at school where I was more challenged. (I only study a little, usually the night before/the day of a test, just because I can get away with it, and I still have a 3.89 GPA.) Also, I explained how I do not like the social atmosphere at my school because it is extremely dominated by my campus's Greek organizations and the frat weekend scene. These Greek organizations are very cliquey and generally don't associate with other students. I told him I was interested in finding somewhere where there was more of a universal community feel. I also mentioned that I am having a difficult time finding people that I can connect with who share my passions or general goals for the future. I told him the names of a few schools I am considering, and he knew about them and understood the differences between them and my current school.</p>
<p>I've also been wondering about multiple forms and letters, since I think I will apply to somewhere between six and ten schools. I know if they just type a letter, they can just print up multiple copies, but I wonder if it's ok for them to photocopy forms? I only applied to four schools in high school, and my guidance office just sent photocopies of my recommendation letters to all of them.</p>
<p>engrishplz-What I wrote is kind of misleading, looking back--I have been to his office before, but never to discuss anything personal, only academic matters. I participate fairly often in his class, especially since I'm a very quiet person, and we've had some small chats when we both arrived early to class (for instance, we both do the Times crossword daily). That said, I didn't really know him outside of the student-teacher context, but I feel like our very long talk gave us both a lot of insight into each other. It was a very encouraging conversation, and I will definitely be stopping by again just to talk and update him on how things are going, etc.</p>
<p>I believe that the professors probably would just write one letter and reuse the same thing for each school you will be applying.</p>
<p>When I asked my two professors for recommendation letters, they did ask why I was interested in transferring but they did not try to persuade me to stay at my current university.</p>