Gotta Get Outta This Place? Did YOU want to transfer right away?

<p>I wanted to transfer right away, but my situation is a little different. I went to University of Maryland 100% online. That’s not exactly the way I wanted to go to school, I wanted to dorm and go OOS or to a CSU straight out of high school, but couldn’t because I lived overseas (military parents). My intention was to transfer as soon as I go to my sophomore year, but I didn’t find out until I got back to CA that, transferring in your sophomore year was impossible.</p>

<p>I was very unhappy at my first college. It was socially not a good fit. It was a public University in California and in those days they allowed sophomore transfers. The catch was you had to apply to transfer by December of your Freshman year. So I made the transfer, going from one UC to another in Fall of my sophomore year. For me it was a good decision. Though I was less miserable by the end of freshman year, I couldn’t describe myself as happy. The new UC was a much more comfortable fit. Sometimes a bad fit is a bad fit. That said, I really don’t think you know till at least after winter break your freshman year and in reality, the end of that year.</p>

<p>Thank you for this thread.
I am a freshman who was forced to enroll at a prestigious public university over a less prestigious small private school.
when I say less prestigious Smaller private school I really mean it.
The university I am currently enrolled in is internationally famous whereas my first choice is only known in my state even not so much.
Because the school I was enrolled is in quarter system I haven’t begun my classes, so I haven’t firmly decided yet but I am considering to transferring to lac.
Is transferring to a selective lac as a sophomore a doable thing? Is my desire to have more personal and close interaction with faculty a rational reason to transfer?</p>

<p>I was forced to enroll here because of my parents who in my opinion value reputation of school more than personal fit. Yes it’s great to see when people recognize my success as a high school student for enrolling at my current school, but my philosophy of college has greater value on personal fit.
Besides applying as a transfer student I have to come up with a way to persuade my parents.
For now I am keeping an open mind to see what this large university has to offer. Honestly there is no doubt about the diversity and opportunities I have. I am just hoping spending a quarter or two will give me a more clear picture for myself.</p>

<p>I was pretty convinced I’d want to transfer going in (I’m at Miami of Ohio and, as my list was mostly reach schools and this was one of two safeties, I was dead-set on scraping up some kind of prestige), but I very much esteem my time here. If I were to transfer, though, it’d be because of how small the town is.</p>

<p>I hated my school the moment I got there, and began exploring the options for transferring that fall semester of Freshman year. The school was solid academically, but not was the right “fit” for me, socially.
Here I am as a Senior, and nothing has changed.</p>

<p>Why did I decide to ride it out?</p>

<p>For one, my school offers a lot of good opportunities for my major, with solid campus recruiting. So transferring solely academic grounds may not have made sense. </p>

<p>Because I was so focused on transferring, I aced all of my classes Freshman year and had myself a solid looking 3.8+ GPA. At this point, I decided to take a look at the big picture. I can transfer to another school, and judging by my GPA and test scores I could’ve probably gone to a way better school than the one I was at, but then I would have to start over GPA-wise in a whole new environment and perhaps with some credits lost in the process…OR…I can ride out the next 3 years while maintaining this high GPA, and graduate as a big fish in a small pond, with a job lined up for me after school.</p>

<p>So things have somewhat gone according to plan. My GPA has dipped slightly to a 3.75, but I have tons of on-campus interviews lined up for next year with major firms, as well as plenty of internships.</p>

<p>So long story short, despite the “fit” not being there, I decided to stick around for career reasons and it has paid off. However, having gone through the undergrad experience, I’m going to carefully vet every single MBA school I apply to in a few years.</p>