Hello, I am a freshman at FAU and I am considering transferring to Barnard, Tufts, NYU, or UT Austin. I was accepted into selective liberal arts colleges but ultimately decided on FAU because I have family here and the number of credit hours I would be receiving from my IB scores. Upon being here, I have realized that this is not the place for me. I feel that there is a lack of academic vigor that I was seeking and I am not feeling satisfied academically, socially, or with my involvement in the school. I am currently a political science major, but I would like to do a focus on international relations and my current school doesn’t have many options regarding the international relations track. A current issue that I am facing, however, is that I am a sophomore based on credit hours in my current institution and by the end of this year I will be a junior. I know that a majority of my IB credits won’t transfer to either of the universities i’m looking at, and I am fine with that. I feel really unhappy at the moment with my overall academic and college experience, but I don’t know if leaving behind all of the credits i earned through IB is worth it? (of course this is assuming I get into any of the schools mentioned) If you could please give me your thoughts/ opinions or any knowledge that you have regarding this subject i’d be extremely thankful.
Well, you already made that decision with your IB credits. You found a school that would accept them. But now you want out of this school. If Tufts and Barnard do not accept those credits, then you are faced with the decision again. Check if they do. Look for other schools that might accept them, say New College of Fl? Otherwise you have to make the decision to leave the credits if accepted to the transfer schools. Be aware that other credits may not transfer over either. Sometimes the courses have no equivalent in the next college when you transfer and you lose credits that way. It’s a risk of transferring.
Can you afford Tufts and Barnard? Have done some NPCs for them to see what they expect you to pay? Check if transfers get full need met, just because the policy is there, doesn’t mean it applies to transfers.
Barnard offers a semester or so of credit for a full IB Diploma (check on transfers though). Good luck, those are some great schools.
Definitely apply and see what you can transfer. UT Austin should accept a lot of transfer credits. Here are the rules for Tufts U and IB credits-
https://students.tufts.edu/orientation/academics/ap-ib-and-level-scores
Most schools accept IB credits if they are HL exams with a score of 5,6 or 7.
SL exams, often not.
Also you can transfer your Florida Atlantic U credits to your new school, I bet.
What is your major?
Didn’t school just start? Give yourself a chance to settle in a bit more before you consider transferring.
Are you already taking sophomore and junior level classes and finding them too easy? Thats not great, but see if things get a bit harder as the semester progresses. Also, ask your professors for extra assignments to beef up your education. You may need to take more credits at a time to make it harder, or start taking graduate level classes at Florida Atlantic. It is a very large lower ranked pubic program in Florida. Gainesville might be better for you, if you want to try a different public school in Florida.
Carefully consider which schools have the best international focus.
Tufts is well known. Johns Hopkins in Baltimore is well known in international studies.
https://catalog.ufl.edu/UGRD/colleges-schools/UGLAS/INS_BA/
Consider staying since it seems as though you have a full academic year of free credits due to your high school IB courses. Then earn a masters degree in IR at Johns Hopkins or any university which is of interest to you. The savings at your current public university should be more than enough to fund a masters degree at a private university.
Political science, i am looking into focusing on international relations
I should probably add that I am an out-of-state student
Many junior level FAU classes in Poli sci will be similar to 2nd semester Tufts classes because most FAU students only took regular classes (with some honors, perhaps) whereas many students at Tufts were in IB/lots of APs, the classes are intense and require a lot more reading/writing.
There’s a reason you get fewer credits there than at FAU: the content, level of discussions, and expectations are very different.
So, you can do these two things:
- you can apply to the colleges that admitted you - email last year’s admission regional rep, say you made a mistake with your college choice and regret not choosing X University that had admitted you, so you hope to reapply; are there Spring admissions for freshmen or do transfers apply for Fall only?
- stay and try to take advanced classes, taking graduate courses next year.
Obviously maintain a 4.0 or as close to it as possible.
Why did you choose FAU?
What’s instate for you?
What’s your budget? Do you have loans to attend FAU?
What level foreign language are you taking (very important for the colleges you’re interested in, especially Tufts).