<p>All right BBall- Here's some advise from a NY Jewish mom--- I know you can hardly wait.<br>
You already seem unhappy with your choices which I am afraid is just going to fester into more and more dissatisfaction. You do not like the quarter system at Northwestern- and you ARE going to work as hard at U Chicago with similar type grades as Cornell. You are already thinking that you shoulda-woulda-coulda applied to Harvard -- so somehow I do not think you are going to find contentment at NW or the other schools. Academically speaking- I think U Chicago makes the most sense. But Northwestern is probably alot more fun.
I am going to suggest you bite the bullet- make the best of Cornell for another year and try again at Columbia- Harvard or wherever. If you are still in the Presidential Research program then get as involved with it as possible. Take advantage of all that Cornell has to offer. And stop obsessing as to how unhappy you are at Cornell and make the most of your time there.<br>
I do not think you will be satisfied unless you get into one of the schools that you think is a good fit- be it UPenn-Harvard etc so I do not think you should transfer to another school where you are already seeing the negative side.<br>
If you are again unsuccessful with transferring next year, look into the study abroad programs/ and or Cornell semester in Washington. That will also lessen your time in Ithaca.<br>
I know there are kids who pick the wrong school and never fully adjust- and for them transferring is the best thing that they can do. I think ultimately you will probably transfer too- but if you are already seeing the negative to the schools that you may transfer to, I am concerned that you will not be happy at your new school.<br>
From a parents point of view- it is amazing how the 4 years of college fly by. It is so hard for me to believe that my d is already a Junior at Cornell.<br>
Your time at college goes by so quickly- please do not waste your years being dissatisfied. Try to make the most of wherever you decide to go next year.<br>
BBall- I just want to remind you- you have spent the last 10 months (at least) complaining about Cornell. Don't you think all this negativity has also added to your distress??
Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>It's still not 100% clear to me why you want to transfer out of Cornell. Is it the difficulty of the curriculum, isolation from the city, not a good social fit, size of campus? </p>
<p>I wouldn't discount Washington U. It's a wonderful school and my son has friends there who absolutely love it. Have you visited any of the schools you've been accepted to? If not, I would strongly suggest that you do to get the "feel" of the various campuses. You have wonderful alternatives to Cornell and I really don't feel you can make a mistake here. The only problem I see with staying at Cornell is that with it's reported grade deflation, are you going to be able to keep up that GPA for another year? If not, I think your transfer choices will not be as good as they are now.</p>
<p>i have a 3.8 gpa for the yr at cornell, i think i could maintian that</p>
<p>Hey, Rice mom here. What took Rice out of the picture???? Warm climate, great size, lovely area,.... less expensive.... If I remember, you had some concerns about living off-campus - but there are people looking for housemates on the online off-campus housing guide, and the rez college system should make you feel at home. :)</p>
<p>I think you were very clear on why you don't like Cornell: "It was a combo of Ithaca, the weather, and the intensity of the workload there. I feel like I need to be closer to a city."</p>
<p>Chicago and Evanston are not Ithaca, so that's a plus (for you. ) However, the weather isn't great and the intensity of the work will likely be the same, if you want to maitain a GPA above 3.5.</p>
<p>However, from your posts, you also seem to be unhappy at Cornell because it's not Columbia (or Penn or Harvard.) Nothing is going to correct that situation. You're likely to get into reaches as a transfer next year, given your results from this year and your initial application. </p>
<p>Take one of the schools on your current list of acceptances, or make due at Cornell. Second year will likely be better at Cornell (make sure you read the "what if they hate it" thread noted in an earlier post), but UChicago or Northwestern could be a lot better (probably couldn't be worse than you're feeling now.) Have you spent much time in Chicago? It's a great city.</p>
<p>"I think you were very clear on why you don't like Cornell: "It was a combo of Ithaca, the weather, and the intensity of the workload there. I feel like I need to be closer to a city."</p>
<p>"Second year will likely be better at Cornell "</p>
<p>I honestly can't see how the second year will likely be better at Cornell -- the weather and intensity of the workload are not going to change, and Ithaca isn't moving anytime soon closer to a city.</p>
<p>Only said 2nd year would be better in case the issues mentioned aren't really the issues that make the original poster unhappy. If the poster is unhappy because Cornell isn't Columbia, Harvard or Penn....don't know if Northwestern or UChicago (or Rice or Wash U) will make the OP any happier.</p>
<p>Also..need to make a significant edit my post to say "You're UNLIKELY to get into reaches as a transfer next year, given your results from this year and your initial application."</p>
<p>I agree with anxiousmom that Rice seems like the best choice. It's not an ivy, but it likes to picture itself as the 'ivy of the south,' and it will give you a great education. It's a first choice for tons of students in Texas (most of whom don't get in) and very well respected. Don't rule out Rice just because it's in Texas- Houston is not sterotypical Texas, and Rice has a more liberal bent than Houston does.</p>
<p>Tutition: 26.5k /yr (cheaper than your other options)
City: Houston, not downtown, but within walking distance of the light rail to downtown, definitely not isolated like Ithaca, closer than Northwestern is to Chicago, a more major city than WashU is near
Workload: Rice is a work hard/play hard school (I can't really comment on this for the other schools)
Climate: Sub-tropical, so annoying for the first month or two, after that just lovely. Sometimes it hits 80 in December, and it snows every 10 years. Northwestern and U Chicago will both be cold in the winter (especially since Northwestern is directly on the lake), and Wash U is colder than Rice.
Size: Currently 3000 undergrads or less, I think, and planning to expand, but will still be under 4000. This is smaller than Northwestern, U Chicago, and Wash U. Overall enrollment is less than half the size of other schools.</p>
<p>If those are your main concerns, it seems to me as if Rice will fix almost all of them.</p>
<p>thanks for all of the advice.....</p>
<p>bball - I'm going to add one more dimension to the amazing breadth of advice profferred above: What is your gut telling you? You're obviously very talented and (overly?) disciplined. I'm sure you'd succeed academically at any of the institutions mentioned. </p>
<p>But enough philosophy. Try this. You have one year's experience at Cornell. If instead of accepting students for four years colleges required each student to re-apply each year in order to stay, would you even re-apply to Cornell? What would you put in the "Why another year at Cornell" essay? If re-admitted at Cornell would you re-accept?</p>
<p>I do have a strong opinion on whether you should stick it out or transfer. But this is really about your life. Your life, your decision.</p>
<p>i don't think i would ever apply back to cornell. The only thing keeping me attracted to it is b/c i am not overly thrilled w. my options now and I know I did very well there.</p>