I desperately need transferring advice/opinions

Transfer Students
1

<p>I'll try to make this as concise as possible.</p>

<p>I just finished my first year at Adelphi University as a psychology major. Something about Adelphi always felt off to me. I decided to finish the year before making any decisions like transferring. </p>

<p>The biggest reason I think transferring might be a good idea is the fact that I haven't felt challenged at all at Adelphi. I want to be able to work my butt off for an A. I haven't needed to try that hard and my lowest final grade has been a B+. I owe it to myself to get the best possible education for myself that I can. I want to be forced to work hard by higher academic demands that I'm not getting here. Looking back at college I should be able to know I worked hard for my grades.</p>

<p>I think not dorming bothers me too. Commuting to class takes me roughly twenty minutes. I think seeing the same thing during a commute just gets to me. The commute itself is an inconvenience. </p>

<p>If I stick with psychology (yeah. . .I'm thinking about switching majors too. . .) then I think I can get into a more reputable school for psychology. I know a lot of people say the reputation of a school doesn't really matter and everything but since the psychology classes I've taken haven't been terribly difficult, maybe a more highly ranked psychology program could help me out.</p>

<p>There is certainly a lot more that I'm forgetting to say right now and I'm sure it'll come to me after a bit of discussion. I have two main questions:</p>

<p>Are these decent reasons for considering to transfer?</p>

<p>If you were me would you be considering transferring somewhere else? I know I ultimately make the decision but I think hearing other opinions will only help.</p>

<p>Just an aside:</p>

<p>Regarding my possible change in major and the more in depth details of transferring (ie, where to transfer, costs and such) should I keep that discussion here or make separate threads?</p>

<p>If you help me at all with any of this it will be appreciate more than you'll ever imagine.</p>

2

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<p>You can discuss within this thread. Things like were to apply, cost and major are integral to the transfer process.</p>

3

<p>So you want an academically rigorous school with a large percent of upperclassmen who live on campus?</p>

<p>You go to college to get an education. All other social fit aspects are secondary. If you don’t feel satisfied with the quality of the education you’re receiving, I think that’s an excellent reason to transfer. </p>

<p>Are you commuting because Adelphi is simply close enough to home that you can’t justify the cost of the dorms, or are you commuting because you can’t afford the cost of the dorms? </p>

<p>Note that at many schools, upperclassmen live slightly off campus. From what I understand, it’s fairly uncommon, even at highly residential institutions, for 90%+ of juniors and seniors to elect to live on campus. Many however live within a five minute drive of the school.</p>

4

<p>I chose to commute to Adelphi because I thought it was the best choice for me financially. While saving money is great, I think I emphasized this aspect too much. I agree that social fit aspects are secondary, but they do help make college the experience that it is, no?</p>

<p>I know it’s not entirely common for juniors and seniors to dorm. However, I’d be transferring into a new school as a second semester sophomore. I am aware of upperclassmen living in off campus apartments for example. As you said, they’re generally within five minutes from the campus. I think that’s a little far down the road to think about now.</p>

<p>But yeah. I think I need a more academically rigorous school than where I am.</p>

<p>Potentially dumb question, is it possible to edit my first post to add more? If there is I’m not seeing it.</p>

5

<p>^Please reread CCs Terms of Service, particularly the final paragraph about deleting posts.
If you want to add information, just post it on this thread.</p>

6

<p>Regarding where to transfer, I think SUNY Binghamton really suits all of my needs. It’s not outrageously far from home (about 4 hours), the cost isn’t unreasonable (compared to other schools), and I’ve only really heard good things about it (like great academics, for example).</p>

<p>Another reason I think this would be a good place to be is because I’ve been thinking about changing majors. If I do ditch psychology I would go to mechanical engineering (I know this is a huge change).</p>

<p>Let me just explain why I chose psychology and why I’m thinking about switching.</p>

<p>Psychology:
I really enjoyed learning the material in AP Psychology in high school. I performed well in the class and thought it was really awesome to be able to apply what I learned to every day situations. Also, for as long as I can remember I was always the person my friends would turn to for advice or something. Often times I was directly told that I should become a therapist or something. Fact of the matter is I enjoy helping people. I enjoy making them feel happier. </p>

<p>Mechanical Engineering:
While the above is true, I have found myself saying things such as “I really miss math classes.” I know that alone isn’t a good reason to switch majors. However, engineering was probably my first idea of what to major in when I was in high school. I always loved math and science classes. Specifically, I found physics to be my favorite science. While it is my favorite of the sciences, I never performed nearly as well as I had hoped. Taking AP B physics for example, I was probably receiving the lowest or closest to the lowest grades. However, I really enjoyed the material. Taking a look at AP C physics mechanics I did a lot better. For comparative reasons I got a 1 on AP B and a 3 on AP C. (I think applying calculus helped things clicked or it might have been the fact that seeing things a second time around helped) Anyways, my performance in physics especially deterred me from going into this field. I got into a “well, I’m not scoring nearly as high as him and him so I should leave this field for them” mentality. I also wasn’t the greatest in BC calc in high school but I did better in that than physics.</p>

<p>I know engineering isn’t JUST about the math and physics behind it. Yes, that’s a good portion of it but there’s more to it. I enjoy working out a problem and arriving at an answer. It feels good to finally figure something out and say “aha!” </p>

<p>Summary:
For me, psychology doesn’t provide the satisfaction of working hard to arrive at an answer. Psychology material always came easy to me with minimal studying. Switching fields would mean totally switching my work ethic and having to work hard to keep up with something that doesn’t naturally come easy to me but will more than likely be able to satisfy me more if I succeed.
Are these reasons to switch? Am I crazy? If I switch and realize I can’t handle it would switching back to psychology be relatively easy to do?</p>

<p>An aside:
If you know anything about psychology programs/mechanical engineering programs at schools near SUNY bing feel free to share! When I say near it can be like within an hour away or so. Thank you.</p>

7

<p>I absolutely agree that social fit is an important aspect of the college search, behind academics, and finances. After all, if you’re going to pay to spend years at a place, you might as well like it. </p>

<p>Realistically you won’t be able to graduate in four years if you transfer schools and then switch to mechanical engineering. The major requirements are so different that unless you had a boatload of APs (AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, and AP Chem), you’ll likely spend more than four years in college to complete an engineering degree. Before you do this, you should see if you can take some math and physics courses at Adelphi for the upcoming semester, especially ones that an engineering student would take. That way you can both see if you’re more challenged in a quantitative major and determine if you would like to pursue MechE at another institution. You might want to apply to transfer for Spring 2014 as a mechanical engineering major during Fall of 2013.</p>

<p>I don’t know why you’re limiting yourself to only schools around Binghamton. Since you’re from Long Island I’m sure that a huge number of students from either NYC or Long Island attend most of the residential SUNYs which means that many of them will have a car and want to split gas/ travel with someone during longer breaks. </p>

<p>It appears that only a few SUNYs offer both psychology and mechanical engineering. These are Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony Brook. </p>

<p>If you decide that you don’t want to do mechanical engineering, you might want to look at SUNY Geneseo. I’ve heard it has good academics but I’m not connected to NY’s higher educational sector in any way.</p>

8

<p>I agree that looking into a spring transfer is what should be done. The sooner things get done the better. I just want to try and figure things out now so I have as much time as possible. Even if it took a fifth undergrad year I don’t think I would completely mind due to the field’s relatively quick pay back. (If that makes any sense) I also agree that I should try and see if I can take a physics or calc class for my next semester. The thing is my fall schedule has already been created. Is there a chance I can contact my advisor and talk to her about switching my schedule around? I don’t know how that works over the summer with availability. </p>

<p>Regarding the location, that’s just my preference. I think if I do dorm somewhere I should get off of long island (eliminating stony brook which I have considered). Buffalo crossed my mind but I think it’s too far to my liking. It could just be me being picky. Thank you for the advice/feedback.</p>

9

<p>I think you’re being too picky. How often do you think you’d come home, especially if you have the workload of an engineer? Realistically, unless you go to Stony Brook, it will only be during 3 day or longer breaks. </p>

<p>If there’s still time, I’d recommend contacting your academic adviser and seeing if you can change your schedule to include math and physics. You should also sign up for a math and/or physics class at either Stony Brook or a nearby community college this summer (assuming spaces are still available) to see if this is a path you’re interested in pursuing. What levels of math and science have you completed?</p>

<p>You may also be interested in taking a year off from Adelphi and commuting to a local community college to take math and science courses. Not only will that be cheaper, but it will also allow you to see if an engineering degree is right for you.</p>