I need to get out - but where to go?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello there! Sorry if I break any rules in posting, but I tried to find all relevant information I could and still need help, so hopefully this will be ok!</p>

<p>I'm currently a freshman at a tiny, rural, ultra right wing Catholic college. I'm used to Jesuit style [more liberal/laid back] Catholic schools and needless to say I am miserable. I absolutely hate it here. </p>

<p>It is also, most importantly, not what I want academically. Although I understand their approach of .every.single.class. having to do with religion, they ignore non-Christian time periods and societies to the point where there are whole continents and centuries not studied. My current required history class is being taught out of the Bible and is almost word for word a theology class I took in high school. It goes on and on, but I'll save you the reading.</p>

<p>I'm looking to transfer as a history major. </p>

<p>I had a really bad high school GPA [around a 1.8] but relatively good extra curricular activities [Academic Decathlon: team captain, won a few medals; President's Council; Toast Masters]. </p>

<p>I didn't take the ACT but on the SAT I got a 1600 on the first go with no studying. </p>

<p>I haven't been in class that long [around 3 weeks] but maintaining an A/B average is good to go. BUT, since the school has a 2.5 year pre-requisite track all of my classes are 101's save astronomy [a 104 class]. I have <em>no</em> control over this. </p>

<p>For college EC's I've volunteered to help out with the drama department and am sorta in the Go club [a Japanese chess like game], but there really isn't anything else I can do. Outside volunteer work is also out of the question since I'm stranded here [it's not out of laziness it's just straight up very difficult to leave campus]. </p>

<p>I can't go home to Arizona due to family drama of epic proportions. There's virtually no way it would not come back into my life if I'm in the same state. On that note, I find going to community college outside of my home state silly and thus will only consider it on an absolute worst case scenario. </p>

<p>Schools I'd like to transfer to:</p>

<p>Fordham University*
Santa Clara University
Loyola University Maryland
University of San Francisco
Loyola Marymount University
Catholic University of America</p>

<p>I had applied to Fordham University as an incoming freshman [music major, theirs doesn't require a audition] and was rejected. Is applying so soon after being denied pointless? </p>

<p>Are all of these reaches? If so, any suggestions for places I should look into?</p>

<p>Although virtually anything would be better than where I am now, are any of these particularly unpleasant/places I might want to avoid? </p>

<p>General advice?</p>

2

<p>You are kinda stuck - your HS grades are dismal and as a soph transfer (just your freshman year fall college grades to go on) you need to do very well with those fall college grades to try and offset it.</p>

<p>When you say you got a 1600 on the SAT, does that mean 800=Reading and 800=Math? What was your Writing score? Or do you mean aprox 530=Reading, 530=Math and 530=Writing? There is a big difference there and you weren’t clear.</p>

<p>If it is the former (800/800) that plays in your favor. Even so, I’m not certain unless you ace your freshman college courses if any of your listed colleges would be shoe-ins. You are basically asking that list of colleges to take a risk on a 1.8GPA HS student with one semester of college grades under his belt–thus get straight As this fall or forget it.</p>

<p>If it is the later (530 X 3) then it is much rougher. The 530s are very middling for the universities you listed, paired with a dismal HS GPA. Again, acing your fall college classes is critical. </p>

<p>Yes. All are reaches. You are an academic mismatch and these kinds of colleges you’ve listed generally don’t take such huge risk-guesses on their incoming students.</p>

<p>Come up with a few solid matches. Toss in a few of the favs from that list - you might get a surprise admission… but still is a reach.</p>

<p>Are you a full-pay? That can only play in your favor in this climate.</p>

3

<p>My individual scores were:</p>

<p>610 Reading<br>
480 Math [no calculator and I’m really bad at math]
510 Writing</p>

<p>At the current school I’m at I have a loan/grant/parent’s paying combo but I have no hesitations about taking out student loans if they’ll be better for my education. </p>

<p>What kind of transfer acceptance rates would I want to look for to be matches? </p>

<p>Thank you for your help!</p>

4

<p>How much can your parents contribute?</p>

5

<p>My parents were able to manage the $1000 a month for my high school tuition, but it was a bit tighter than they wanted. </p>

<p>I’m willing to get a job, but all the on campus ones here are full and the transportation issue prevents me from going in town for one.</p>

6

<p>Your school sounds horrible. I would go so far as to suggest attending community college instead until you establish a GPA is high enough to transfer to a good 4-year college.</p>

7

<p>Is it too late to drop out of your college - take a gap year (or get into CC mid-year)?</p>

<p>If you can drop without having any grades or even Ws, then you can be a frosh-applicant again. (Tho with a 1.8 that isn’t a big bonus right now.)</p>

<p>Does Arizona have CCs in cities at least a few 100 miles away from your parents? That would be a workable solution.</p>

<p>CCs are <em>exactly</em> for students like you – clearly smart enough for college but with a bad track record in HS. If you ace your freshman CC year, you could still try for a soph transfer. And definitely a junior transfer.</p>

<p>If you do well at an AZ-CC, then instate publics are open to you as a transfer…and many of AZ’s publics are very well regarded… </p>

<p>I would seriously rethink your current plan… don’t look down on CCs… (or even paying OOS costs for a CC in another state)… kids go to them all the time and transfer to their dream colleges.</p>

<p>Thanks for the clarification on the 1600 SAT - you will want to make that clear in future new threads bc a “1600 SAT” often still means or would be mistaken for the old-format “perfect 800 + 800”.</p>

<p>Your Reading and Writing scores are fairly respectable… but paired with the 1.8 HS GPA… it is a definite reach for your list of colleges.</p>

<p>I would say Santa Clara University is a “no” as you stand right now. If you want to transfer there (my daughter attends SCU), aim for a minimum 3.3 for a Letters & Arts major and complete your college math sequence/s so they are in your transcript and done. You will likely need to be a junior transfer because of your 1.8 HS gpa (soph transfers look too much at HS grades). If you can get a 3.5+ as a junior transfer you will have a very solid chance of getting into SCU. </p>

<p>USF is a slightly better fit based on your SAT scores – need some solid college grades, though, to offset your HS GPA. Etc.</p>

<p>The thing to do is to go to collegeboard dot com and look at your stats and see how they line up. Are you in the middle 50%? Upper 25? Lower 25? Factor in your HS GPA as a major dent. Factor in your college GPA as in your favor (assuming you ace it). Factor in a junior transfer as a MUCH more viable candidate (assuming great GPA) and you can start to see what is a match or a reach.</p>

8

<p>I’m too far in to drop out: I’d get W’s and probably have my grant taken away, in addition to still having to pay back the loan.</p>

<p>There are CC’s in Arizona a few hours away from my family, but they’d be in rural areas or Tucson [a city I’m not keen on]. Even so, I guess I don’t have much of an option. I’m on the opposite side of the country right now [Virginia] but I’m definatley look into CC’s around here as well. </p>

<p>I think I’ll eventually be able to get over my attitude of them, it’s just a sizable chunk of my family and acquaintances are critical of my academic standing and were excited to see me actually go to a “real” college [not that CC isn’t]. I’ll suck it up as haters gonna hate and move on with my life though. </p>

<p>ASU would be one of the last places I’d resort to [since it’s too close to my family], but I’d me more than happy to go to NAU [my best friend goes there]. At around a 75% transfer rate [according to college board], would that be a match? </p>

<p>NAU also requires 4 years of high school math, but I only passed 3.5 years of it [I failed a lower level math semester twice but completed the higher levels so I was given an exception]. How much would that hurt me? </p>

<p>Again, I’m very great-full for all the help you guys have given me. Knowing I can transfer out is about the only thing that keeps me motivated to do anything here.</p>

9

<p>Is there a community college near NAU? Since you have friends in the area, it could work for you, and down the line you might be able to live together off campus. Also the closest community college often has the best transfer agreements with a university like NAU. Visit the NAU website and search for “articulation agreements”. You might come up with something that looks good to you.</p>

<p>I can understand your family’s excitement that you found a “real” college to attend. Unfortunately, this one is not a good fit for you. Since you are so far from where you grew up, “I’m just not comfortable in this part of the country.” is a nice generic argument for transferring somewhere more familiar.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

10

<p>You’ve been at college for a month and you are ready to bolt? I find it hard to believe that just because the school is catholic that they ignore non christian times and such. Stop, breathe, and give it more time. You may have one teacher that is backwards but, they can’t all be like that. Jesuits are known for the exceptional teaching. Give it more time and in the interim concentrate of improving your grades so you are ready if and when the time comes to make a move.</p>

11

<p>Wussymom, the poster was saying that he or she attends a right wing catholic college, but would rather attend a school with Jesuit teachings. </p>

<p>Historynut, if you think you can stick it out and get a 4.0 go for it, but if it’s really that miserable maybe you should think about attending a CC and then transferring as a sophomore.</p>