<p>The first step here is figuring out the reality of the situation. Only then can you make a informed decision. </p>
<p>Princeton does not accept transfer students. Harvard is not currently accepting transfer students. From Yale's website:</p>
<p>There are no cut offs for GPAs or test scores, but it may be helpful to note that the average college GPA for admitted transfer students has been 3.8 and above. Keep in mind that admission to the transfer program is extremely competitive. Yale College receives between 700 and 800 transfer applications, and admits between 24 to 35 candidates per year, reflecting an admissions rate of only 3% to 5%.</p>
<p>LostatMIT: I went to MIT ('75) and my son went to MIT ('07). Both of us gave serious thought to transferring and then decided to stay. Allow me to suggest that you are halfway through the worst part of MIT: freshman year. Once you get past your core courses--and there's nothing wrong with just getting credit for those--you're in a position to take some of the really great options at MIT. What about economics? Architecture? Materials science? Have you taken any of the courses in the Sloan School? </p>
<p>You have two options with regard to transferring: apply to transfer for the fall (deadline is usually in March, so not so bad), or finish up your freshman year, do an exchange program next year (and MIT has some interesting ones) and then see if you want to come back for junior year or transfer then.</p>
<p>The MIT name does have worldwide clout, no matter what your major, and that does seem to appeal to you. Since that is important, maybe you should suck up what Boston has to offer, and make the best of MIT. </p>
<p>All of that said: consider as well the possibility that January itself is sucking all the motivation out of you (I hated January in Boston--and I lived there for twenty years). Alternatively, it is possible that you're right, and you should just get out of MIT; can you afford to throw away your freshman year and start over? That's a lot of $$$$.</p>
<p>To the person who suggested taking classes at H and W- in order to get an MIT degree you have to take MIT classes, and there are limits on the # of classes taken elsewhere. Taking classes at Wellesley sometimes does not have the same appeal for women at MIT as it does for men at MIT (sometimes it does...). Honestly it sounds like the OP wants a sorority life and social life and academic life that is just not typical MIT life which of course is fine, but there might be trade-offs.</p>
<p>You probably will be able to transfer to a lower tier school without any problems. It will be next to impossible to transfer to a school ranked as high as MIT. You'll need excellent recommendations from your college professors, something your mediocre college academic performance won't get you, and you'll also need very strong ECs.</p>
<p>If you loathe MIT so much you definitely want out, then consider transferring to lower tier universities that except for prestige match what you want in a college.</p>
<p>OP,
You are getting excellent advice here, but this is a decision that could be discussed 1:1 with a therapist. I will PM you the name of a truly gifted local psychologist who has worked with hundreds of MIT students over 25 years. He could help clarify the roots of your discontent with the academic and social life of MIT, and you would feel more secure in taking steps to improve your life.
best to you</p>
<p>Fauve, thanks for pointing out Harvard's change in transfer policy. I knew students who transferred there a few years ago but I just checked the website and saw that the ability to transfer is now suspended indefinitely.</p>
<p>OP, you should consider duke or vanderbilt or emory. i think they would fit your needs and would be somewhat easier to get into than tippy-top schools. i would say that you should give transfer apps a shot this year but also keep your grades up and get involved with something you enjoy at MIT just in case.</p>
<p>I went to MIT so I know what you're talking about. You are not alone. It can be a very difficult place, and a tremendous shock to the ego. You are in a sorority and while it may not be a traditional sorority, presumably, there are upperclass women who you can lean on for support. I hope that you have some close friends. Many people go through what you're going through. Your sisters should be able to help you navigate. </p>
<p>In a lot of ways I agree with dmd77: You need to work on getting through freshmen year. It gets easier after that because you will learn how to figure it out. The most important thing is seeking support. Professors themselves aren't there for that support. That's not the MIT way. You need to seek out TA's and tutors, pre-read lectures, make an attempt to do the problems and then the night before the problem set is due, get together with others and work through the places where you are stuck. Almost everyone has to do this. It is THAT hard, and you need to lose the ego, at least while you are at MIT. But you CAN do it. </p>
<p>Since it is the weekend before registration day for spring term. This is not the weekend to think about transferring, wait a few weeks on that. It's the weekend for making one last but earnest chance of surviving and making the most of MIT. Start the term off on a good foot so that you can make your decision from a perspective of internal strength. </p>
<p>Since you failed Physics in the fall, if you take 8.01, you will be in a physics with others that failed 8.01. It should be a much smaller, intimate class. Find others to work with. Ask upperclass women in your sorority to recommend humanities classes that aren't lackluster. It varies greatly. Spend this week "shopping" around by going to extra classes and find one humanities class that moves you. Take the minimal load and see if you can get through it. Don't leave your sorority, lean on them. That's the best thing about Independent Living Groups. There are upperclassmen who have a vested interest in mentoring you. I don't know how people survive without that. </p>
<p>Get your mojo back and then you can make an honest assessment of how to navigate your future.</p>
<p>Penn is more transfer friendly than some of the other schools you mentioned, but Wharton would not be your best shot within Penn. You need to be doing transfer apps right now if you think there is even a possibility. It's not an easy process and involves getting certificates of good standing, transcripts and recs (from teachers who don't even know you).<br>
I do want to point out that my kid was just as miserable at his Ivy this time freshman year as you appear to be and now he is a happy junior. He picked better classes, moved off campus and figured out a few other ways to make it work.</p>
<p>My daughter is at Cornell. It is a large, isolated university, with very little mixing with Ithaca College or any other school. It has a very large transfer population and the school works hard to integrate transfer students. It has a reputable business school, AEM. You sound kind of like my daughter - normal, smart, pretty, happy person. She is good in math, but also enjoys humanities courses. She is taking a gender studies and art history this semester, with her math and econ courses. She is very active in her sorority, but also has a lot of outside activities - work, dance...Cornell has many schools, they allow you to take courses in all of those schools - wine tasting in Hotel, finance in AEM, even fabric design or weather reporting. If you are looking to transfer, you may want to consider Cornell.</p>
<p>Fill out the transfer papers to the schools you are interesed in and give it your best shot. You will then know your options and can begin to make choices. There is a chance you will decide to stay at MIT in the end but at least you will put your unrest to bed.</p>
<p>Be true to yourself!! Don't do the same mistake again. Go for a school that fits you and not for the name. Begin your search with schools around Boston. Visit them and try to find your fit. Take this situation as a learning experience, you are young and should make the best of your years in college.</p>
<p>I assume you are enrolled in the spring term at MIT so you have a little time to consider transferring or acclimating yourself to MIT. What you need to do is honestly figure out what is most important to you for the next 3 years, prestige or happiness.</p>
<p>If transfer is your decision you will almost certainly have to sacrifice some prestige but you may be surprised how little sacrifice that will be. I have to assume that you had an absolutely excellent hs record so that should get you an admit to many really excellent colleges. You just have to continue working hard to ensure that your upcoming grades do not slip even further. If you are committed to the transfer you may even consider dropping a problem course if it is not too late.</p>
<p>If you want to stay in the Boston area colleges like Tufts and BC should be within reach. Further afield colleges like Colgate, W&M, Northwestern or even JHU may be within reach. There are scores more like these. All excellent colleges with excellent reputations.</p>
<p>For now merely do some soul searching to answer that prestige-happiness quandry. And remember that ultimate success in life will not depend on the university you graduate from but your innate abilities which you now possess.</p>
<p>Some absolutely fabulous advice from dmd77 and ClassicRockerDad. Spring term has not started at MIT yet, and I think it would be worthwhile for you to put off finishing some of the GIRs for a bit and take some classes that you just want to take, whether those are in management or in the humanities.</p>
<p>In a social support sense, are you involved in any extracurricular activities? Are there any you'd be interested in joining? Most groups are happy to take on new members, even in mid-year. (For example, if you want to talk "traditional college activities", I happen to know that the cheerleading squad would be thrilled to get another member right this second.) I second the recommendation to talk to a few upperclassmen in your sorority (your big sis?) about classes to take for the upcoming semester, and about your feelings in general. Most people go through at least one crisis moment at MIT, and they will understand your feelings.</p>
<p>Being happy at MIT requires, I think, some ability to make your own kind of music. You have to find something that really turns you on, whether it's a major or a class or a social activity or a living group. But you do have to go looking for it -- it won't just come to you.</p>
<p>I think a solid course of action would be to try to transfer, but to also try to make yourself happy at MIT this semester by doing whatever it takes.</p>
<p>Transfer admission to the schools you listed is difficult for anyone, but since you were not admitted as a freshman to Harvard, Yale, Wharton or Princeton....the liklihood of being admitted as a transfer (to the schools that admit transfers) with poor first year grades at MIT is not good. </p>
<p>Is there anywhere else you were admitted that you would consider attending? You would have a better chance of a transfer admission to somewhere you were already admitted.</p>
<p>While I am usually of the "stick it out a little longer" camp....I am very familiar with MIT....and do not think it is a school where it is easy to find your niche.....if you haven't already easily found it.</p>
<p>I think it is fine if the OP wants to try reach-y transfer schools as well as more realistic options. But I don't think JHU, Tufts, BC, Northwestern are substantially easier to transfer into than her original list. Most such schools want to see 3.5+ GPA and outstanding prof recs. This is just going to be a challenge for the OP. The MIT "name" might help, as I said before, to soften the problem of the low GPA... but perhaps not as much as needed.</p>
<p>I am not familiar with how the covered grades (all Pass and one F; vs. letter grades) will work in this case. But I can tell you that many schools will not accept such grades for transfer. Some schools will accept them if the applicant can provide written documentation from the original school that the grades would have been C or better. So I think it is likely that the actual grades will be delved into as part of an evaluation of this applicant - regardless of what the transcript shows.</p>
<p>Like Oldfort, I'm a Cornell parent, and I think you should consider applying to Cornell as a transfer student.</p>
<p>I don't know whether they will consider you, given your GPA, but it's worth a shot.</p>
<p>Cornell is respectable in the prestige department and very transfer friendly. It has a business major (in a program called Applied Economics and Management, which is located in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences -- don't ask why). Or, if you prefer, you could apply to the College of Arts and Sciences as a prospective economics major and take some business courses on the side (the School of Hotel Administration offers a variety of business-oriented electives for non-Hotel students).</p>
<p>I think you would be a lot happier at Cornell than at MIT. I think you would be a lot happier practically anywhere than you are at MIT, but realistically, you're going to have to step down a level or two in terms of academic prestige in order to transfer. Cornell isn't that big a step down.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Columbia_Student, there could be some differences between those Wellesley girls who frequent MIT parties and the rest of the student body at that college. A few drunken party goers do not represent the entire student body.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Hmm, Wellesley women I know who used to go to the occasional MIT frat party include a number of doctors, professors, lawyers, scientists, bankers, and the like.</p>
<p>I don't know why the OP has a problem with non-MIT students attending parties, but do realize that Wellesley woman are not the only ones around. There are also BU students, Simmons students, and so forth. Frankly, I think that the problem has more to do with the OP's insecurities than the behavior of other women.</p>
<p>BTW, although I suggested that the OP take some real humanities courses at Wellesley, she should not do so in the expectation of getting better grades easily. When I was there--in the 70s--MIT students typically dropped out of Wellesley classes when they realized how much work they were going to have to do and how unlikely they were to get an A. (The average grade at W then was a C. In many English courses, for example, there would be perhaps one or two grades above B+ awarded out of 15-20 students.) I have the impression that a certain amount of grade inflation has taken hold since then, but she should still not expect it to be easy. Just good.</p>
<p>The reason to take courses there would be to do well and get some good recommendations from professors, which might help in transferring to either Wellesley or to another school. Since Harvard isn't taking transfers these days, W seems like a better bet. The classes are also likely to be smaller, which would aid the OP in establishing herself with a prof or two.</p>