<p>I am a sophomore currently enrolled in Rutgers. I was completely miserable my first year and wanted to leave after that, but some family members convinced me that things would turn around in my sophomore year. Nothing has changed so far, so I definitely want to transfer. I really want to go to TCNJ, which I feel is an environment more suited to my personality, plus I know people there so I would not be going in completely clueless. The only problem is that I am an Econ major, and TCNJ's department is not as strong as Rutgers'. I do not want to compromise my chances of getting into a good grad school by going to a lesser college, but I absolutely cannot stay at Rutgers because I am miserable here. What do you guys think I should do?</p>
<p>My opinion is that most people place way too much weight in rankings, of schools, majors, etc. As long as TCNJ has a reasonable Econ department, what will count the most for getting into grad school is what YOU do there–your grades, your participation, your getting to know profs, etc. </p>
<p>I would make the assumption that you will do better academically and participate more when you attend a school where you’re happy.</p>
<p>Thanks for replying, I wasn’t sure if anyone was going to. I am aware of all of this and I wish it was that easy, but I have parents that DO place too much emphasis on rankings and I’m afraid that they’re not going to let me go to a school I want because it isn’t as highly ranked as other schools I could get into. I don’t know what to tell them anymore because they won’t believe that I can still get into great grad schools by doing well at TCNJ. Thing is, I know I will be happy there because I already know a lot of people that go there and I absolutely love the campus. If I go to a better school, I might not like it as much and will end up in the same position I’m in at Rutgers. That’s too big of a risk for me, but I can’t convince my parents of this. Anything in particular I should try to tell them?</p>