Is it better for me to transfer or to just stay?

Student Lounge College Life
1

Hello all,

I am a current freshman at a bigger out of state university and I’m conflicted about my current situation.

As of now I’m majoring in management information systems(MIS) hoping to land a management position in an IT related field in the future. But due to some financial issues it would be better for me to reverse transfer to a technical community college then from there transfer to my in state university which is about 20 minutes away from my home and then I’ll major in Computer science because the college of business is rather difficult to get into and the program that allows me to transfer doesn’t do MIS. I don’t HAVE to transfer, it is more financially logical to do so but I get a good amount of financial aid that I could survive and continue paying at my current school.

I understand that CS is more rigorous, I’m an average student taken my share of AP courses in high school and always maintained my 3.3-3.5 cum GPA. Unfortunately this semester I had some home problems that really made it hard for me to focus and I got a D in one of my larger credit classes resulting in my GPA to drop to around a 2.5ish which lowered my self esteem and confidence for going into the computer science program. I took a programming class and didn’t mind it but I switched out and had to drop it when I changed my major.

I’ve made some good friends at my current school but my parents could use me at home, they’re separated but it feels like me being at home could help them with my brother be grandfather. My grandfather is going through some big medical issues and my father takes care of him.

I just don’t know what I should do, continue at my current school and graduate with an MIS degree -and maybe add a computer science minor but I’m worried that would be less applicable in the real world compared to CS and then be away from home. Or save money go into CS and work full/part time while being at home and saving money. I would just have to work a lot harder because of how much more difficult it is compared to MIS.

2

To summarize…

I’m conflicted about my majors, is MIS not a respected field compared to CS? How hard is it to land a job etc…

I just wanted to rant, been a bit stressed out. I’ve been looking on many IT forums and they say don’t get a degree for any IT position.

3

One way to think of it:

Your parents are separating. This is their problem, not yours. They need to figure out how to take care of your brother and Grandfather. You need to finish college so you can get a job and support yourself. You think everything will be “fixed” if you are at home…but you will be in the midst of more chaos and will have even a more difficult time to try to get through school.

Talk to the Counseling Center about your parents. Talk to a trusted professor about your career goals.
A college degree will be useful in the long run!

4

Does what going on at home impact your ability to pay for the remaining 3.5 years of college? Is your debt load reasonable? Are you parent asking for help?

From what you wrote, living at home requires working and added responsibilities for caring for your brother and maybe grandfather. This could really impact your ability to do well at school. Some (many) students juggle this all the time and do well but you need to decide what works best for you.

Living at home could also drag you into a lot of family drama.

Regardless of what you decide remember to be there for your brother. Keep in contact.

As for the major, bopper gave good advice. Keep in mind, many students are still figuring out their major during the first two years at college. It is part of the process of finding out what you are good at and enjoy.