I’m in my first year at American University, and honestly, I’m second guessing this decision. I’m in a three year, accelerated program with the option to complete my masters in my fourth year. I’m pretty disappointed in that a lot of the academic work doesn’t seem to be challenging me. I don’t party, and I wanted a community of motivated students, which is why I’ve been so underwhelmed, a lot of students don’t seem concerned about attending class, or doing the assigned readings, even in my more rigorous, three-year scholars cohort classes.
I absolutely love Washington, D.C. and I’m applying for internships next semester, but I can’t say I love American. I do have a pretty decent financial merit award though, so that’s something I’d be giving up. I applied to 13 schools and was waitlisted at a lot of them, which severely limited my options. AU wasn’t my first choice by any standard, but I didn’t expect such a negative experience. For reference, my tops were Wellesley (Waitlisted), Georgetown (Denied), and UCLA (Denied, I am from CA); and I’m in the School of Public Affairs.
I think the question is, where would you transfer? You could fill out transfer applications but see how things play out 2nd semester while you wait for results. You may like it better when internships kick in.
One of my kids attended a school where she was on the higher end of the academic pool. She pushed herself to get almost all As, took advantage of all the opportunities her college offered, and was Phi Beta Kappa, She isn’t sorry she attended that school.
My views are too same as that of yours @intparent.
Focus on what you do love, DC and internship opportunities. If you have always been a top student for whom things came very easy, sometimes this continues into early college. Focus on keeping a topnotch GPA and stretching yourself in classes. Shining has it’s own benefits. File those transfer applications but keep your eyes, ears, and mind open to what you might be giving up. There are always ways to do more if what is being put in front of you isn’t quite satisfying without transferring.
My understanding of AU is that the curriculum is structured to allow meaningful internship time, so you may indeed find you enjoy it more once your internships kick in. Also wondering where you would want to transfer to - if you want to stay in DC, is your gpa good enough to try for Georgetown? (I presume you’ve seen their stats on transfer students.) Do you think you’d fare much better at GWU than AU? If not DC, where?
It’s pretty common for freshman to find their first semester classes easy. The HS AP system tends to assign huge amounts of repetition and busy work. Suddenly, college, with its twice a week classes, fewer homework assignments and absence of all those activities that consumed every free moment feels like you have nothing but time. It can take time to “find your people” as well.
If you don’t like the school, it’s fine to research and prep for transfer but don’t check-out of your current school in the process. Keep seeking connection. Go looking for internships. Consider that The merit money is only part of the savings. Transferring also means you’ll need to pay additional for that masters now.
I would give AU until end of first year to see how challenging courses are. My daughters (both went to Cornell) didn’t find the first semester to be easy or repetitive. As a matter of fact, their first year GPA was the lowest because their professors moved through the curriculum a lot faster than they expected.
They reason you got a merit was because your stats were at top of your class. I have posted a few times on CC about merit scholarships - it is a way for school to upgrade by “buying” top students. For some students it is a good way for them to pay for college, but one needs to be careful not to go too far down to be totally unchallenged for 4 years.
This is the time for you to learn, you’ll never get it back again. I would talk to your advisor and professors to see what courses you should be taking or additional research/internship you could be doing so you would feel challenged. If after all of that and you still feel unchallenged then I think you should transfer.
You seem overly concerned about what other students are doing. College is what you make of it. Have you tried engaging with your professors? First semester is a big transition period for all students. Don’t become complacent. The other students motivation can suddenly change after they get their first grades.
There are often advantages to being at the top of your classes. Two of my kids went to schools where they were ‘big fishes in a small pond’ and this benefited them immensely as some remarkable opportunities came their way.They didn’t find many like-minded students to hang with, but the perks that came later on made it well worth their time to stay.
See how your grades turn out this semester. If you get a 3.7+, or especially a 3.9+, you’ll be positioned for transfer options that might offer more of what you’re looking for. Come back and revisit in January/February.
“You seem overly concerned about what other students are doing.”
I don’t agree with this at all. In a program like this, learning from and being motivated by the other students is a huge part of the point. I transferred in part to get more of this and found it in spades. My grades went even higher after I transferred because I felt I was being pushed to excel.
It may be that the OP will end up needing to make the best of the big fish/small pond experience because transfer options don’t work out. If so, I’ll be on board sharing tips for that. But that’s not what everyone is looking for from college, and it’s fine for someone who prefers the big pond to keep pursuing the model they want while it is still a possibility.
“This is the time for you to learn, you’ll never get it back again.”
I disagree with this. Learning should be a life-long endeavor.
In any case, do you have goals other than more rigorous academics and being around more motivated fellow students?
Does AU give you the opportunity to reach those goals?
I suppose you could fire off transfer apps to get those 2 qualities, though I would posit that you could make your academics more challenging if you cared about that. Talk to your profs about that. BTW, partying may not be a bad thing. It’s not really good preparation for some spheres (academia and more academic-type environments) but may be for others.
OP- have you discussed the financial implications with your parents, and do you know if any of the places you’d like to try to transfer to will be affordable? Start there. If you are looking for a more rigorous experience than what you are getting, I think that’s a perfectly reasonable rationale for transferring (certainly better than “need to be closer to my HS BF” or “my cousins are mad that I missed the last bridal shower/baptism/BBQ”). But if losing the merit award means you can’t close the gap- then take Hanna up on her offer to help you figure out ways of making American more of what you are looking for in your college experience.
My D is at American University. Her first semester, she found her classes unchallenging and boring compared her AP classes in high school. The honors program was poorly organized. The party atmosphere was a surprise and frustrating to her. She never asked about transferring but I know she questioned being at AU.
Second semester, she found her niche of friends in her major. Her classes were engaging and challenging since she was primarily with sophomores and juniors. She found professors that she would visit with during office hours. I wish I could remember the list of “guest speakers” she was able to attend lectures with. She was very impressed and felt it was the proximity to DC that allowed these opportunities.
She was eligible to graduate in 3 years but decided to study abroad in Korea for 2 semesters. I can’t fuss because she’s still graduating a semester early. In December we’ll attend graduation and she’ll graduate Summa Cum Laude.
It may be too soon to really know how the next few semesters will be. As others have said, it takes time to find your people, especially if you don’t click with your freshman floor mates. Have you tried joining some activities, especially those relevant to your major? There are definitely other motivated students at AU, you just have to find them. Classes tend to get harder and more interesting as college progresses.
Cost is a huge deal. You are not all that likely to get much in the way of merit money as a transfer. Agree with the advice to become truly involved and invested in AU for the rest of this semester and for next semester. You will then have more evidence to make a decision. If it is really not for you, and you get great grades, maybe UCLA will be an option.
OP- looks like some excellent posts for you. Take their advice.