<p>Yeah, I mean I have good days and bad days here, but I kinda want to have a college experience that I love. I'm going to apply to transfer to Tufts, BC, Brown, and Dartmouth, and then if I get in, at least I have my options open. If I decide I want to stay here I can always just defer the acceptance(s)</p>
<p>When are you guys transferring? Is transferring junior year (after sophomore year) even worth it? I feel like I just need to stick it out.. which is not how I want to remember college.. but other people seem content without great social live</p>
<p>I feel like transferring junior year would be an okay concept. After all, people come out of community colleges and go to very competitive four-years. Just make sure you really know what you want holistically when you transfer.</p>
<p>Many people transfer Junior year, that's perfectly fine. The only thing it might interfere with is if you were planning on studying abroad, as many schools require you to be on campus at least a year before you go abroad, and plus many juniors at the university you're transferring to may be abroad when you enter. If i transfer I will be doing it as a sophomore though.</p>
<p>I know how you feel. I am going though this process too! I am currently enrolled in Penn State University and I am mentally depressred and torn down by the whole enviroment!
I think you have a good reason to transfer! Since, college years are extremely important to your future! I suggest, choosing a university (Harvard, Dartmount, Cornell, UPenn, etc) that you will be happy, and there is flexibility for you to take courses you will benefit from!</p>
<p>Anywaz, this is only my opinion! I will wish you the best luck!!</p>
<p>My daughter applied to Darthmouth ED so I'm interested in your reasons for not liking the social scene. Are the students friendly to one another, or is there too much drinking, drugs, etc? Thanks for any help. I hope your situation improves, sometimes it just take some people longer to feel like they belong. If you could elaborate, I would be grateful.</p>
<p>WOW im seriously i nthe same boat ....... </p>
<p>Thats one of topreason I want to trasnfer but also b/c I want to experience life away from living at home</p>
<p>tell me about it</p>
<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I think transferring for social reasons is absolutely worth it. I transferred from Columbia to Dartmouth and it was the best decision I have ever made. I hated Columbia for the opposite reason, i.e. there was no social scene. When I originally went to Columbia I thought there would be countless opportunities to do things, but I found that all people did was drink too - except at Columbia they didn't drink with each other. I remember sitting at a bar downtown one night and thinking "is this really what I want from College?"</p>
<p>I chose Dartmouth because it was so transfer friendly - a small school with sophomore summer (so I could meet my entire class) and a tight community. But I actually didn't like Dartmouth my first term. I thought the social scene was probably a little too Dukeish - waspy and uninformed. I sort of contemplated transferring again to Brown- luckily the parental smackdown at the notion prevented me from taking it further than a thought. It took me until the spring when I found an awesome group of people I connected with sophomore summer until it really started to feel like home. I ended up having a relatively non-greek social scene and by the end it was the time of my life, even the frat parties. The school just became much smaller after I found a niche and started to know people. Also, as an outdoors fan (in a I like to play outside kinda way - not crunchy), I loved getting to do random things like ski before class. Additionally I found a real academic niche and honestly I had a great time even studying (Dartmouth library is very social and I loved the classes). I guess my point is that I am sure there are scenes that aren't apparent, and you may end up finding your niche at Duke. On the other hand if it doesn't fit, there is no reason to stay. </p>
<p>I would keep in mind how transfer friendly a school is though. I think some people quickly jump from a place like Wake or Duke to a NYU or Columbia and realize that they are having just as difficult a social time for the opposite reasons. I agree that the LACs and smaller Ivies (Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale) might be much easier places to transition into, especially for a junior. </p>
<p>I actually convinced my brother to transfer (Emory-Oxford to UNC) and he loves UNC, its incredible how I can even tell how much he has sort of "blossomed". I think a well thought-out transfer for social reasons is more than justified.</p>
<p>Pinkearmuffs - as someone going into film in some capacity, I am with you that the major at most of the elites is pretty useless. The contacts come in handy though. Film is one of those "vocational" areas where what you learn actually can help you. My advice if you are serious about transferring is to go to UCLA, not Cal. From my experience, UCLA is hands down superior in film. The boyfriend situation might not be perfect, but UCLA and Berk are still in the same state. (I wouldn't personally transfer for a significant other - I have seen this not work out a lot). On the other hand you can be very successful coming from Duke, so even though you might not be learning as much as your UCLA counterparts in class, get involved with extra-curriculars with people in theater, creative writing, film, or the comedy magazine. I have noticed that many of the people in these social scenes (at least from Dartmouth) end up making a pretty strong contact base into the industry.</p>
<p>bball87, may i ask why you dislike cornell?</p>
<p>Can I chip in here?</p>
<p>I'm currently at a very small college (about 2300 students) on a very small campus in a very small town, about an hour from home. I hate it because I am literally within the confines of this campus 24/7 and I feel "separated" from the real world. I feel like this little campus is all my life knows. Getting involved in ECs and such DO NOT HELP because all that does is make my life MORE centered around this little campus. And even if I can get off campus, the place is a ghost town so there's nothing to do - a small mall outlet and a couple restaurants, that's really it. So I really want to transfer to a city school, where I can be in the "real world" everyday, not in a little campus cage, and have lots of things to do and see (parties, clubs, shows, etc.). Does this make sense and is it an understandable reason to transfer?</p>
<p>Of course its totally a good reason to transfer. If the community around a small college isn't your thing don't stay there. I love that community atmosphere but its not for everyone.</p>
<p>Arch: Kind of the same here but not exactly - I'm in Chicago, but the campus is in a terrible area - in all directions is ghetto. The public transportation is not something to do alone late at night at all. I must get out.</p>
<p>i know it sounds terrible, but im glad to see so many socially unhappy people. i really feel like the only one at my school. Everybody says they are happy and its just what they were looking for, even when i prod them to tell the real truth and when they are too drunk to keep up a lie. lol. Its a TINY school and the social scene is cliqueish. Almost no upperclassmen live on campus so it feels like high school. I'm applying to transfer to Dartmouth,
its so hard to get all my classwork done AND write essays for the app AND get all my records sent out. haha
guys, group therapy is awesome. thanks :)</p>
<p>I feel the same! Everyone else seems perfectly happy, I feel completely alone in my sentiments.</p>
<p>same here. it is kind of nice to voice our discontents together :)</p>
<p>See, at my college a lot of people are stressed out/unhappy, which is one thing I don't like about it.</p>
<p>We have been #1 on the unhappiest students at Princeton Review, and are #5 this year.</p>
<p>Aw, iplayiboe (good grief, haven't see you since Yale EA), I'm sorry to hear you're unhappy at Macalester. I think you'll find cliques at a lot of schools. My school has them, and we have 6000 undergrads! They even allow people (up to 12) to room near each other sophomore year so cliques start over. :mad: I'm looking forward to a fresh start next year (here). :)</p>