<p>I had a 3.72 at Vassar during freshman year; this semester was disastrous for me, personally, and I got horrendous grades (A- A- B+ B+, which at a fourth-rate school such as Vassar is absolutely crippling). My cumulative GPA is now 3.65. I am really worried now about whether or not I can transfer to any of the schools at which I thought I was competitive (Tufts, Penn, NYU Gallatin, Brown, etc.), though my recommendation letter will still be very strong.</p>
<p>I have two questions.</p>
<p>1) Should I even apply to transfer? I am incredibly unhappy at Vassar, and I know staying will ruin any chances I have at a postgraduate education, but I don't want to send out a ton of letters and receive only rejections. I would rather "choose" to stay at Vassar than face the fact that I can only be at Vassar.</p>
<p>2) Should I write my essay about how my unhappiness with Vassar has affected my life/grades/etc.? I realize that positivity is definitely a better idea, but my reasons for wanting to transfer honestly extend past a chance to have better classes and better opportunities at the schools to which I am applying. Should I emphasize the negative of Vassar to drive my point home about needing, rather than wanting, to transfer? Or will it cripple me even more, when combined with my poor grades?</p>
<p>A top 15 LAC, which Vassar is, is not fourth-rate. It is about as first rate as can be. And I assure you, every school you’d be applying to knows as much. Vassar has a solid reputation for a reason.</p>
<p>Second, a 3.65 is not horrible. If you got into Vassar in the first place, you’d have to have pretty good high school numbers. And college standards are far harder, such a 3.65 is generally seen as good from an elite school like yours. So, you don’t have a 4.0. But you still have a gpa that is high enough to make you competetive at any of the schools you mentioned. Some, like Brown, take almost no transfer (3%). But others, like Tufts, have much higher rates. You can, barring some major skeleton in your closet, get out of Vassar for another good school.</p>
<p>I know. That’s why I’m so worried. I thought my being unhappy at Vassar wouldn’t affect my grades at all and that it wouldn’t have caused any significant damage by the time I was transferring, but obviously it has, which is not something I expected or wanted. So I need to figure out a way to move forward from this failure (which is going to be very hard, I know) and manage to transfer out of this toxic environment. Hence the questions about essays, etc. - and whether I should even bother to pay money to be disappointed. Not that the application fees are going to be a problem, financially, but you know what I mean.</p>
<p>As for my commentary about Vassar- I know that the Vassar name brand isn’t going to do anything but hurt me, as I am male and my stats were not great in HS (my SAT score was only 2230, my GPA a mix of B+/A-/A). Only the name of the HS I went to- a supercompetitive NYC prep school- helped get me into the schools I got into. So I’m screwed. The question is, how screwed? Penn and Brown were long shots no matter what, because they would’ve been tough given my grades BEFORE they went into the toilet this semester; but what does that .07 drop in my GPA mean overall?</p>
<p>Basically, my question is- should I just stick it out and be miserable at Vassar? The way I see it, it might just be a viable alternative to being miserable at Vassar and having that misery compounded by getting rejection letters from every school to which I apply. I guess I am trawling CC for a little bit of pick-me-up, but I dread returning to Vassar for spring semester (I get a little nauseated even thinking about it) and I was wondering how best to frame my failure in a way that might help me get out of Vassar.</p>
<p>You still have a shot. BREATHE. Vassar is not a fourth-rate school. Transferring is hard (rates from 3% at Brown to 9% at Tufts) but pick a variety of schools just in case – and make sure you have a range that will allow you to leave if staying at Vassar is really unimaginable to you. Good luck!</p>
<p>A 3.65 at Vassar is far from disastrous. Vassar is an extremely reputable liberal arts school, and you’re in a decent GPA range. Plus, is it really worth it to worry? What’s done is done, and all you can do is try. Good luck!</p>
<p>“As for my commentary about Vassar- I know that the Vassar name brand isn’t going to do anything but hurt me”</p>
<p>Are you serious? Vassar was ranked #11 in the country for LACs. Stop being so rediculous. You attend an extremely good school and have great grades.</p>
<p>I’m not a ■■■■■; my hyperbole (if it is that) is based on my extreme dissatisfaction with Vassar.</p>
<p>I know, based on the reputation of my high school and based on the ECs I’ve been doing outside of college, that Vassar is not viewed positively by people “in the know”. I’m male, as I’ve mentioned; people in my future profession, medicine, know that Vassar accepts males at a disproportionate rate. Vassar has some cachet- if you are female and go there. It’s commonly identified as a safety for guys.</p>
<p>And my grades are not great, by any standard. Vassar inflates, a lot, and my grades are just barely above the median now.</p>
<p>Although I do not necessarily agree that Vassar is a fourth-rate school, I do agree with this
</p>
<p>Vassar use to be a female school and its reputation mainly lies in the female realm-- or whatever that is;lately, they have been trying make the school 50/50 so males usually have an easier time getting in.</p>
<p>A .07 difference in your GPA is de minimus. Get a little perspective here. Do not write an essay about how unhappy you are and how that led to this NON-disastrous decline in grades. </p>
<p>If you want to transfer, stick to your original game plan - or what should have been your original game plan: identify and describe your reasons for transfer and why the new school will best fulfill your needs.</p>
<p>Your grades are and were excellent. Do not be swayed by the unrealistic cc perspective that people need 4.0 to be considered doing well and/or to transfer. They don’t. You don’t. You are doing very well. Repeat after me: you are doing very well. :)</p>
<p>I will second Andale … you are doing very well!!!</p>
<p>Umm … your high school stats are excellent, as well, by the way. You are far more worthy than you seem to think. I sure wish you could see yourself as others see you. You are an excellent student. Please keep that in mind & do not sell yourself short as you apply to other schools.</p>
<p>If i was an adcom and i read something along the lines of “my 3.65 if is a disaster” i would laugh at you and not accept you. How would you deal with a real disaster? how would you deal with the adjustment of a new school ? what will you do if you get a 3.0 during your adjustment phase? Please be serious when you write your essay, and i hope you do not actually feel a 3.65 is a disaster. You have unrealistic expectations.</p>
<p>I guess it’s time to step in and defend myself. I’ve been terrifically unhappy at Vassar and I thought that I would be able to drag my GPA upward, if anything, this semester; I wrote this post about thirty minutes after my grades for the semester were released and all I could see was the drop in my GPA. I overreacted, yes, but this does hurt my transfer chances, whether a little or a lot, and I wanted to know how best to counteract that.</p>
<p>As for my commentary about Vassar, I truly don’t think it has a very good reputation, and the encounters I’ve had with people who are out in the working world, in medicine, have borne that out. I meet people from other schools and they seem to have a satisfaction with their education that I just… don’t. Maybe Vassar isn’t “fourth-rate”, but it’s certainly not a school whose name or reputation are helping me out, nor is its education good enough that I can shrug off people’s reactions to the name Vassar.</p>
<p>Don’t trouble yourself about people’s reactions. People who have graduated from Williams (top 1-3 LAC in the country) find that “people” haven’t heard of it. People who graduated from Wellesley ~(#4 LAC in country since time immemorial) find that people think it is Wesleyan. </p>
<p>People who graduated from “no name” schools or their in-state public go on to be heads of corporations and succeed immensely in every other type of field.</p>
<p>Focus on what you want, what you need and, if Vassar doesn’t provide it, then apply for transfer to places that do.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, I just stumbled upon this thread and I have to say something. It actually hurts me to see Vassar called a fourth rate school, and I really don’t understand how a 3.65 is crippling. I’ve only just finished my first semester, and not only do I absolutely love the school, but I’ve found the quality of education to be excellent. It probably is easier for guys to get in, but isn’t that common these days, even among prestigious schools?
I’m obviously biased, but I’m pretty sure Vassar is not a fourth rate school. I’m sorry you don’t like it, but I think it’s unfair of you to portray the school this way.</p>
<p>If you can recognize your own bias for what it is, why not let me have mine? I defended my statements on the previous page, and based on my own experience Vassar does not have the reputation- much less the prestige- of its competing schools. I am profoundly bored with the quality of education I receive, and I am annoyed by my employers’ (potential and otherwise) assumption (however true) that my education is simply not up to par with other students’.</p>
<p>I’m glad you like Vassar. It’s done nothing good for me. You don’t need to take it personally.</p>
<p>For one, I don’t think your chances will be hurt terribly… If you had a chance before, you still have a chance… if you didn’t, then you still don’t. I’d continue on with your plan if you’re really unhappy with Vassar.</p>
<p>Would you be able to do me a favor, maybe? Could you maybe talk about what classes you took, what experiences you had, that led you to have such a negative view of Vassar? I applied there and I think it would be beneficial to hear some of what you have to say. If you have time, maybe you could PM me/post it here?</p>
<p>Ok. You’re entitled to hate the school, I suppose. It’s perplexing to me that you feel that this highly-ranked college is beneath you, but that’s your deal. I’d just like everybody else to know that employers will not look down upon a Vassar education, and that the majority of students do not share your views.</p>
<p>brillar, I’m just worried that people will see declining grades on my transcript and wonder why that is- part of the reason I’m transferring is that I just don’t think Vassar has the right intellectual atmosphere for me, but isn’t that argument a bit shot when I’m getting bad grades in my classes?</p>
<p>ThatsWhatSheSaid, well, there’s nothing I can say that won’t be contradictory to your beliefs; all I know is that in my experience, I have been looked down on for my Vassar education. My employers have assumed I am at a disadvantage in terms of the education I received while at Vassar, and though they certainly didn’t express this explicitly, I do think they thought that I would have a poorer work ethic by virtue of my attending Vassar (whether it’s because they thought I slacked off in high school, or because they thought Vassar bred laziness, I don’t know). As I said, I’m very glad you like Vassar. But it has done nothing for me, and its high ranking hasn’t done anything for me out in the real world. If I were a prestige whore who lived and died by USNews, perhaps I would be a little more pleased with Vassar. I’m not, though, and so there is no security in knowing I attend a highly-ranked college.</p>
<p>As an aside, having finished three semesters at Vassar compared to your one, I must say that the two extra semesters really do allow for the disillusionment to properly take. A lot of my friends are a lot less thrilled with Vassar now than they were when they had just finished their first semester. Granted, none of them are as unhappy as I am, but I thought being at Vassar sucked after my first semester, and I was doing a hell of a lot better academically after just one semester. I suppose deterioration occurs no matter what.</p>