I’m currently at a school in St Paul MN that is not very diverse(I’m a URM), but conservative and wealthy. The school is in a good location but everyone goes home on the weekends and campus is always dead with little to do. Furthermore, I’ve changed my major from Finance(the business school is good) to Computer science which is smaller overall and not as well known. I’m looking for a school that would accept someone with a 3.6 GPA(1st year), 1880/1290 SAT, and 3.4 high school GPA taking mostly AP and Honors classes. My family is low income so financial aid is important.
So far I’m thinking about:
Occidental
Vanderbilt
Oberlin
I think financial aid can be very difficult for transfer students. A lot of schools are need aware in transfer admissions even if they want to ‘meet need’. I’m also not sure that URM has any tip factor for transfers. So, while I know that isn’t helpful, it is really finances that have to drive your process, I’m afraid.
Doesn’t Occidental only have very limited CS offerings?
I wouldn’t be worried about your current school being ‘known’ as long as you have a reasonable course of study. It sounds like the suitcase school nature isn’t ideal, I’m surprised if upperclassmen go home on the weekend, though. How much CS have you even had at this point, you are 1.5 years in? Will you be ready to be a Jr and doing upper div CS?
How about just transferring over to U of MN? I assume you are at St. Thomas now from your post…
You are an instate resident of Minnesota. Can you afford to go there?
Is there any four year college you can commute to from your parent home?
How much financial aid do you need? Are you Pell Grant eligible? What can your parents contribute?
I think the OP is a freshman. But I understand how that school might not be a good fit… You might find it easier to commute to U of MN, too, if you live at home. I know you were saying in earlier posts that the commute was bad. Light rail goes to the U of MN now.
The time to get good FA was last year… you will have a harder time this year. Go ahead and apply to some schools as a transfer student for next fall, but put U of MN on the list. See how your FA packages sort out where you are admitted.
Also, can’t tell from your post, do you want a more diverse school? None of the ones on your list really qualify…
I see you are just a freshman. Hum seems like a difficult situation because of the financials. Your HS record is going to have a lot of weight although you did good this first semester.
And almost everyone takes time to make good friends the first year, everyone is new. When you transfer, you will likely go through another year again before you get close to people. Just keep in mind.
I’ve really started looking at Occidental. I looked at their student body and its about 50/50 with a good population of black students. It’s located in LA which is warm and not Minnesota and they have a joint program with Caltech and Columbia to finish a BS in Computer science at Caltech or Engineering at Columbia. I don’t know if I’ll get in though.
I did move onto campus in October since the commute was too much. I make a few friends but one of my better ones just told me he was going to transfer and wont be there for Spring semester. I’m definitely going to apply to the U of M and Madison just in case Occidental doesn’t work out.
Occidental on its own (without the 3/2 option) is not a great choice for CS. Your state’s flagship (I assume U of Minnesota) is much better. At best if accepted to Occidental, you’ll have a very steep climb to prepare for Caltech CS. My understanding (see http://oxy.edu/physics/32-engineering-program/3-2-engineering-faq) is that very few Occidental students are accepted to Caltech or Columbia, and that at least for some majors transfer students (such as you) are not allowed to apply to Caltech or Columbia because they generally will not meet the 3-2 course requirements. Check directly with Occidental regarding the rules for the 3-2 programs as they apply to you.
@fogcity I’ve already sent them an email regarding the concerns you have expressed in your post. I’m hoping for the best right now but I’m still looking. Schools with a 3-2 engineering agreement that are liberal and warm are on the list.
Chances are super slim that you would get into one of those programs and there is an issue of paying for it on the transfer end. I wouldn’t go to a program with as small of CS as Occidental if that was intended major. It is a nice school but super small and you can’t get around LA from there very easily without a car. It is possible but very cumbersome and full of transfers. Although there is a hip little area right around there. I suppose it doesn’t hurt to apply in case you decide on a different major. They don’t have anything like business, I’m pretty sure. Just don’t repeat your missteps on your first round and leave out places you can get into and afford, oh, and like.
Why are chances “super slim” that I would get into a 3-2 program? It’s not like you have to declare anything(so it’s just like transferring normally)…You take the required courses and if your GPA is good enough you apply to the engineering school at the end of the 3 years.
The difficult part is getting admitted to the “2” school with sufficient financial aid.
As the “2” school, Caltech has highly competitive transfer admission. As the “2” school, Columbia does not promise to have as good financial aid for transfers as it does for frosh, and it is not in a warm climate much of the school year. Remember that the fifth year in a 3+2 program is an extra year of costs, even if all of the schools involved give you good financial aid.
Better to choose an affordable school where you can complete your desired major without needing the extra year or needing to take your chances at transfer admission and financial aid again.
Look into some of the smaller [url="<a href=“http://theaitu.org%22%5DAITU%5B/url”>http://theaitu.org"]AITU[/url] schools. There are a number which give significant transfer financial aid but you will only find out if they meet your need by asking. They all have strong CS programs.
Your chances of Finishing a 3-2 program are low. As @ucbalumnus stated there is the issue of affordability. Also many students don’t want to leave their friends of three years to finish out the +2 option.
“I’m currently at a school in St Paul MN…The school is in a good location but everyone goes home on the weekends and campus is always dead with little to do.”
- You are in St Paul. Get off campus and find something to do.
- Make friends with someone who goes home every weekend, and go with them.
- Right now you feel like you have little to do on the weekends. Is there any chance that you should be studying instead of fretting about that?
While Occidental is a fine college, it is not terribly near Los Angeles proper. You don’t like commutes? Los Angeles to Occidental is not convenient for a car-less person.
Take the hint and ignore 3/2 programs. There are SEVERAL posts regarding this issue here on CC. Nearly all state that 3/2 programs typically bear no fruit.
What is your idea of diverse?
Not to beat a dead horse but Columbia says they do not offer any merit aid and all of their financial aid is need based. Furthermore, a school like Clark U says that when kids from the 3/2 program transfer they receive aid similar to the package they got from Clark(this is not true of all schools). If I don’t want to finish the Engineering program/can’t afford it I could just stay at the school. Occidental is the only school that does not offer a CS major and the comments on this thread regarding Occidental’s location has discouraged me from putting it very highly on my list.
I can’t apply to Amherst because I can’t afford OOS tuition.
@happymomof1, I know the school the OP goes to. And I think he is from the Twin Cities himself (he was commuting for the first part of this year). It really is an almost all white, conservative, fairly well off schools with a lot of commuters. I can’t blame the OP for not feeling at home there. But OP, I think you are setting yourself up to crash and burn with the plans you are trying to pull off. You are not looking at schools that are good in your major, and you are going to have a lot of trouble affording the ones you are talking about given poor FA for transfer students. Also, the travel expenses really add up (I have a kid at a Claremont consortium college, so have some experience with this). Plus, I think Oberlin & Vanderbilt are reaches given your GPA and test scores (which they probably will look at, since you are only a freshman trying to transfer).
And… it is true that very, very few students actually carry out 3+2 programs for just the reasons mentioned here.