I’m an 18 year old girl who just finished freshman year at a school I don’t like. I’m on the verge of having a breakdown. Some background: I’m originally from TX and my senior year me and my family had to move to Washington D.C. Some credits didn’t transfer and the majority of the year I was led to believe that I wouldn’t graduate on time (as told by my counselor at the beg. of the year) and I’d have to “graduate” in the summer, thus not applying to colleges at a regular time. Well, by some chance near the end of the year, I sent an email to my counselor asking how many more credits I would need. It turned out that I had enough to graduate on time. We met and most college deadlines had passed+ I had a very low gpa due to not applying myself (like a 2.6-2.7), and my SAT score was a 1610 (or something) out of 2400 and this includes math, reading, and writing. (I didn’t have much time to prepare for it, and I’m shit at math).
So I ended up going to the University of Kansas. Right away I knew that I wasn’t planning on staying there. When I got there, the school was fine, but it wasn’t for me. Living in the midwest just felt wrong…I’m a black, liberal, NE/TX type of person, if that makes any sense). This past year, all I wanted was for the school year to end, and I looked into other schools right away. I was/am truly unhappy living in the midwest and want to go to school in D.C, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, or Texas. The plan me and my parents agreed on was to go back for fall and apply to schools for the spring semester, but that’s where the dilemma comes in. My gpa is like a 3.18 and I am scheduled to take the SATs tomorrow. I do not believe I am prepared and truly want to reschedule. Only problem is, doing that means I have to take it October of 2016, and I won’t be able to apply for the spring semester, and my parents would want me to spend a WHOLE YEAR in Kansas. Not to mention, lately I have been feeling extreme fatigue, along with other worrisome symptoms. This test starts at like 7:45 a.m., and I will definitely be tired no matter how much I sleep (I’m going to the doctor soon hopefully, I’m really worried and scared). I am not confident with this test (the math seems harder!) and am not sure that I should take it.
I just want to transfer to a place where I can be proud and happy. If it were up to me, I would take a gap year and maybe do some online classes to make my gpa higher and live in D.C; I would have to apply for the 2017-2018 school year…but my parents don’t want me to live with them and ruin my life. I thought I could get a job here, maybe a roommate, but both are hard to come by and IDK anyone who still lives here. Any ideas on how I can convince them? Not only do I wish to not go back, but if I took more credits (a whole year’s worth) the colleges that I want to transfer to will just cut them. I know this sounds like a whiny post, but I have been crying and stressing over this, I am so sick of everything, and maybe some advice could help me? I am a very impulsive person who wants everything NOW, no matter what the consequences (going to Kansas was one of the impulsive decisions). I just want to do right by myself for once.
Why do you have to take SAT’s if you’ve already finished freshman year at a university? You can just transfer to whatever one you want to go to if you have the grades? They shouldn’t cut any credits if you’re transferring from an accredited college to an accredited college.
As for everything else, just go take the SAT so you know where you stand right now. You cannot do everything you want to do at this very moment, life doesn’t work like that. If you want to do right by yourself, do what you obviously have to do and spend a year in kansas. Then move on when you are able to transfer or go somewhere else, It may not be what you want to hear but people deal with a lot worse. Push through it, there are people who are in worse situations than what you are dealing with right now, you’re still (assuming) less than 20 years old so, honestly, I dont know what you are sick of.
@mayacarey78 , it sounds like you’re under a lot of stress. That’s normal – you’ve just had a long stressful year, you’ve just finished up your first set of college final exams, you’re about to take the SAT, and you feel like your future plans are up in the air. My advice is to take things one step at a time. First, you registered for the SATs, so I would say take them. Hopefully you are fast asleep at this point and won’t even see this message until you are back from the SATs.
That said, it’s my understanding that many colleges won’t even require SAT scores for transfer students. Look at the requirements for each school you are considering. I am going to guess that you should have no problem identifying good schools in DC, MD, VA, PA and TX that don’t require SAT scores for transfer students. I think American University in DC is one, for example.
Plan A is to do your research and find good schools that don’t require SATs for transfer students. IF the only schools you would be interested in require SAT scores and IF your you don’t anticipate that tomorrow’s scores will be good enough, you can see if they will accept scores from the October test. That MIGHT be early enough. If it is, and you decide you want some better SAT scores, then you have the rest of the summer to study. There are other College Confidential threads that give excellent advice on how to study for the SATs. You can definitely make major improvements if you apply yourself diligently. But again, that’s plan B. Plan A is to find some schools that you think would be good fits and which don’t require SATs.
If you can find a good school that will possibly admit you as a Spring Transfer, I would recommend that you continue at University of Kansas for one more semester, as planned … less than 4 months … you can do that. I recommend that you use that semester to fine tune your study habits and try to achieve the very best grades possible. I just purchased a book called “Professors’ Guide to Getting Good Grades in College” for my son (who, btw, just finished his freshman year at one college and is transferring to another this fall). I skimmed it earlier tonight and it looks great. I recommend you pick up a copy (i got one cheap on amazon.com). You’re also going to need professor recommendations in order to have a successful transfer application. You’ll either need to choose professors you’ve already had, or make quick positive impressions on new professors in the fall. The hints in that book will help you to make those connections and good impressions.
Once you have a sense of your top 1-2 match colleges, double check your course choices in light of those schools’ requirements. Make sure your fall courses will support your proposed major and fill requirements at the new schools. If not, you may need to drop and add some courses. So do some homework this summer on the programs at your preferred schools.
Find some good stress outlets this summer. Whether or not you are working a summer job, be sure to get some physical exercise in. Do some meditation or yoga and practice some mindfulness. Eat healthy and get some good rest. Develop good healthy habits that you will continue throughout the year. That is key to managing stress and staying healthy. Unfortunately, the stressors in life tend to increase, not decrease, so it’s really important to develop good stress management skills that you can take with you through life. You mentioned extreme fatigue and other worrisome symptoms. If they don’t clear up quickly with some rest, healthy eating, exercise and meditation, you should see a doctor and/or a therapist for counseling. It’s extremely important to take care of your health.
So ….
Step 1 – Get some rest and good luck on the SATs.
Step 2 – This summer, research colleges in your target locations and identify schools that will be a good fit and likely to accept a transfer student with your grades. Try to find some schools that don’t require SATs.
Step 3 – Only if you determine that SATs will absolutely be necessary, review the recommendations on CC as to how to prepare for the SATs, and spend a significant amount of time this summer working on them.
Step 4 – Focus on your health. Get check-ups. Developing healthy habits and stress reduction techniques.
Step 5 – Plan ahead to have an academically successful semester at UK; develop or strengthen relationships with professors in order to get a couple good reference letters.
Don’t let adversity deflate you. My son’s favorite saying is from The Iron Giant – “You are who you choose to be.” You could allow adversity to deflate you. Or you can choose to take on a positive attitude, in which case challenges and adversity will strengthen you and bring out your best. You can do this! 
Transfer to UMBC! You’d be close to your family and its a great school.
Take the SAT, you have nothing to lose from it. If it goes well enough, you have choices. If it doesn’t go well, many schools won’t require it. You can retake in the fall if all else fails, but I see no downside to taking it now.
Thank you very much
Be a little far from your family. Not out of state but like 3-4 hours away. Way less distractions.
What is your major?
One year of living with your parents would not ruin your life. Are your parents in DC proper, or are they in one of the suburbs? Both Montgomery College and Northern Virginia Community College have excellent academic reputations, multiple campuses, and formal articulation agreements with their state universities. One year at either of those places should get you an associates degree and automatic transfer into a VA or MD public university.
In MD, Towson, Salisbury, and Frostburg probably are still accepting transfer applications. Drop them a line. VCU and George Mason might be as well.