Need Help With this Decision - WM to UPenn?

Transfer Students
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<p>Hey All,</p>

<p>So I've been mulling this over for over a week and I just can't seem to reach any conclusions on my own. Here's the story:</p>

<p>I was recently accepted into UPenn as a transfer student (will be starting my junior year next year) as a linguistics major. I currently attend William and Mary, a school that I went to because it was the best one that I got into senior year of high school (I wanted to go to UVA, but they rejected me). </p>

<p>Needless to say, I'm completely baffled by UPenn. I was so sure that they were going to reject me (3.3 GPA at WM), so I pretty much just discredited the thought that I would actually get in. Maybe it's my somewhat unpopular major, or the essays that I wrote, but whatever it was it somehow happened. </p>

<p>Before anyone says "duh, go to Penn" I need to say some things</p>

<p>I'm deciding on my options for the rest of my undergraduate career. I have three choices -</p>

<p>1.Stay at WM and study abroad in Edinburgh for a semester
2.Transfer to UPenn
3.Transfer to Georgetown</p>

<p>The weird thing is is that I didn't really like WM until this last semester. I had been involved in a sport that just got really stressful and demanding (crew) for a year and a half, and before I decided to resign I was at the point that I just wanted to get the heck out of williamsburg.
After I quit crew, a weird thing happened - I wouldn't say that I love the school now, but the experience got much better when I actually had personal time to do stuff. I started working at the coolest coffee shop ever, and started hanging out with some awesome people. Bottom line, it seemed like things are getting better.</p>

<p>The previous paragraph is why deciding to transfer is so hard. The friends I have at WM, while not a huge amount, are very significant to me. I'm worried that dividing my time evenly between the two schools will mean that I won't have a stable base of 'really good college friends' later on in life. I'm worried that if I decide to transfer, I won't really find good friends to be with in the relatively brief period of 2 years. I guess I'm just worried that I'll look back and always feel like I should have just stayed at WM. </p>

<p>Academically, my plan would be different at Penn. Right now i'm double-majoring in Linguistics and Anthropology at WM (something I'll easily finish before graduation). If I go to Penn, I would have to drop my second major and just major in Linguistics (due to the time factor). I'm attending an archaeological field school in Barbados for a month this summer (worth 6 credits) so those credits wouldn't transfer either. With the 60 credit maximum, I would probably be losing around 25 credits. This is another reason I'm hesitant to transfer. Does it look better to companies/grad schools to have a double major from WM or a single major at UPenn?</p>

<p>(I guess the same would go for Georgetown, as well)</p>

<p>Random other things that probably are insignificant:</p>

<p>I hate to say this, but sometimes I dream about wearing a Penn sweatshirt. It's stupid and incredibly shallow dream, but I would feel so gosh darn proud of myself to be wearing a mark of distinction (Ivy League) and that people would recognize all the academic rigor that I've been through. This is kind of a bad comparison, but it would kind of be like wearing a Hollister shirt or something just for the brand name written all over it. </p>

<p>If anybody could give me their thoughts on the matter, I'd really appreciate it.</p>

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<p>go to penn. According to you, you've made friends that are significant to you in 2 years(or probably less) at WM..So i don't think 2 years at penn will be too short at all to make new, great friends.</p>

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<p>it is obvious that racnna did not fully read everything you wrote.</p>

<p>If you can double major at a place, then take it!</p>

<p>Here are perfectly good reasons to stay @ WM:
You enjoy it now
your anthro credits wont transfer
coolest coffee shop ever
You will lose time and credits at Penn
It seems as though you have a hard time adjusting to new places.
It looks better to double major since most people dont do it.
Lastly, an Ivy education doesnt matter...only if you go to grad school there.</p>

<p>ITS JUST A SCHOOL, PRESTIGE IS ONLY IN THE MIND!!</p>

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<p>ya ignore raccna. you have so many different, cool experiences going on. a very very smart, educated, accomplished friend of mine once said to me "it isn't where you go to school as much as what you do while you're there". people know william and mary. of course they know penn too. but i really back mojojo up on this. the penn name is attractive, but it isn't a guarantee for anything. and grad schools look at gpa, test scores, activities, etc. if you really want to transfer, of course go for it. but lots of kids who to "the best" schools simply because they're "the best" find they made a choice based off the worst criteria possible. think about the best fit for you</p>

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<p>i did read that part mojo... But who cares if those credits don't transfer? If you apply for a job you can send them your old transcript showing them all the courses you've taken. Same with the credits fom the barbados school. Your time will be better spent doing other things(working,etc.) than doing a double major- which i don't think employers wll be like--omg!..blown away by.</p>

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<p>PLUS- you got to start afresh at penn-i.e you currently have a 3.3 G.P.A.- which won't transfer to penn. SO you have the chance to get a higher G.P.A which will make it much easier to get internships,co-ops, etc. and get into good grad schools. It's common sense and i IMO you should definitely go to penn if you can afford it.</p>

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<p>a higher gpa @ penn? lol...u've gotta be kidding!</p>

<p>a double major has a variety of benefits in the long run. Depending on the employer, he or she may not be "blown away" but you can certainly have more careers with an anthropology degree than linguistics (your major @ upenn). Anthropology can work in the medical field, as well as business; while linguistics is just stuck in a subfield.</p>

<p>racnna, it appears as though you have no logics in this. If his credits dont transfer, he/she just lost time & money. 15 units is a semester lost, which you will have to make up for at Upenn; and to be honest, that just sucks.</p>

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<p>No, I agree with racnna, although not because of the same reasons. Here's a quote that I liked about double majoring-</p>

<p>


</p>

<p>In my opinion, Azazello, the reason Penn accepted you as a transfer was because they thought you would thrive in their campus. Look past the prestige to see what the school has to offer you in terms of academics and a place to grow as a person. I'm sure you've thought a lot about a life at Penn because your reasons to transfer there must have been moving. In the end, I think whatever decision you make will be the best one, so go with your gut on this one.</p>

<p>EDIT: I posted that quote, Azazello, in response to what mojo said (which I clearly think is wrong). I did not post it to denigrate your reasons to double major. It is simply a point that double majoring shouldn't be such a big factor in your decision to transfer.</p>

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<p>mojo- The only reason he has those extra credits is that he took several credits each semester at WM- so no it's not a waste of money if he 'loses' those extra 15(unless he took summer classes and had to pay to take those extra 15). Also, the credits won't transfer but when he's applying for jobs, he can always send in his transcript from WM to show which courses he took at Wm.</p>

<p>Basically he can still do a double major at penn- just continue on in the sequence of courses you need for an archeology degree(i.e. if the curriculum at penn is comparable to that of WM)- maybe he won't get a degree in anthropology since the 'anthropology credits' from WM didn't transfer. But as long as he completes all the main requirements for an archeology major- i doubt employers will care whether or not he has a degree in the field if he can show that he's taken all the courses that anthropology majors need to take to graduate.</p>

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<p>Upenn wont guarantee anything, and it doesnt really look that impressive to employers. I doubt anyone from upenn will get hired over anyone with experience and drive.</p>

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<p>I was kind of in the same position as you. I am currently at UCLA as a first year and my first two quarters weren't so great because I was stressed out, doing too many things, and working on transfer apps. However, this quarter, things got REALLY good because I had more time to just sit back and hang out. I don't have a lot of friends here either, but the ones i do have are significant.</p>

<p>I am still deciding to leave though because, in my case, going to a new location and trying something new is an opportunity of a lifetime given the fact that i will probably have to work right out of college and won't be able to "explore" until my career is stable. Anywho, enough blabbering, I'm leaving because the only thing I feel like I am "leaving behind" are good friends, who I plan on keeping in touch with.</p>

<p>I don't know what your reasons for going to penn were, but like everyone else said, you are in a good position because you are picking from two great situations. For jobs, unless you are going into ibanking or consulting, staying at WM will not be detrimental to getting a job.</p>

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<p>It will be tough to make good friends going into jr year as most people have had two years to find their niche. In the real world Penn gets confused with Penn State and you have to explain it all the time. W&M gives you prestige. (Thomas Jefferson vs Ben Franklin)</p>

<p>If you like it stay at W&M and give your new life time to settle. It seems that is the way you are leaning now anyway.</p>

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<p>mostly people who aren't in college or are not from the east coast confuse Upenn with PSU.Over here everyone knows what penn is. It's just like how most people on the east coast don't know that cal tech is a top 3 engineering school. Besides who cares about the general public...Industry is what counts and everyone in industry knows what penn is. And if you get upset that a friend thinks you go to PSU, take him to the computer and show him the rankings- yes that's tacky but if it bothers you that much then go for it.....</p>

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<p>wow, we know now who cares more about prestige than actual happiness.</p>

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<p>go where you think fit... you applied to upenn for a reason didnt you?</p>

<p>Don't disreguard what racnna said, take everything into consideration and make a decision.. chances are more people will tell you not to attend the more prestious school (all for various reasons) in any given circumstance. Do what you feel and not what some people on a forum are telling you to do.</p>

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<p>Mojojojo, you are completely wrong in your assumption that the Penn name won't get him any jobs WM will. Of course there's no substitute for drive and ambition but the UPenn name will open far more doors than WM. fact.</p>

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<p>fiction. And i never said that it wil get him more jobs than WM, so what you just stated is an assumption.</p>

<p>In fact, most non-ivy leaguers have MORE success than those that went to ivy league...Hmm, lets see: Founder of Nike = non ivy, Oprah = non ivy, Bill gates = didnt need harvard. I rest my case.</p>

<p>And to put an extra sore on the injury, people should check the headlines on the first CC board, where it says if an ivy league is worth it, and you will find that the parents who didnt go to an ivy league on these boards are very sucessful.</p>

<p>I dont know why this whole Ivy thing is so overrated. Do people even know how this whole thing started? it was just about football...it holds no academic merit!</p>

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<p>
[quote]
most non-ivy leaguers have MORE success than those that went to ivy league

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Well in asbolute numbers obviously but by percentage I'd venture to say there are more successful people coming out of ivy-league (and comparable) schools than the alternative. And your evidence of three random (but very influential) people does not constitute a case as one can easily pull out 20+ US presidents that came from top colleges.</p>

<p>With regards to this discussion, I think one will have similar opportunities coming from Penn, Georgetown, or William & Mary. It's what you do at those schools that counts as all are excellent.</p>

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<p>Richard nixon didnt come from an ivy...whittier college and duke law.</p>

<p>This whole ivy thing is bs.</p>

<p>Ha! im lovin this! not even bill clinton attended an ivy for undergrad! It took him 7 years to actually attend one! After he graduated from georgetown (non-ivy)</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_clinton%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_clinton&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Like i said, its BS for undergrad, worry about it for graduate school.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Richard nixon didnt come from an ivy...whittier college and duke law

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Heh, may as well be an ivy though, huh? And again, individual examples do very little to further your argument.</p>

<p>Anyways, I think William and Mary was supposed to have been an ivy anyways but things went wrong. Suffice it to say that one that attends a top college, in general, has an advantage, though the college doesn't have to be an ivy.</p>