Need some advice

Transfer Students
1

<p>Can anyone here offer some insight towards my situation? I'm currently a Computer Science student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I've lived in the Champaign-Urbana area since the age of 4 and I feel really inclined to make a move out of here.</p>

<p>Anyways I really want to try to transfer to USC, but I feel like I'm giving up a lot just to try to do so. With the way I've taken my courses at UIUC and the local CC, I would graduate here a semester early. However, if I do really make up my mind and want to transfer to USC, I would have to make some big alterations to my schedule next semester. I don't plan on continuing Computer Science at USC but instead would want to get into Industrial and Systems Engineering. I've met all of my gen-eds here at UIUC but how USC has their gen-eds set up, I've only met half of it. I would have to take very basic gen-eds classes including basic writing classes. This will force me to not take any CS classes next semester. I'm just not sure what is the best choice for me right now because I don't want to fall behind in CS if I don't get in.</p>

<p>My current cumulative GPA (a combination of my UIUC and Parkland CC GPA) is around a 3.53. I'm probably going to get around a 3.3 this semester, but if I take the gen-ends next semester, I should be able to get around a 3.8 or higher. Would that be good enough to get me into USC considering I'm coming from one of the top CS programs? I really don't want to make all these big changes with my schedule if my chances of getting in are slim.</p>

2

<p>No one has responded yet, so I’ll give this one a try.</p>

<p>It sounds like you want a “chance me”. I don’t know USC well, but I would put it as a weak match in terms of transfer. It is not impossible, but your stats seem very middle of the pack for transfer purposes. </p>

<p>My real response though is to ask why you want to transfer to USC. Have you visited the campus? What do you imagine would be so much better for you than UIUC? Can you afford the move to California and UCS’s tuition? What do you want to do for grad school? Can you concentrate at UIUC and set yourself up for a great grad school experience instead of transferring to USC?</p>

<p>My advice would be to stick it out at UIUC, take some road trips over breaks to “see the world”. And if you graduate a semester early, think about applying for a semester-abroad, or start planning for where you want to move once you graduate. </p>

<p>Do you still live at home with parents? If so, move out and keep going to UIUC.</p>