I am currently a freshman at Sarah Lawrence College (they gave me a huge scholarship!) and I love the academics but already I can tell that I don’t fit in. That’s minor, but also, we graduate with liberal arts degrees with certain concentrations instead of majoring in something and this worries me for post-college life (getting jobs). I am looking into transferring to Vassar or Barnard, but I am concerned about financial aid for a transfer. Also, SLC will give me a year’s worth of credits for my IB diploma meaning I can graduate a year early! Yet, this means I might not be able to study abroad which is a huge reason I decided to go. My HS stats are pretty good but not superbly special in any way. Kind of lost and looking for advice. :-/
Barnard will also give you up to a year’s worth of credit for the IB diploma, but it can’t be applied to meet general ed requirements and it can sometimes be a problem sometimes to apply SLC courses to fill other college’s general ed requirements, because many of the SLC courses are interdisciplinary – plus you are lmited simply because at SLC you typically take fewer courses each year than students in other colleges take. So you would also want to research Barnard’s gen ed requirements. See: https://barnard.edu/registrar/external-credit/ib
Based on what you previously posted, you have a full-tuition merit award from SLC. Barnard aid is strictly need based, not merit. So your parents’ finances come into play – you may not qualify for equivalent aid at Barnard. Barnard will meet need for students it admits for the fall, but it is need-aware in transfer decisions. Barnard does not provide grant aid to spring transfers – so you would need to be transferring for fall of 2018. See https://barnard.edu/finaid/transfer-students
Of course applying and attending are two different things – if you are unhappy where you are, then you certainly can apply to other schools to transfer, and make a decision in the spring after you have more information and are able to discuss issues like transfer credits and general ed requirements with an admissions rep or advisor.
If you are interested in studying abroad in a non-English speaking country, then you should also be aware that Barnard has language preparation requirements that would require you to have 2 years of college level language study in the host country’s language, in most cases. That could be a problem if you are not currently studying a foreign language at SLC. There are some exceptions, and of course it wouldn’t be a problem at all if you wanted to study abroad in the UK or another English-speaking country. (And it’s possible that the language study requirement could be waived if you can demonstrate fluency - I see from your past posts that you have already spent a gap year abroad in a Spanish-speaking country) So just something to ask about before accepting a transfer spot, if offered. See: https://barnard.edu/global/study-abroad/students-going-abroad/eligibility
If your career goals are still the same as you indicated in the thread you started last spring, " I want to be a writer later in my life, maybe a journalist."-- then SLC’s general liberal arts degree would be fine. SLC is very well known for the strength of its writing curriculum. If you combine your degree with seeking summer jobs or internships to gain needed job-related skills, your SLC degree should be fine for a post-college job – so I don’t think you need to stress too much about post-college employment.
I don’t think that graduating with a BA in Liberal Arts is a negative thing. Future employers will be more interested in your work history of your chosen field. So what college is going to help you find summer employment or decent internships? Both my sons have ‘Liberal Arts’ degrees - from Bennington and St. John’s College (Maryland). Both have been extremely employable in fields that they are interested. Bennington has a great internship program, St. John’s is just a well positioned and connected college, like SLC. My 3rd child is looking at SLC because of the interdisciplinary program and location to internship possibilities.