Possible Transfer, Not too Sure...Help Anyone?

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>Ok, I find myself posting on here more and more frequently questioning whether or not I should transfer. Here's a little about me:</p>

<p>College: I'm currently at Indiana University, as a freshman Direct Admit to Kelley. I intend to major in finance and minor in German. I would like to work in the finance world in Chicago or New York (possibly IB or Trading). By the end of my first semester I will have 26 credits complete (I tested out of many German classes and received credit for them). I imagine at the end of this semster I will have about a 3.5 +/-.2. I've developed some good relationships with AIs and teachers. I am in student government, a member of the economics club and am in one of the university orchestras (the music school here is a top program, so as a non-major it tends to be quite selctive (97.5% majors)). I still continue to persue many of my "non-academic" insterests which include playing the violin (7+ years) and shooting photos.</p>

<p>High-School: I went to an extremley competitiive high-school and took the toughest course loads through all my years. Unfortunatly, I made mostly Bs in thoes classes which left me with a 3.5 uw and in the top 20% at the end of my senior year. I got an 1870/2400 on my SAT and a 29 on my ACT. In addition, I was an AP Scholar and won a few academic awards at my school. I had many ecs, from forming my own club to playing in a youth orchestra (there are a lot here, I dont necessarily feel like listing them all).</p>

<p>The problem: First, I don't feel all that challenged here. I miss that sense of hardly being able to manage everything and always having something to do. Also, upon taking an economics prereq here, I have really grown to enjoy and thoroughly understand economics. Thus being said, I feel that I could easily switch my major to economics and be pleased with my major while keeping similar future career ideas in place. If I were to transfer, I would want to do so for the following reasons: more challenging academics, better career options, and better general education (most likely in the pursuit of an economics degree). Everything else here is fine, though I could stand to be around more intellectual people (no offense CC Hoosiers). Given the previous, I have been looking at the following schools for transfering: UMich (econ), UChicago (econ), Oberlin (econ), Cornell (ILR maybe?), WashU (econ), Northwestern (econ), and NYU (maybe Stern, not sure). </p>

<p>Questions: Do I even have a shot at the schools? Should I wait and apply as a transfer while in my sophmore year so less emphasis is placed on my high-school work? What other schools have good econ/finance programs that you think I could shoot for? Should I even transfer? </p>

<p>Any feedback is greatly appreciated. If you need more information about me to give a more complete response feel free to request. By the way, this is also posted on the transfer section, so excuse the double post.</p>

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<p>From my personal experience the introductory courses at most larger universities are somewhat easy, the exception being some pre-med "weeder" courses. It is not unusual for
an academically motivated student to feel that way. After you get past those initial classes your coursework will become more rigorous. It is quite normal to feel like college is "easy" or not challenging enough during those introductory courses. Give it some time to pick up. However, if you are dead-set on transferring then you can get into those schools. Some will be larger reaches than others. For U-Chicago your essay will be one of the largest factors in determining your admission. An excellent statement on why you want to transfer should boost your chances.</p>

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<p>Another large factor, I probably wouldn't include in my essays, is the job prospects associated with going to a better school. While Kelley is not considered "bad," if I could do better through transfering while get a superior education, why not?</p>

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<p>IMO you may want to avoid or carefully word anything related to better job opportunities. You don't want to seem like you're just attending a school for a higher bottom end (even if you are). Be careful when mentioning this part. Again, this is just my opinion and others may disagree.</p>

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<p>3.3-3.7 is a big range dude. You have a decent shot at all of those, the toughest being Uchicago.</p>

<p>Also: if the academics aren't that challenging why don't you have a better gpa? I'm just thinking that as an admissions counselor if some kid is trying to tell me that his school is not challenging when he has a 3.4 or 3.5, having taken only introductory courses he might be fooling himself. with a 3.7 you might could pull that off.</p>

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<p>@stoneimmaculate</p>

<p>You raise a good point. As of right now, everything is speculation, I simply wanted to post what I felt to be a rather low gpa for me in addition to what I though would be a good/high gpa as-well.</p>

<p>Is it best to focus the "why transfer" essays around one general idea (ie not challenging, strive a more expansive and better academic experience) or should it included multiple points? As I mentioned before, I would like better career opportunities, but the largest factor I can currently think of is a better academic experiance, or getting the best education possible (maybe this topic could include multiple subcatagories including various things the proposed school offers that my current doesn't). </p>

<p>Also, would it be best to wait and apply to all of these schools next year (for less emphasis on high-school records), throw some apps in now (maybe those which I have a better shot at regardless of hs credentials), or apply to all of them this year (so I don't waste too much time losing many hours of credit)?</p>