Potentially transferring out of my dream school... advice please?

Transfer Students
1

Hi everyone,

I was extremely fortunate to be accepted to a wonderful liberal arts college. I grew up in an unstable environment so when I was searching for colleges, I was looking for a place where I could find peace, comfort, and stability. At the time, that meant a small college with a friendly, collaborative environment, in a small town with lots of nature and the ability to explore different interests that I hadn’t had the chance to explore growing up. Fast forward to now, I’m in my second year of college and those desires have certainly been met. I love the campus, the professors, the students, the variety of courses, the ability of participate in practically anything I desire despite my lack of experience, etc.

However, I am beginning to feel stifled at this college. Although I love the people here, I wish that there were more diversity, people from different backgrounds besides the wealthy student who has traveled to __ different countries and attended an affluent high school, etc. I am not saying that every student fits this mold, nor that there is something wrong with it. It is simply very different from my upbringing and therefore feel like I cannot relate to the people here on a non-academic level.

Furthermore, when I was choosing colleges, I wanted a really calm, laid back atmosphere, but now I feel like I’d thrive at a larger university in a more urban area with great internship opportunities and more independence. I want to be able to have an off-campus internship in my career field, take applied/engineering courses, feel the thrills and excitements of being on a large, vibrant, sunny campus, have more flexibility in my life, etc.

Also, when I was applying to colleges, I wanted to escape from home. Things back home now are changing and being so far away has given me a change of perspective, so I would really like the chance to be closer to my family.

However, as you can imagine, there are plenty of factors keeping me from actually going through with the transfer process.
Here are a few:

  1. I would miss my current school and friends deeply.
  2. I would most likely have to transfer to a "lower tier" school, as the mid-tier and top schools in my state typically don't accept transfers from four-year institutions and my qualifications aren't good enough for them to make an exception.
  3. It would most likely take me longer to graduate.
  4. I would miss out on taking fun/interesting classes. I need to fulfill certain class requirements to transfer and would be limited to taking only courses in my major at the transfer institution.

However, I feel like the advantages of transferring may outweigh the disadvantages based on my current interests and goals. I am hoping that someone here on CC can pitch in their thoughts. Thank you!

2

You should seriously consider 3 and 4. What about money? Who will pay for you to stay longer at college if you transfer? As for internships, my understanding is that often they are essier to come by at LACs due to very active alumni networks and less competition from post grad students. Top notch LACs will also work hard to help students find such opportunties at their career centers.

I can’t see any good reasons that you want to transfer, other than you want to feel more independent and be closer to your family. You seem to like the fact that you are at a reasonably prestigious college. Surely plenty of juniors and seniors get off-campus housing, or move into apartments as they get older, so maybe you should bide your time and move off campus with likeminded friends next school year.

If this were an issue of not being able to study what you want, I would be more inclined to say leave. It doesn’t seem like that is part of it. In your shoes, I would pursue independence by being more activity involved in creating research and internship opportunities and spending a lot of time at the career center.

ETA: regarding family, I am guessing that being closer won’t change your visits home that much. I have seen many posts from parents and students who say that they live two hours from home or less and see their families the same amount of time. There are lots of distractions on big campuses, esepcially urban ones. Remember what you liked about the small LAC in the first place. You will lose a lot of that at a big school.

3

Does your current college have the academic offerings you want to study?

Is your current college affordable financially? How do potential colleges that you may want to transfer to compare financially? Note that merit scholarships are significantly less available to transfers, and some colleges also offer worse need-based financial aid to transfers.

4

What about junior year abroad to mix things up a bit?

5

Transferring as a junior will add time and expense to your education. I teach at a university, and “Sophomore Slump” can be real. You may decide that you want to transfer, but you may also want to look at ways to stay at your school (since you do like it), and expand your opportunities.

Study abroad could be a great option. You may also be able to look at a domestic exchange to another univerity for a semester. For example… Fall or Spring in NY through NYU, the Visiting Undergraduate Student Programs at Harvard, Columbia, etc… you could also look at the National Student Exchange program… NSE.org… also, you could see of co-ops are an option for you through your current school.

6

It’s two more years (or one more if you study abroad or elsewhere junior year).
Why can’t you move somewhere more urban/vibrant/diverse/closer to home after graduation for work or grad school? You just have to be in your nondiverse/laid-back cocoon for 2 more years at most but your degree and friendships will be with you your entire life.

This certainly seems like a trade-off where you’re thinking of exchanging short-term gain for long-term pain.

7

I agree with @PurpleTitan . It might be best to stay the course and then graduate on time and move to that exciting city like you want to. Two years is a very short time in the big scheme of things. You could be incurring some unnecessary costs just because you are due for a change. It might be prudent to resist this urge for a couple of years and then see how you feel.

8

Not graduating on time is a huge factor. Transferring will likely add an additional year of college needed to graduate. If your parents are paying your tuition, you need to speak to them about how they feel about paying for another year. The reasons you’ve cited would not be enough to convince me it’s worth it to pay another year of college tuition. If you are receiving financial aid, I’ve read on CC it is limited to 8 semesters. I don’t know if that is all aid, student loans, etc but you need to research that before you make any decisions as how you are going to pay for this extra semester or extra year would be paid for if you transferred.

9

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I suppose I should have emphasized a few more points. I am interested in electrical/computer engineering but do not have access to engineering courses here. I was contemplating getting a masters in engineering but I just learned that funding for masters is extremely limited. It would end up being more costly to get a masters than it would be spend an extra year in undergrad.

Also, I have a 5-year undergrad scholarship and federal FA is good for 6 years of college. I have friends that are attending in-state uni’s and graduating in 5-6 yrs with FA.

Another reason that I didn’t mention is that the weather and lack of things to do here is taking a serious toll on me. I attended a conference in California in a beautiful, sunny city with lots of things to do, I had a wonderful time there (better than any experiences on campus), and could really picture myself being a lot happier going to school there. I was disappointed when I had to leave.

Although I appreciate everything that my school offers, there are things that it lacks that I feel are important to my happiness.

10

Federal FA covers very little. A few thousand a year in loans.
And your scholarship is an outside scholarship?

11

I’ve been immersing myself at my current school these last few weeks as per my advisor’s advice. I have enjoyed my time here, for the most part. I’ve been reflecting on the opportunities that I have here as opposed to those I would have if I had chosen to attend a larger U and I have been trying to remind myself why I chose to come here in the first place.

While there are many, many reasons I can find to stay, I feel like I am missing out on fully pursuing a dream by staying here. I am interested in pursuing an interdisciplinary computer science field that combines robotics, programming, design, and engineering. While theoretically I could pursue something of the like in grad school, I cannot afford to attend a masters program and am not interested in pursuing PhD.

Furthermore, I feel like I would thrive in a more vibrant, sunny environment with a lot going on, such as UCLA, UCSD, or USC. When I was applying to colleges I didn’t even consider those because I was so set on attending an LAC but now I wish I had given them more consideration.

However, transferring to the UC’s would be tricky. I’d have to transfer to community college for a semester or 2 to fulfill certain requirements since the courses at my school don’t transfer. I also recently switched to a computer science major so I don’t have all of the courses that the uni’s are looking for from transfers, so I’d likely have to wait to apply until next year.

I’m just uncertain whether it’d be worth these hurdles to go through the transfer process.

12

@jinx123445 I do not think transferring to a CC is a good idea. I would stick it out at your current school. Have you sought counseling for emotional issues such as depression? Sounds like that might be of assistance to you, especially given than the colder, gloomier weather is impacting you. Seasonal affective disorder and bad weather generally can impact people differently. If you cannot afford grad school, maybe work after college to save money, then go back for a masters. You said your school is wonderful, you love the people there, and your financial aid sounds great. Hopefully you can make your current school work for undergrad.

13

I have sought counseling and the counselors I have spoken with have suggested transferring. The winter/early spring vibe really gets to me with its loneliness and all. Had I visited this school during the winter, I’m not sure I would have chosen to come here. I love the people but who’s to say I wouldn’t love the people at other schools? I like the fall vibe here when everyone is coming back from the summer and is excited to move back in and start classes, but the winter vibe is like the polar opposite. As a result, I don’t feel that same excitement and motivation in my studies that I feel during the fall, so feel like I can’t thrive here 1/2 of the school year.

I could “stick it out.” I don’t hate it here. I just feel like I would thrive elsewhere, like a school like UCLA, SCU, Stanford, UCSD, etc. I have looked into winter study abroad/exchange, but our academic calendar does not align with other colleges so that would not be possible.

14

Maybe you could find something to do during breaks that takes you to sunnier climates. I know that your interest area is computers, and maybe if you search for “computer” or tech terms you could find a short internship for spring break. Look at the “hot” internships on the right-hand side of this page–

http://www.thesca.org/serve/positions

15

I loved it here last fall and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else, but I think the “newness” of college has faded away and now I realize that this isn’t the kind of environment where I can thrive. I can get by and do well, but I don’t feel as happy as I did freshman fall term and I regret not giving larger Us more consideration. Now I think that Stanford or UCLA would have been a better fit for me since there are so many more resources. For example, I am really interested in working in an AI or human-computer interaction lab, but I can’t do that here. In contrast, there is so much of this kind of stuff going on at UCLA and especially at Stanford, even as class assignments. I guess I am feeling some “buyer’s remorse” and “grass is greener” phenomenon. I just picture myself a lot happier, more energized, and more active at a school like those mentioned above. Also, I’ve heard that the appeal of LACs are actually present at larger Us also.

16

You asked a question and it has been answered consistently in the same way, yet you refute each answer, and pile on more and more secondary ‘reasons’ (which sound a lot like it’s cold winter sophomore slump).

We have a rule of thumb that when somebody gives 3 or more excuses they really just don’t want to do something. You are fantasizing about what you could do at Stanford and UCLA, but by your own post that is not where you would be transferring.

You ruled out a winter term away based on your school’s calendar, but ALL of the top LACs have study away programs, so if you are serious about wanting specific classes or sunny weather or any of the other excuses for why you should be somewhere else, get your skates on and figure out how much you can be gone and where. I know a student who did all her major requirements at her home college and still was able to spend a total of 3 terms and a summer in 3 different study away places. It took more than a desultory 2 minute search to make it happen though.