Rising junior in a four-year private university(Occidental College), is it worth it to transfer?

Transfer Students
1

Hi, I am going through a HUGE dilemma, and I would love any kind of word of advice.

I am a rising junior at Occidental College as a mathematics major, comp sci and music minor, currently committed in studying abroad at University of Bristol in UK for this coming fall semester. This summer, I have been taking bunch of online classes to improve my computer science knowledge (especially in mobile app development), and I have never been so passionate about anything in my life to the point where I would only see myself working in computer science field in the future. Unfortunately, Oxy does not have computer science major. Additionally, the last two years at Oxy was MISERABLE for me and the whole small community vibe and all have been severely affecting my mental health. So I am seriously considering transfer to another school for the major and for my mental health. If I were to transfer, I would be taking a gap semester for Spring 2017, and enroll the following fall semester since I won’t be coming back from UK until the very end of January. I am a California resident, so I was looking at schools like UCLA and UCBerkely, but it seems that they don’t give admission priority to students from another private schools. Is is worth it to even apply at this point? Also, because I am very ahead with my credits at Oxy, if I were to stay at Oxy, I would be able to graduate in 3 1/2 years, but I hate the school so much that I don’t even see myself graduating there…

To summarize the pros and cons:

If I were to stay at Oxy:

  • be able to graduate in 3 1/2 years
  • be able to take comp sci classes at Caltech through sister school program
  • risk of worsening my mental health
  • not being able to major in comp sci
  • more expensive

If I were to transfer:

  • be able to major in comp sci
  • hope in improving my mental health at a bigger school
  • probably won’t be able to graduate on time
  • just a lot of hassle in general
  • a LOT cheaper than Oxy

I was also just thinking about taking a gap semester either way, for the Spring 2017 when I come back from UK, and even if I don’t get into the schools, I would still be on track on graduating Oxy in 4 years… Do you think gap semester is a good idea?

Also I forgot to add that my GPA at Oxy is 3.78, so I feel like the chance of admission is pretty good for me.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

2

If you’ve never been so passionate about something I say go for it. If comp sci is your future focus on that. I would also consider more schools than those 2, USC isn’t too far away though it is also pricey.

3

Are you a California resident?

4

Yes, you will almost certainly spend more than 4 years toward your degree if you have not taken any CS courses yet and want to major in CS.

A couple options to consider:

  1. You could remain in your current major at a new school and still finish in four. You’d need to transfer to a school that doesn’t require 4 semesters in residence (e.g. UW-Madison only requires 30 credits = 2 full time semesters). You can always continue studying computers outside of college, or pursue collegiate study after finishing this bachelors.
  1. If transferring somewhere to major in CS, an accelerated degree program would help you to finish in as little time as possible. The structure of the standard CS degree at many schools is impossible to finish in less than 3 years, so look for schools where you can potentially get the CS degree requirements done in two. Something like the Accelerated Degree Completion Program in CS at Boston University could be a great fit for you. https://www.bu.edu/academics/met/programs/computer-science/bs-accelerated/
5

Hi OP,

We just toured Occidental, and although liked the campus and location, thought it was a little too small. Would it be possible to share why you didn’t like Oxy? DS is also interested in a music minor and possibly majoring in Economics. He is also looking at UCSD and their interdisciplinary computing and arts program. Could you PM me if you are not comfortable discussing this on the forum? Thanks.