Rural --> urban transfer. Should I do it?

Transfer Students
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<p>When I accepted my place in the Grinnell College Class of 2014 last spring, I couldn't have been happier. I fell in love with Grinnell when I first started looking at colleges because of its strong sense of community, strong academics, top-notch facilities and welcoming and interesting student body. I was convinced it was the perfect school for me. But now that I've been here for about eight weeks, I'm not so sure. </p>

<p>Now, don't get me wrong, there are things about this school that I love. I love the academics because I am learning a lot and being challenged like I never have before. I love the people I've met, my classes and my professors. But there's one thing I don't love so much, and it actually makes me pretty angry sometimes. And that is that Grinnell College and Grinnell the town are frickin' bubbles -- bubbles I feel trapped inside of. </p>

<p>My classmates are extremely concerned with making the College the best it can be, and I admire the responsibility they feel like they have to this community. But this responsibility doesn't extend beyond the campus' 120 acre radius, and I really can't stand it. People go through the day completely oblivious to what's going on outside of the town of Grinnell and especially outside of the College campus. There was hardly any interest in the 2010 midterm elections, the results of which have now threatened marriage equality and LGBT rights not just in Iowa but in the country as a whole. Yet when I hate crime was committed earlier this week, students brought out all the stops and there was a flood of activism in response. I was glad to see all of this support for the students who were targeted by the crime, but at the end of the day I think it won't make much of a difference because people here are already supportive of the cause and aware of the problem. </p>

<p>I've never been a city person. I'm from a small town in Wisconsin, for goodness sake, and all of my relatives are scattered across the Upper Midwest. But now I'm seriously considering transferring to an urban school because although engagement might not be found on campus, I'll at least have access to that kind of community off campus and at least the campus won't be so insular and self-sustaining. </p>

<p>I'm afraid, however, that I could be making a huge mistake. The last thing I want to do is transfer too soon and find myself completely unhappy -- because I'm not really unhappy right now; I'm more fed-up and annoyed. So I decided to turn to the CC community for guidance before I start considering transferring seriously. And definitely before I start talking to my adivsor, my other professors and my friends. </p>

<p>Should I look into transferring? Or should I stay here longer?</p>

<p>If I should transfer, where should I transfer to? I want to go to a school where people can see more than what’s directly in front of them, where social justice and civic engagement are more than buzzwords and where people are engaged in the world outside of the College. I also want to go to a school with rigorous academics, personal attention, friendly students and lax curriculum requirements, like Grinnell. </p>

<p>Sorry for such a long-winded post. I just thought that the more specifics I give about how I'm feeling, the better. Any comments and advice would be greatly appreciated. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>I have a couple of thoughts/suggestions:</p>

<p>1) Don’t think about transferring just yet. 8 weeks seems to be about the standard period of time when people realize that they didn’t land in Shang-ri-la after all. Lots of people find themselves rethinking the initial friendships they made (more the result of proximity than shared interests) and begin looking around for their ‘real’ community. If you give up on finding it too soon, and divert your efforts to transferring, you won’t put the time into finding the people who really share your passions.</p>

<p>2) Most non-urban heavily residential schools seem to have a ‘bubble’. That’s often a function of the school responding to student demands for more activities, facilities and diversions on campus. Rural schools do more than others because they know students have fewer options off campus. It’s not entirely fair to penalize them when they succeed, as does Grinnell. That said, if you hate bubbles, you need to get out more - which leads to my next suggestions:</p>

<p>3) Although there are schools that are more politically activist than Grinnell, it is generally regarded as pretty engaged: The school web site, I believe, has as it’s lead, a story about the new Office of Community Enhancement’s “Student Apprenticeships in Non-profit Management” program. The program:</p>

<pre><code>* pairs student apprentices with Grinnell township non-profits.

  • encompasses a range of work, from Economic Development to Art Education.
  • puts apprentices in direct contact with a few of Grinnell’s most active community development organizations
  • gives apprentices a support group in which to share professional experiences in weekly lunch meetings that also increase collaboration between agencies.
    </code></pre>

<p>[Apprentices</a> in Non-profit Management - Community Enhancement & Engagement | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/communityenhance/partnershipprograms/studentapprenticeships/2010-2011apprentices]Apprentices”>http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/communityenhance/partnershipprograms/studentapprenticeships/2010-2011apprentices)</p>

<p>The school has a lot of other resources that you could access: Talk to faculty, especially in the political sciences, and identify those who are themselves active. Talk to them about how you can achieve a higher level of engagement. Go to the career center and talk to them about possible internships and opportunities to get out of the bubble. Grinnell does a great job with town/gown relations, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to do more.</p>

<p>As you will see from my other posts, I’m a big Grinnell fan. That said, fit matters, especially at a small, rural LAC. If, by the end of the year, this isn’t what you wanted, it makes sense to think about other options.</p>

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<p>Could not be said better. Thanks, M’s Mom.</p>

<p>And good luck to the OP.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for all of the advice, M’s Mom! And Anadale for the well wishes, too. </p>

<p>It’s true that I haven’t taken full advantage of everything Grinnell has to offer, but I do get off campus a good amount for fun and to volunteer. Since I got here, I’ve been doing a lot of volunteering for the Democratic Party. This hasn’t been enough for me, though. There are more places I want to go and there are more things I want to do. I want to affect social change! You can only do this in a very small way in a town of 10,000. If I was in a larger city, there would be more doors to knock and more voters to talk to and maybe people wouldn’t be so content. </p>

<p>I know I’ve only been here a little bit, so one one hand I shouldn’t be making judgments about the school. On the other hand, however, I’ve been told that most people start to feel like Grinnell is too small and isolated as upperclassmen and I’m worried because I feel this way already and that it might only get worse.</p>

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<p>Political Science major? Wait it out, keep your grades up, and if you still arent happy after a few quarters look into transferring. If you do come to the decision of transferring and you’re a poli sci major, DC sounds like a good place for you to go and get involved.</p>

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<p>And speaking of DC, you should definitely check into Grinnell-in-Washington. That, combined with a semester abroad, may alleviate some of your feelings of claustrophobia. There are also year-long programs abroad (London School of Economics has one) that might be worth checking out. A visit to the overseas study office might be a good idea, so you can plan your coursework this year and next to optimize an off-campus semester/year.</p>

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<p>Conversely, there are posters on this board from urban schools wanting to transfer, because they don’t find an urban college as appealing as they thought they would. (Specifically, I’m thinking about posters at NYU, but I think their concerns would be a consideration at many other urban schools).</p>

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<p>Hate to bump an old thread of mine that already received so many good responses, but it’s near the end of first semester and I’ve still got transferring on my mind, and I wanted to see if I could get anymore advice. Also wanted to add that if I do transfer, I’d like to transfer to one of the Claremont Colleges, Macalester, Georgetown or maybe Barnard, so I’d be transferring to a urban or suburban school with a distinct campus and campus culture (with the exception of Barnard… not sure about that one) as opposed to somewhere like NYU.</p>

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<p>Your problem is one a lot of people find at rural schools and small liberal arts colleges. Even at Vassar, which is in a medium sized town and close to New York City, I found there was a definite bubble (indeed, other people would regularly talk about the “Vassar bubble”).I also understand what you say when you feel that the campus is a bit detached politically from the rest of the world, and that you’re often effectively preaching to the choir. </p>

<p>At Vassar I found that the two factors which helped perpetuate the bubble were the lack of social alternatives off campus, and the school’s size. At a small school, people are very tightly knit and know each other better than at large schools. This is good for creating a friendly atmosphere, but the problem is that people can feel weary of stepping out of that tightly bound social cocoon, and thus often stay in a familiar and safe environment. By contrast, because people at larger schools aren’t so close and tight knit, I find people that they’re often more comfortable stepping off campus into the wider world. Obviously this can be taken to a point where people feel alienated and don’t mix because the school is so large and diffuse (NYU being a great example). </p>

<p>In general though, I feel that a larger school in an urban environment would fit your interests better. It doesn’t have to be a large city; a small city like Berkeley or Providence would be just as good as a larger city. However, I think a suburb can create too much of a bubble. Generally, the distance of many suburbs from the cities they’re built around means that getting into the city is a fairly cumbersome process. Moreover, the suburb itself is rarely that interesting, and so many students often wind up on campus, thus stuck in a bubble besides their proximity to a large city. This is what people I know who went to suburban schools like Northwestern, the Claremont Colleges, and Tufts all say about their schools, and it seems like a fairly common pattern. That’s not to say that a suburban school can’t be a good option. The Claremont Schools and many other suburban schools do have politically active student bodies and great educations. </p>

<p>In general though, if you want less of a bubble, then schools that are more proximate to a city are probably better. In addition to Georgetown and Barnard, you might also want to look at UC Berkeley, UCLA, Rice, Penn, Columbia, and Brown. UCLA, Rice, and Penn are admittedly a bit less activist than you might like, but they still have many politically motivated students who do get involved with local, state and national politics. More importantly, all of these schools have distinct campuses and campus cultures; provide a good education; are fairly well integrated with a surrounding city; and are larger without being too large. </p>

<p>One final point is that at Georgetown you might want to apply to the School of Foreign Service instead of the College. It’s harder to get into than the College, but the people there tend to be more informed and concerned about politics, particularly international politics, than the people in the College. The SFS also tends to draw a very international and diverse crowd who you might find more interesting than the people at the College.</p>

<p>Overall, I think that you do have a decent reason to transfer. The schools you’ve picked are good, and I think that you’ve also got other good options to pursue if you want more choices. So long as you chose a good, larger school in at least a small city, I think you’ll be fine. Best wishes to you in your transfer process.</p>

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<p>University of Chicago or Northwestern maybe?</p>

<p>I hear students who attend the Claremount Colleges really enjoy being part of a small school with access to the others. Also, occasional drives to LA area can be fun.</p>

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<p>SO HELPFUL! Thanks a million, tsakashvili! I skimmed through your previous posts and if you don’t mind me asking, I was wondering: where do you go to school now?</p>

<p>It’s nice to hear from someone who didn’t like the college bubble. When I’ve talked with friends here about living in a bubble and feeling isolated and trapped, they always say something like, “Oh, you don’t like that?” Also, it’s nice to hear from a person who has gone through the transfer process successfully. I feel like transferring has a stigma attached to it – like it’s something you should only do if completely necessary – especially at schools with high retention rates, like Grinnell. </p>

<p>I’ve always gravitated to liberal arts colleges because I like the small classes and emphasis on critical thinking. And when thinking of transferring I still do gravitate to liberal arts colleges because I’m receiving an excellent education at one now, but, you’re right, I should consider other options because LACs in general could be a bad fit for me and not just rural LACs.</p>

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<p>One thing you may want to consider is that next year, you may have a lot of opportunities for grass roots organizing in anticipation of the Iowa caucuses, so you may actually have a better chance of civic and political involvement with a national effect if you stay put in Iowa. Also, I went to a residential college in one of the small cities mentioned by tsakshvili, and it seemed very few students were engaged with the community, so college “bubbles” can exist in any environment.</p>

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<p>Yes, but the problem with that is that I’m a huge Democrat and there won’t be much organizing to do for the Democratic caucus. And I’m not dying to go see a bunch of Republican candidates speak.</p>