Should I transfer or stay?

Transfer Students
1

Hello there, thank you for coming to this discussion. I know this is a very common discussion topic, however, I’m looking for some personal advice for my specific situation to see what the best pathway for me would be. I’ll be outlining my current situation and then asking questions about certain directions I can take.

So my situation is that I’m an incoming freshman to a university that I am not a fan of. When I applied to schools I was thinking of going into the medical field so I focused on applying to universities that could supply me with a good pre-med program. However, I have since changed my mind and am now looking to major in chemical engineering. The University I am attending in the fall does not have chemical engineering in the traditional sense. Instead, you get a bachelors from the school in chemistry in 3 years, then transfer to a nearby University after those three years to get a bachelors in chemical engineering after 2 years. Therefore, if I stayed in my current situation I would be getting a bachelors in chemical engineering and chemistry after 5 years.

Consequently, due to my lack of affection for the school, and their lack of my major, I have a few questions for you kind souls reading this:

1.) Should I stay at the school and fulfill the program for chemical engineering? The school you get the engineering degree in the final 2 years from is extremely well respected and highly ranked.

2.) Would it be possible to do the first semester at the university I am supposed to be going to and then transfer after the first semester to a different school and carry over the credits? And a follow up to this is that some of the schools I have looked into transferring to require me to attend the first university for at least 1 year. But this doesn’t make sense to me, if a high school student can apply to become a freshman in the spring semester, can I do the same as a college freshman and use the transferrable credits to skip ahead a semester and stay on a four-year path?

3.) Is there any way I could transfer to a different university before the fall semester even starts? I highly doubt it, but I’m just looking for any possibilities.

Thank you for even reading this, and I look forward to any of your potential advice! Have a wonderful rest of your day!

HighSchool GPA: 4.711 weighted 4.0 unweighted top 10%
ACT: 34 composite 35 super
I was an International Baccalaureate student

2

is that chemical engineering degree going to cost more that way? or does price even matter to you? if it’s a well respected school and that matters to you, perhaps stay. i take you get a double major which is cool too. you should be able to transfer after one semester but i would assume that is college dependent. email the colleges you are interested in and see what they say. it never hurts to ask! they are usually much more generous than not. i’m not sure about transferring rn though, maybe someone else has advice. do you really not like this school you’re going to though? you’re probably going to change your mind on your major again to be honest.

worse comes to worst, tough it out for this semester or two and do well there. but over this summer be sure to get the colleges you would want to transfer to together and know their deadlines for their transfer dates. you’ll have options then if you are accepted, but you don’t have to transfer if you decide you like this school. good luck!