should i transfer? please help!

Transfer Students
61

<p>Hi </p>

<p>I am a freshman at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. My parents and brother live about 20 minutes away from my campus, which is great because I lived away from them at a boarding school in a foreign country in the last two years. I decided to join the University of Minnesota for 2 reasons:
a. it is close to my parents
b. i pay in-state tuition
c. it is an urban setting </p>

<p>I have decided to major in Advertising and PR, and do a minor in Management. So far, I've found the U to be just average. I like my friends here a lot, but almost everyone who goes here is from either Wisconsin or Minnesota, which really is boring! Everyone here raves about hockey and football, which I really couldn't care less about. I am not satisfied with my experience so far, and have found quite an interesting programme at New York University, which is a city I absolutely love, and would really like to live in. However, if I do go there, I will have to pay a lot more, and I will be away from my family, and might have to do more courses as my credits may not all transfer, and I would have to meet people who have already made great friends in their freshmen year, making it hard for me socially. However, I am DYING to meet people who aren't from Minnesota or Wisconsin, and I really am not satisfied and happy with my experience so far. What should I do???</p>

62

<p>"i'm a freshman also and i know it's way too early in the year to make up my mind, but i am definitely transferring out. i've always had such high expectations for college, and i was hugely disappointed. i don't hate the school, i like my classes, i have friends, but i feel like i've been here, i've done this, and i'm ready for something new -- that and i feel like if i stay here for four years, i will drive myself crazy with thoughts of what i'm missing."</p>

<p>You have written EXACTLY how I feel!!! What are you going to do about transferring???????</p>

63

<p>at this point, i dont think its to early to think about transferring, its basically november! and you should really start applications around december. if i were you, i would do the applications, and think about it more once you get in places. only apply to your dream schools, and if you get in, deal with that when it comes. in the meantime, just enjoy school and keep the thought in the back of your mind. it may be that you need to leave mom and dad and experience something new! i mean, you cant live with them forever right?</p>

64

<p>Yeah, I know. Thanks for the advice!</p>

<p>I suppose the only school I've really thought of applying to is NYU, for the Media, Culture and Communications programme. I've really been trying not to think about transferring. I never really thought I would be one for switching colleges! .. But with each day that passes here, the idea of transferring just seems better and better. No offense to Wisconsinites/Minnesotans, but I just need different people around and a more diverse campus. I really wish I had thought of this earlier.</p>

65

<p>a girl i know who transferred from wisonsin [madison] said the same thing pretty much...came to nyu because she felt she couldn't learn anything from them wisconsinites/minnesotans</p>

66

<p>Yeah .. I really hope I get into NYU Steinhardt ..</p>

67

<p>milkdud: my daughter attended Conn Coll for her freshman year, a class of 490; her 3rd choice initially. and transferred to BC, with a class of 2200, her 1st choice, for sophomore year..I cannot say enough about Conn, their love of academics and nurture of students...as a sophomre she was eligible for a single room and a car on campus! And she developed 7 close friendships with women, which is very rare! And many other friends as well..She loved her classes but missed the city atmosphere..
She is finding it much harder to find a niche at BC as a transfer but has attended all the BC games and will try out for various intramural sports...
Wish you luck..and small is good! Go for it!</p>

68

<p>confused collegian, we're completely in the same boat. i'm at a state school out of state, and i'm dying to be in boston or new york. when i applied to schools, i never really gave location a second thought, but it has been such a problem for me.</p>

69

<p>confusedcollegian - You have some good reasons for wanting to transfer, and some good reasons for not doing so. My suggestion would be to go ahead and try for transfer if you continue to feel as you do. But to also come up with other approaches to addressing some of your concerns. I can't say I have all the answers, but try clubs with an international focus, maybe. You would certainly meet non-Minnesotans et al there. Look for other activities that attract the folks at UM who come from elsewhere. Think about a term abroad, or a term at a place like Tulane in New Orleans (they were doing something like that after Katrina; kind of a "study abroad here at home and do community service" kind of thing).</p>

<p>Just an idea to combine the pluses of UM with some of the other elements you're seeking - esp. if the transfer doesn't work out or is too costly.</p>

70

<p>Hi milkdud - I saw that you had previously applied to SUNY New paltz, would you consider reapplying there for the Fall? My son who is at University of Miami is applying there for Fall as a transfer student. I think their education dept. is supposed to be very good.</p>

71

<p>I'm also a freshman wondering if I really want to spend the rest of college here. I go to Notre Dame, and after being here for a few months, I have discovered some things that I really want in a college that I hadn't realized before. I don't have the problem of lack of academic stimulation, its different for me. I really feel that I want to be in an environment that's culturally stimulating, I want to meet all kinds of different people, so I think I might like to transfer somewhere in/near a city. I just feel that everyone here is the same, there's no diversity whatsoever. I'm not trying to say I don't like the people here, community/people here are great. I'm just saying I think I would like much more to be in a stimulating and diverse environment. Also, I came here thinking I wanted to go to medical school, and I'm feeling less and less sure about that. I'm beginning to think about journalism/photojournalism, which I don't believe is a real strong point at ND (actually, they don't have any kind of photojournalism studies here). While I plan on continuing to take med school prereqs just in case I end up wanting to go to med school, I feel like the major I would choose here would just kind of supplement premed, rather than being something I was really passionate about. But a big part in my considering to transfer is wanting to be in a culturally stimulating environment AKA the city. I know that's something I should've known before I came here, but I guess it has just taken 3 months of me being here to realize that. Transferring, however, would be such a huge decision. I realize how great of a school ND is, and I fear that I might leave and then realize that this really was the school for me. Not to mention I would have to get socially acclimated to wherever I transferred, which would be more difficult since everyone else would already have been there for a year. I just don't know what I should do.</p>

72

<p>I'm also a Freshman considering transferring. I currently attend Hollins University in southwestern VA, which is a long stretch from where I came from (suburban Chicago.) I have always wanted to get away and go out east but now I'm starting to think maybe going somewhere in the Midwest wouldn't be too bad and then maybe I could go out East afterwards.</p>

<p>It's not the women's college thing that bothers me too much, although I do admittedly miss having guy friends around. But I'm a DRASTICALLY different person from when I was applying a year ago (this year has changed me in several different ways) and I'm not sure if I want to keep attending.</p>

<p>Hollins was not my first choice. Bryn Mawr, yes another women's college, was. What appealed to me about Bryn Mawr was the opportunity to meet so many different college students despite its small size (there's cross registration with Swarthmore, Haverford, and on some occasions, U Penn.) I had to turn it down for financial reasons but I constantly think of how much different things would have been if I had decided to forget about all the debt I would have incurred and just gone to Bryn Mawr.</p>

<p>I also don't feel intellectually stimulated. It feels even worse with my hs friends being absolutely in love with their respective colleges and enjoying all the opportunities and people they've met. I'm taking advance classes (there is no honors college at my college) and trying to graduate a year ahead of time but well. It just is kind of a disappointment when you work less in college than you did in high school. Like, when I was in high school, the amount of AP classes I took total was considered normal, maybe even on the lighter side. Upon entering college, everyone marveled at the amount of AP classes I took. I competed for full tuition and didn't win (it was judged by a final interview which of course I failed miserably at, horrible at public speaking like I am.) I did better and took more challenging classes than some of those who actually won the scholarship, which is kind of depressing to say.</p>

<p>I'm also not in the most culturally diverse areas, which is odd for me being as I come from a very diverse area. I also really miss the North. No offense to anyone who's from the South, but I just really have missed the North ever since I went to VA. It's been nice being surrounded by mountains, I'll admit, but I've had a hard time adjusting to these subtle differences.</p>

<p>And I like the tiny school but sometimes I want to get away from some people. Like, I want to be able to avoid people if I want to and hide away if I so choose because being around some of these people is seriously making me depressed. Some of the people I hang out around are so depressing. Like, they're constantly down and constantly depressed and it's just horrible to be around them sometimes because it gets me that way. And my campus is small and my school is small (800 students!) so there is no way to avoid them. I wish I had attended a school with maybe, say, 2,000 some students? I came from a high school with >4,000 kids and I don't want another experience like that but I'd like to have some anonymity if I so chose.</p>

<p>I'm making it work, though. I'm doing well in all my classes, I'm in a few ECs, I've discovered the wonderful world of activism, and have definitely broadened myself in terms of different kinds of people and experiences.</p>

<p>But I still feel kind of unhappy :/ I'm working on it and I think I could be okay here but I don't know. It seems so unlike me to settle for less but I'm really getting myself acclimated. But I don't think I'll ever really be happy.</p>

<p>So what to do?</p>

<p>(Sorry this is so long...)</p>

73

<p>you're in a very similar situation to me, and i would say, get out of there. why settle for less? where i go to school, its not that im so terribly miserable, its just that i feel like i could be so much happier somewhere else, and that im at the top in terms of academics, and its not even satifsying to do well anymore. i say transfer.</p>

74

<p>Do not transfer to Bard. I'm there...its a weird ****ing place.</p>

75

<p>Korean_Halfbreed, if you really feel that you aren't completely happy/satisfied there, then start looking for colleges you will want to transfer to right away. You don't have to decide right away, you have till May to do that, but start looking at schools you may want to go to, and figuring out what you will need to do in order to transfer and speak to students who go to whichever university you go to, to see how it is, preferably people majoring in journalism etc. The whole meeting new people in your sophomore year might be annoying since they would have all known each other for a year, but from what I've heard it isn't too bad, and you know how college life is, its really easy to meet new people, especially if you move to a large urban campus. Where are you thinking of transferring to?</p>

76

<p>Is there some kind of list of schools that have spring and fall transfers, such as Northwestern and Connecticut College? Thanks.</p>

77

<p>hi guys, i just very recently started thinking about transferring and wanted to get some advice.. i'm currently a freshman and just finished my first semester of college. i grew up in a small suburb about 25-30 mins from boston, and decided to go to school in the city mainly because i liked being close, but not too close, to home, wanted to be around different types of people (i currently live on the multiculturalism floor in the international student dorm at my school), and have boston as my playground. there are a ton of things to do which is nice for a non-party goer such as me and everything is easily accessible. with that being said, i feel as if the atmosphere at my school doesn't really match what i am looking for. i pictured college as being academically stimulating and myself being surrounded by people who wanted to learn as much as i did. there are a good number of people who are smart and motivated here, but the general feeling i get from students is that they are only going to school to pass classes and ultimately get a job- not to actually LEARN. that's why i've been looking into transferring, and the school i am interested in is almost the reverse of my current school- it's in a quiet suburb adjacent to my hometown, more prestigious/academically oriented and better academics, less diverse and less accessible to the city. i feel like my potential transfer school fits me better academically, but is lacking in other (equally?) important aspects, such as diversity and cultural stimulation from the city. which pros outweigh which cons? do you guys think i should transfer? =T</p>

78

<p>Which school are you coming from, and where are you considering going to?</p>

79

<p>very lame!transfer!</p>

80

<p>i am a second semester freshman, going to a school about ten hours from home. the culture here is very different from at home, and i feel slightly out of place. though there are alot of people here from out of state, there are even more that are only a few hours from home.</p>

<p>i have amazing friends here, people who i can talk to and i felt i have bonded with. i am challenged academically, but other than that, i am not happy.
i dont feel as if i can get involved here, all of the clubs i have emailed and tried to join have not emailed me back.</p>

<p>i have not pinpointed exactly why i am unhappy, i just know that i am. i cannot picture myself here for three more years, in fact, i have also contemplated attempting to graduate early. </p>

<p>if the academics are fine, and my social life is fine, why do i want to leave?</p>

<p>i think i may just psychologically to far from home, it costs around three hundred dollars to get home each time, and i find myself wishing i could go home more.
i often get jealous of others who have told me they are transferring, and i wish i loved my school as much as others do. everytime someone asks me if i love college, i say yes, and i feel like i am lying.</p>

<p>im thinking about transferring, but i am worried about leaving my friends to go to a place where i would have to start over. i am afraid that i will leave and make no friends and be extremely lonely. what should i do?</p>

<p>sorry this is so long =)</p>