Should I transfer? Then where to....

<p>I'm a freshman at purdue, but I'm originally from Southern California. I've been on campus for about a month now. I can't say I'm unhappy, thats not quite the right word. I've made friends, i enjoy my classes, but at the same time I feel like something is missing.
I feel claustrophobic. As someone who is used to getting out and around, West Lafayette just isn't cutting it. I spent the weekend with a close friend visiting Chicago and Northwestern and was envious that she had access to a city, at the tip of her fingers.
I am a liberal arts student majoring in english and intending to go on to law school. I feel out of place at a school surrounded by engineers, and I am already tired of people thinking I'm unintelligent because I'm not an engineer.
I feel content. I feel like I could stay here and be fine. Not exactly happy, but not exactly unhappy either. (If that makes any sense...)
I feel as though my classes aren't challenging me to think and discuss, and I want to have a more urban environment. Everyone here seems to be from the midwest.
So...
in high school I had a 3.2 uw/4.1 w gpa
No gpa to report as of now, however I anticipate all a's
I had pretty good ec's in high school but I'm still working on that for college.
29 act (skewed with a 35 reading though)</p>

<p>What type of school would I be able to transfer into?
Should I transfer?</p>

<p>Haha you picked one of the worst schools to go to cater to your major. Purdue is a great school but also one of the most chauvinistic when it comes to ‘if you aren’t an engineer you aren’t s**t!’. The University of Indiana system is fantastic but it’s still Indiana and you are a Californian. You sound like you are more LAC material and may want to reconsider your choice or if can wait it out until ready to transfer as a junior.</p>

<p>Is it harder to transfer as a freshman? I don’t really think I want LAC, I’d like a larger school (I think). The location… is just REALLY getting to me. What do you guys think? I feel kinda lost.</p>

<p>go to usc or ucla man. big time programs there</p>

<p>Okay. So where else would I have a chance thats an urban area (or close) and is a good school.</p>

<p>close to where? You are being vague. Also there are small, medium, and large LAC’s. How much research have you done on US schools?</p>

<p>I just mean in or close to an urban area, and also I good school. That I would be able to get into after only one year at Purdue.</p>

<p>You realize urban area does tell this board much as there are thousands of schools throughout many urban regions. NY, Chicago, LA, SF, Miami, Austin, Philly, DC, Seattle, Boston, Ann Arbor, Kansas etc.</p>

<p>I apologize. I don’t really have a preference. Although, I really liked chicago while I was there, but I can say I wouldn’t want to be in Kansas. I just would like to be at an academically strong school. A top school, like top 50ish.</p>

<p>Well I love Chicago which has good schools and is a fun city as well. If you have never been to Kansas then you really can’t judge the place from a distance. KU and KSU are awesome schools that provide a top notch education and have a very vibrant student body. The surrounding area around those colleges is urban with a college town feel and excellent nightlife.</p>

<p>Okay. You’re right. I’m sorry for judging. What schools in chicago would you suggest I look into?</p>

<p>Well Northwestern in Evanston (town just north of Chicago) ranks up there with Purdue (alt ivy level) and is an excellent University. U of C is a top notch school just not one of my faves even though has a great location and excellent English Department. I tend to favor U of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign but that is approx 100 miles south of Chicago. U of I is top notch but may have a pretty dead nightlife and is not really that urban. Loyola in North Chicago is also top noch as many Jesuit schools tend to be. Personally one of my faves is Columbia College which is downtown by the lake but that is primarily a art/film school. Next to Columbia is Roosevelt U which is suppose to be excellent but don’t much about it other than its a smaller size private school. I don’t know much about Northern Illinois University but don’t think its very urban at all either.
So for quality and close to Chicago from the list I provided.
UC
NW
Loyola
Roosevelt</p>

<p>Thank you so much! Do you think I have a fair shot at all the schools? Or are UC and NW really a reach?</p>

<p>If you do well at Purdue you have a fair chance. NorthWestern is not an easy school to get into but certainly not impossible either. Evanston is a tweet tweet suburb of chi town but is only about I believe an hour bus ride away from DT Chicago. I live in Cali but lived around Wrigley area for a while and really liked it and only visited Evanston occasionally if was really bored. That said I am more familiar with the north side. U of C (highly ranked) is in a beautiful but sketchy part of the south side and would say within reach. There is a U of I Chicago DT campus which is also a great within reach school too if you have good grades and motivated. Do you prefer northside, DT, or southside of Chi-town or unsure still?
If you are going all the way as an English major your best bet is to try and get into U of C. Not only are they one of the best English departments in the nation but also one of the largest University based publishing institutions. Hope that helps.</p>

<p>I am unsure. I haven’t spent a lot of time in the city. I was in chicago this weekend with my close friend. She is going to northwestern, so I can tell you from first hand experience it’s an hour out, however it was very easy to get to the city and very cheap. Being in a “sketchy” part of the city sounds a little frightening to me, but I don’t know exactly.</p>

<p>Well Chicago is a relatively safe city overall and no better or worse than other cities of such size and caliber. Don’t let that deter you from U of C (Hyde Park District) which has beautiful historic buildings and parks all around. You’ll get a feel for the terrain once you check it out.</p>

<p>Okay, thank you very much! What should I do to increase my chances of getting in? How important are college ec’s?</p>

<p>For the direction you are going, joining a school newspaper or interning at a larger publishing house or newspaper would be where you want to put your EC efforts towards. You should also take some editorial type gig and/or get some of your own articles published.</p>

<p>Okay! I’m currently taking 14 credit hours, and I’ve already joined the school newspaper, I’m working on gaining a position beyond staff writer. I’m looking into joining Mod UN, and either the big brother big sister club, or adopt a grandparent.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any more advice?</p>