I’m currently going into my Junior year at Kent State University. I currently have a 2.8 GPA (I’m trying to get that up, I know. If all goes well, I’ll probably end up graduating with a 3.2). I messed around a bit in college not knowing what I wanted to do, but I found out what I wanted last semester. I’m trying to become an ESL instructor in public schools here in the United States. However, Kent only offers a BA in TESOL without a teaching license. tOSU offers a BS in TESOL which includes a teaching license. I don’t really like Kent at all. It’s academics and notoriety are not the best. tOSU is a highly ranked and well regarded school that, I feel, has better connections that will get me better job opportunities, and more amenities in general to succeed in my field. I also want to go to tOSU for my Masters program. I feel that doing my undergrad at the same college that I want to do my Masters at will heighten my chances in getting in. My main worry is that by graduating with a 3.2 from Kent (a pretty non descript college), I won’t make the cut because so many other people from better colleges and with better grades will oust me.
The problem is that I might lose an entire semester of college because tOSU won’t take my credits. I’m not sure if I should just take the loss and double up on summer courses or just stay at Kent. What do you guys think I should do?
Do you think you will be accepted to OSU with a 2.8? I’d talk to an OSU transfer admissions officer to get their take on it. If they give the green light I would eat the loss and finish in what you want.
Yes, I called tOSU undergraduate admissions, and they said that a 2.5 was considered competitive for transfers. I’ll probably also get some letters of recommendations from my professors that I know will be good in order to help my case a little bit more.
Kent’s reputation for education has always been good, but I’m not really sure about TESOL. You should really ask an academic advisor. My inclination is to tell you to transfer, but I have no idea how good OSU’s TESOL program is, what its placement rating is, etc. I also have no idea how difficult it is to pursue licensing outside of a degree program.
I have a transfer gpa of 2.86 but I would prefer to leave out my high school and act since I already have 30 credit hours… Do you think I have a good chance? I am a first gen college student. And live in Ohio.
I would transfer if I was you. If you have to re-take some credit hours, I would view that as an opportunity to bring up your GPA. Not only would transferring help you with the career goal you have in mind- but also, if you change directions, most employers would look much more favorably on a degree from OSU than from Kent State. There is such a huge network of OSU alumni who are in hiring positions that you are more likely to get a job offer as an OSU grad.