Should I Transfer?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hey all,</p>

<p>I am currently a junior at Amherst College. I am at the moment an English major with a GPA of around 3.8. As some of you may be aware, Amherst has recently been severely rocked by a seemingly never-ending string of traumatic scandals, many of them involving instances of sexual assault that the college actively covered up by bullying the assaulted party. Recently these incidents have been augmented by a series of racial abuses.</p>

<p>I'm becoming increasingly sickened by what I believe are the administration's cosmetic and non-substantive attempts to tackle these problems, as well as the sinking feeling that the student body lacks the ability to make change themselves. This segues nicely into another major problem I have with this school; it is, to put it bluntly, a dreary and sad place. While the classes are obviously strong (when they don't consist of professors praising each other's brilliance for 2.5 hours), the social scene is nearly non-existent to me. There is nothing fun about being an Amherst student; in times like these, it's becoming increasingly difficult to bear.</p>

<p>Next semester I will be going abroad, and whilst there will be thinking long and hard about my future, not just after my graduation but before it. I increasingly feel that I cannot in good conscience remain at a school guilty of such horrific crimes towards the victims of sexual assault, nor can I remain in such a static and dull environment for my own sanity. </p>

<p>Of course, Amherst is considered one of the most elite educational institutions in this or any country. Moreover, I feel like transferring as a rising senior is that much harder than it would have been had I done it earlier. </p>

<p>So my question to you all is, knowing what you know (I'm happy to provide further info, but to sum up; current junior, English major, 3.8 GPA, heavily involved in theater, 2200 on SATs, 2370 on 3 subject tests, high school GPA of 3.9), would you at least consider transferring? If I did, it would only be to schools of similar stature to Amherst; Stanford currently tops my list, partly because of my deep desire to live and work in the SFBA after I graduate and partly because of its magnificent standing. Other schools I am mulling; Harvard, Brown, Pomona, Columbia, Wesleyan. Any advice would be appreciated on the following questions:
1. Should I transfer from this college that I am feeling increasingly alienated and isolated from, or do I ride it out, get my degree, and shove off?
2. If I should transfer, are the schools I've mentioned (and any schools others might recommend) worth having a shot at? </p>

<p>Thanks very much for your time.</p>

2

<p>You should check the college websites, at least one school on your list does not accept sr transfers and two discourage them from applying.</p>

3

<p>I have been on their sites, and if they do have such requirements/discouragements, I haven’t noticed. Which schools were you thinking of?</p>

4

<p>Recheck H, B & C for sure (if they have a section on eligibility, look there), I haven’t looked at the rest.</p>

5

<p>Kind of sounds like me. Same grades (diff majors though) also go to a school that’s been recently rocked by scandal (although I was not aware of what happened at Amherst) and i’m trying to transfer after 3 years in college. So, with that said I can’t say whether you should or shouldn’t but what I would say is be aware of your choices. First consider whether your reasons are truly worth transferring over especially considering that where ever you go you may end up having to spend 2 years as opposed to one more at Amherst. Also, i’m not familiar with all of the schools but as entomom mentioned you may not be eligible for all and some are really tough to get into. I would definitely throw in some decent schools that have more flexible transfer admission rates.</p>

6

<p>You’re already a Junior with a 3.8. Your GPA would be reset to zero as a transfer. I would simply finish the degree since you would only have 1 year as a transfer student, hardly enough time to appreciate the college.</p>

7

<p>Most colleges and universities that would be considered peer institutions of Amherst do not accept transfers after the junior year. If you were to cancel that semester abroad, and just take a leave of absence while cranking out your transfer applications, SOME might admit you as a junior and require you to spend two full years there. Is your family ready, willing, and able to shell out the money for you to do that? Ask them. There may not be much aid available even if you are admitted.</p>

<p>Many colleges and universities do offer the option of a “guest semester or senior year”. In order to arrange that, you would need to be able to demonstrate to your professors at Amherst that College/University X offers some particular program or course that you simply cannot arrange at Amherst that is utterly critical to your academic/career goals. You would spend a semester or year at that other institution, but graduate with an Amherst diploma. Given that you are taking a semester abroad, a domestic exchange might be a difficult sell.</p>

<p>Where are you spending your semester abroad? Is there any chance that you could arrange to complete your degree there?</p>

<p>Small comfort I know, but a young person I know has been increasingly miserable at Dartmouth, and is counting the days to graduation. That student is also headed abroad in the spring in large part because the term abroad is the only thing that will make the remaining time tolerable.</p>

<p>If you are willing to step down a notch (and most students at your type of institution aren’t), or change your major drastically, there are more options. For example, no one is going to question why someone left Amherst for Big Ag U if that student switched from English to Animal Science.</p>

8

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<p>This won’t make a difference for the colleges I listed, it’s having anything over 2 full years of college that is discouraged/not permitted for these schools. So whether the OP has 2 1/2 or 3 years completed, both will be over this limit.</p>

9

<p>I’m studying at King’s College London, and while a lot of the courses there are unique to Britain (at least in my eyes), and if all goes well they would satisfy my English major, I would still need 8 credits to graduate from Amherst. And I am not familiar with that exchange program you mentioned, but it’s worth checking out. Thanks. As for my family, they would be ok with paying for it if they were convinced I was sincere (and they would be), but we are pretty well off and not on financial aid; plus I have two younger siblings who are about to enter college themselves.</p>

10

<p>Don’t most schools require at least two years of credit in order to receive a degree from that college or university ?
Consider an additional semester abroad or a visiting term within the US.</p>

11

<p>Yeah man, I’ll be happy to take your spot at Amherst.</p>