Tentative List for College Transfer Schools

Transfer Students
1

<p>My son is a freshman at a small LAC in New England, and he wants to transfer for sophomore year. He feels the fit where he is is not good.....lots of partying and drinking, more focus on athletics than he had anticipated, not close to a major city, not a whole lot to do on weekends if you are not a partier, and no Computer Science department. His first semester grades are in, and he has a 3.5 GPA. For extracurriculars, he likes the Programming Club, the Film Club. He works a paying job at the Help Desk (fix printers and PCs) at the school's library. He is also a recreational downhill skier. He is thinking of majoring in History, but also wants to take some CS classes. Also, in high school, he was a member of Tech Theater and worked on sets, lighting, etc., for the theater performances, so is looking for a place that has an active theater department. </p>

<p>I've been trying to help him come up with a short list of schools. So far, he has: Amherst, GWU, Georgetown, Grinnell, Haverford, Lewis & Clark, Oberlin, Occidental, Swarthmore and Vassar. I realize Lewis & Clark is not on the same playing field as the others, but he has friend from high school who goes there and loves it ( I know, not a good enough reason to go there!) The others will all be difficult to get into as a transfer, but, from what we've researched about them, they seem to be a good fit. I'm also wondering about Oberlin.....sounds fantastic, but what if you are not a music fanatic? Grinnell sounds great, but seems like it is in the middle of nowhere, several hours from a major city.</p>

<p>Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. </p>

2

<p>A lot of students, and not just those at LACs, feel a sense of displacement and letdown during the first semester of freshman year, especially after all the hype that surrounded admission and acceptance. Many students go home over winter break talking about transferring because its not what they’d expected or hoped for. And yet, most of those students will find, by the end of the year, if they don’t withdraw emotionally from the community in anticipation of leaving, that they have found friends, activities, profs they want to work with, and the overall ‘fit’ feels more natural. </p>

<p>I also think he’ll also find that many schools have more drinking and sports-orientation than he probably anticipated. There are ways to work around that. At least at a LAC, you can play the sports, rather than just watch. Has he joined the ski club? Can he transfer into substance free housing so he meets other kids for whom drinking isn’t a big part of their social lives?) My advice is not to take his concerns too seriously just yet. If he made it through the first year, and was still feeling at a loss, then I’d help him find other schools into which he can transfer. </p>

3

Thanks for your words of wisdom N’s Mom. I wish that were the case, but he’s already working on applications on the Common App, so I don’t think there is any changing his mind. I think you are right about the drinking at other colleges; he is just going to have to get used to it, even if he does not partake. Kind of too bad.