Terrible freshmen 1st semester grades: Transfering to top University still possible?

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>Hey, CC, new here (well as a user--I've been lurking around :P) and I'm in a bit of a bind. Started college a few months ago at a very good, highly selective liberal arts college. I'm going to refrain from naming it to remain anonymous. My school only requires that we take four courses per semester. Just received my first semester freshmen grades and they aren't great:</p>

<p>First Year Seminar: B+
English: B-
Calculus: D- (horrendous, I know but it's passing...)
Chemistry: W (Withdrawn--plan on taking a fifth course or summer course to fulfill that credit)</p>

<p>I won't sugarcoat it: I just had a really difficult time comprehending the content in my Chemistry course so I dropped it to attend to Calculus thinking I could salvage my grade in that class. I was wrong, evidently. I normally fare well with math but I hadn't realized majority of the intro Science/Math courses at my college were weeder courses (according to fellow upperclassmen). </p>

<p>I only took Chem and Calc to get my gen ed requirements out of the way. I'm not really interested in STEM majors, I think my passions lean more towards the humanities. Which is where my problem is. </p>

<p>I was hoping to transfer to an Ivy and other higher-ranked schools (Stanford, UCLA, UCB, HYP, USC, Duke, ND, etc) in order to put myself in a better position in terms of job prospects for my intended major (not exactly sure what it is yet but I have a few in mind). I'm also not sure if I'm meshing well with my college. It's great, well-respected, beautiful, people are nice but I don't feel like I'm getting enough out of it. It's a quaint population, but small and isolated. I miss the city, too far away from home. I'd much prefer to go elsewhere as a transfer.</p>

<p>I think I also invested too much time in my ECs. I'm currently Freshmen Class President, a varsity athlete all year, volunteering weekly and involved in a couple other clubs on campus. Perhaps I shouldn't have signed up for so much but I still felt like I was handling things pretty well up until Calculus.</p>

<p>I guess I'm trying to ask if I've ruined my dreams on transferring elsewhere. I was hoping on moving to Cali for college my Soph/Jun year. </p>

<p>So, what's the CC Community's consensus?</p>

<p>thx</p>

2

<p>You need to cut back on some activities and focus on developing good study skills to bring up your grades to do well second semester. If the workload at this school is so difficult, setting yourself up to transfer to a school even more rigorous perhaps is not going to be positive unless you develop good study skills and concentrate on your current classes.</p>

3

<p>Not that I’m intimately familiar with transfer procedures for the places you listed, but I do know that it will be very very very very hard to be accepted as a transfer in several of the places you listed (UCLA, HYP, USC). Because you won’t be alone, not by a long shot. Think of all the students who did not get into these schools and are using their current school as a placeholder. And a lot of these students will have stellar first semester GPAs.</p>

<p>So, my advice to you is probably similar to what you received as a high school student. Apply to reaches, but apply to safeties as well. Safeties as in you can be reasonably sure of having a shot AND would be happy transferring. It also might help to do some more research in general. You say you’re too far away from home now, but the schools you listed are quite literally across the country from each other (USC and Duke, Harvard and UCLA).</p>

4

<p>I’ve considered cutting back on activities, but I didn’t believe that was the root problem to begin with. At least compared to USC, UCLA, ND, and UCB my school is just as rigorous and difficult to get into, at least on paper. Not sure if that makes much of a difference. Proximity from home is important too, I hadn’t considered that with my dream transfer schools, definitely keep that in mind.</p>

<p>does anyone else have any opinion?advice?</p>

5

<p>I just don’t see any way. The D is the killer.</p>

6

<p>I know, I’m hoping I can still drop it from my transcript or retake it, although chances don’t look good. However, let’s say, for arguments sake, I take a couple of courses more “up-my-alley” next semester, do fairly well (nothing lower than B+) all the way up until I decide to transfer (for Junior admission, since Sophomore admissions seems like a “no go”, right?). I could still continue on with my activities, I’d most likely run for Class President again and remain in clubs. I’m a top athlete, too, I could try and see if any schools would be interested in recruiting me again (although recruiting is geared for a freshmen class number and I really don’t wanna go that route again). </p>

<p>I’d just really like to see how I’d fare in another setting. My school isn’t very diverse and I really hadn’t factored that when I chose schools. It’s predominantly white and with being a minority I feel like I’ve become isolated some how (partly why I’d like to go to Cali for school). I feel like a big fish in a little pond sometimes (initially I like that) and I want to venture out into the sea. I love the school but it’s far to small in scope it seems. I’m just not getting enough out of it.</p>

<p>I don’t know what I could consider a Safety, Match, or Reach in terms of transfer admissions. Any suggestions?</p>

7

<p>Ivy League universities have very few transfer slots per year and usually reserve them for students who come from 1) similar schools (for example, I had an RA who transferred from Dartmouth to Columbia) and/or 2) distinguished themselves at their prior institution. Transfer typically have top grades AND have shown leadership and participation on their college campus. You have the leadership and participation, but you need to maintain the grades!</p>

<p>You need to shoot for straight As or as near to it second semester, and wait to attempt to transfer for your junior year. I also wouldn’t pin your hopes too high. Don’t burn bridges at your current school, and don’t assume that you are leaving - make friendships, get involved in things, make yourself content. I would say that regardless of how good your grades are because of how difficult it is to transfer into Ivies and comparable schools, but especially with a mediocre first semester (it’s not horrendous, just not the best). Also, remember that you have your entire life to move to California, if you want to. Remember at the public CA universities you will also be competing with outstanding CC students who have articulation agreements with those schools. You can always move there after college.</p>

<p>As a minority student, are there any affinity groups on campus you can join (Black Students’ Union, Asian-American Students Organization, etc.)? If not at the school, are there community groups that might be appealing (Urban League, NAACP, something like that). A lot of students from underrepresented groups don’t do well because they feel isolated. Not saying that’s why you are, but you mentioned that you feel that way so perhaps seeking out a group - or even just a group of multicultural students like a multicultural fraternity/sorority or a union made of students of color from many races and ethnicities - can help.</p>