<p>Need to get some opinions/advice/information...</p>
<p>First off I'd like to ask if the only option for transferring to Cal Poly SLO is the junior year, 60 transfer credit way. I've noticed this is pretty much the standard for any/all public universities in the state of California, which strikes me as somewhat odd considering how many state schools in other states allow you to transfer at any new grading term.</p>
<p>Right now I'm a freshman engineering student at Cornell, considering the possibility of transferring. I initially considered going a little closer to home (in state) at CU Boulder, but after having visited and seeing some of my friends there I've realized that I would be coming back to Colorado for the wrong reasons. Colorado will always be there when I'm done with college.</p>
<p>So now I'm at the point where I am looking for a sidegrade of sorts for a transfer university. Call me crazy, but I'm not too sold on the whole Ivy League hype. I am not denying the fact that Cornell is a leading engineering school, but I feel that I might 'fit in' better at a good public engineering school. I definitely wan to stick with engineering, just having a hard time deciding if hammering out a degree here is going to be worth the mental/social anguish.</p>
<p>Things I like about Cornell:
-Too many things to get involved in (I feel this is pretty universal among any well-sized school)
-Classes are challenging
-Endless opportunities for networking/finding coop/internships among some of the best companies in the world
-Everyone here (not everyone, but a very high number) is competent and 'with it', I am amazed at the kinds of people I meet here, they are all infinitely more interesting than most of the kids I grew up with
-Campus is VERY nice, well kept, dorms are new and clean
-Great food
-As far as I can tell, if you need something beyond getting beat to death by your coursework, chances are you can find it, and the faculty/staff seem very helpful in this regard</p>
<p>Things I don't like:
-Ithaca, and Cornell for that matter, are very isolated (I rarely leave campus, and I even have my own car)
-Further emphasis on the last point, good luck finding time to leave campus or do much else for that matter, I feel like I might be working too much to feel both challenged AND happy, rather I am challenged AND overworked, not content
-The weather is absolutely awful, and I now understand to fully appreciate any day when its either not raining or the sun is actually shining
-Social life, as far as nighttime activities are concerned, is entirely encompassed by the massive greek community here, which I do not like at all
-As far as outdoor activities are concerned, you better like your traditional team sports (which I am not a huge fan of), and again I don't have the free time I would like to have in order to do some things outside. And given the rare occasion that I do find time, I am utterly disappointed by the, how do I term this.... geography? of the place. Hard for me to articulate my feeling about this point.
-Cornell IS Ithaca. I don't know how to put that any other way. Many places that have universities are fully functioning cities. I guess what I am getting at is Ithaca is a little too rural for my taste, but maybe it will grow on me.</p>
<p>Things I'm neutral on:
-Cornell (engineering at least) prides itself on making you suffer through classes. However effective this approach may be in making students learn content, it is at the expense of my mental well-being. I am extremely interested in engineering, and it will take a lot to discourage me from pursuing it, but Cornell has managed to turn me off in some way. It could be a character building experience OR I might just fail some of my classes not due to my inability but rather my frustration with how unnecessarily overworked I am that I just lose motivation.
-Being away from home. Maybe not an entirely valid point, as we all have to grow up at some point. Home, regardless, is a mere 2000 miles away from this place and that definitely creates a strange feeling that I am still getting used to. Not to mention that feeling compounds with my overall (and for the foreseeable future, unchanging) distaste for NY state and the surrounding area, I feel WAY more comfortable in the west, and view the midwestern states the same way I see NY state. Perhaps its a conflict of lifestyles.
-Another thing worth mentioning is that a huge amount of people who go to Cornell are from the east, and are generally a 2-6 hour drive from home. Most people I talk to have never been west and do not associate themselves with the same things I do. The people I have found to be from my area do not associate with me in any other way beside being from places near to where I call home.</p>
<p>Anyway, in an attempt to make my feelings more clear I just get further lost in a sea of uncertainty, which leads me to believe I can make Cornell work for me. Its just hard to focus on doing the things I like when I am so stuck on hating Ithaca and the north east as a whole.</p>
<p>I'd still like to keep my options open (meaning I still want to consider the option of transferring), and if you have managed to read all of the things I've written, I need some schools to keep on my short list for possible transfers.</p>
<p>I want to stay away from small private schools, looking for a strong public school that has a good engineering program located anywhere WEST of Denver. This leads me to UC Berkeley and Cal Poly as first choices. For some reason Cal Poly is a little more appealing than Berkeley. I did spend 2 weeks at Berkeley doing some program while still in high school, so I know what the area is like, and I can confidently say that I enjoyed it more than I am liking NY state right now. But... If I have to be a junior to transfer to either of those schools, it seems like that would not be worth it in the long run.</p>