<p>I go to a top liberal arts school, and I’m majoring in economics. What I actually want to major in is some sort of development studies program. I took a course this past semester about global development and foreign aid, etc. and it stirred up such HUGE passion inside of me. I know I want to work with third world development when I get older, and I am really set on joining the peace corps, too. My family comes from a third world country so it really hits home with me. Although my mother was fortunate enough to get out of her home country and get a great education, all of my family still lives there and I hear about the problems on a daily basis, which makes this passion of mine all the more personal.</p>
<p>When I applied to colleges, I did apply to Brown, but I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Now that I have this passion, this drive, I feel like action must be taken. I go to a fairly conservative school in a very small town. The social scene is in complete contrast from the academic scene. Although I do have many friends, I have been starting to feel as though this isn’t the place for me. I feel as though I need to be somewhere that actually has the academics I need to help me achieve my long term goals. </p>
<p>My perception of the world around me has changed greatly, and I am grateful for my time at this school, for I would have never found what I wanted to do in life, but I feel like both the academics and social life aren’t as harmoniously fused as they should be. </p>
<p>Sorry if my thoughts seem scattered; it’s hard for me to quite equivocate the intense drive that has been sparked within me. I was just wondering what advice others have for me. </p>
<p>I have a 3.6 GPA after my first year and I’m sure it will increase next year. I am involved in a few clubs including rowing, cycling and volunteering organizations, and I plan on getting even more involved next year despite my consideration to transfer.</p>
<p>do you think I could be accepted if I do decide to transfer? and do you think it’s a decent idea? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>You don’t say what type of school you are at (academic level compared to Brown) but it is worth a try. You may even want to look into mid year transfer too. (Spring semester start.) Due to students taking second semester abroad and lower number wanting to start mid year, that seems to have a higher acceptance rate(?)
There are a number of possible concentrations (majors at other schools) that might fit your “calling”. Look carefully at IR though, depending on when you would be transferring, as they have increased the number of required courses in a way that might make completing that concentration in 4 years of college /transfer difficult. But there a number of concentrations that may fit , and freedom to tailor your curriculum to cross department areas of interest. You might get a head start on transfer info /interest by looking at the course catalogue and looking for a prof with a course that really piques your interest and contacting them re your interests. (ex: Health of Hispanola, Environmental Justice, etc.) At Brown you will find many like-minded 3rd world service students and profs, so there will be lots of opportunities to explore that, both re courses and extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>hmmm, thanks for responding y’all. I’m not totally set on if i’m transferring because I know that I will have to go to graduate school. I plan on going for Development Economics and considering that its a relatively new program in graduate schools, there are only, say, 15 schools that have it and they’re all pretty much ivies plus MIT, UChicago, Berkeley, Stanford…but those are to be expected when economics comes into play. So maybe I’ll just go to grad school there? I’m not sure how competitive these programs are as there is not a lot of reading material on it.
My real problem now is either transferring to a place that is going to complement my interests or just sticking to my guns and fighting through the “make money so I can get myself a yacht” mentality. That said, I do like my friends at school, and my parents really like my school and a lot of our family friends went here, too. It’s a little bit of a tricky situation, that’s all.</p>