<p>I am a freshman at Towson University. When visiting for the open houses, admitted students day and TU cares, it seemed like the place for me. However, when I got here, during move in weekend everyone knew everyone and friends were made before even coming to college. (since it's an MD state school, lots of kids come with friends or people from high school). The size overwelhmed me. I was told that Towson was a small school with lots of stuff to do on weekends - however that is a lie. It has about 14,000 people and on weekends the campus is ghostly. Also it is a huge party school, there's a bar 5 min walk from campus and no one cares about going to class.</p>
<p>I've been here for a little over 1 month and I absolutly hate it. People are not friendly at all. The guys are sketchy and the girls are snobby. No one goes to the on campus activities/events and clubs. My dorm is very unsocial - everyone on my floor already has their group of friends and doesn't include you into their group.</p>
<p>Is this a good reason to transfer? I am looking at small liberal arts schools in PA:</p>
<p>Dickinson
Elizabethtown
Washington and Jefferson</p>
<p>I doubt EVERYONE at that huge school is unfriendly. Keep in mind a lot of college freshman go through an adjustment period. Nevertheless, if you feel a small school is right for you, small schools provide a different sort of education and can be very meaningful for the right person. You'll probably need to finish the year at your U to transfer.</p>
<p>i am a freshman at dickinson college and i have experienced many of the same things. while this is a small school the m,ajority of students are worried about the wrong things.</p>
<p>I have a professor whose daughter goes to Dickinson and she seems to be adjusting very well. Alison, I would say wait until November or December to decide if the campus just isn't right for you. I was beginning to feel that my first college wasn't right for me in September and knew it wasn't right for me by mid-October of my first year there. I wish I has just followed my first instinct which was to leave that first semester. Instead, I tried to make it work and was miserable for a good two years.</p>
<p>If you're really unhappy there, don't try and make it work. Keep your grades up and leave.</p>
<p>Watershed, Do you like dickinson though? Would you reccomend it to other students?</p>
<p>At my school, it's still been hard to get to know people and I've been here for a little over 1 month. And to make things worse, most of the instate people go home over the weekend making the campus ghostly. As for the oncampus events, there not good and I've heard that no one goes to them.</p>
<p>I have been having problems with my work. I am just so upset that whenever I take my books out to start working, I just can't do it so I push it away. I am a freshman but I am in all upperlevel (sophomore and junior classes) because of transfer credit from summer courses and dual enrollment. Do you think the other colleges will realize that I am not taking freshman courses?</p>
<p>I have one month, well less than one month to get everything in and I have no idea what to write on the essays. For dickinson, there are 3 and the other 2 are 1 (why do you want to transfer) There's no one at school to help with with transfering, which in a way makes sense since they don't want you to leave their school.</p>
<p>I've been going to counseling center because my mom said that they'll help me adjust to school. The counselor asked me if I could have my dream school what would it be. So I told her, smaller size, smaller classes, less partying (once in a while a drink is good, but everyday getting drunk). She told me those are pretty serious things that my current school obviously can't accomidate</p>
<p>Dickinson is really nice. Personally I dont like the fact there there is very little diversity here. On weekends there is pretty much one thing to do...drink. I would advise you to make your essay about how you have "engaged the world." If you come here you will get sick of that saying, but they put a huge emphasis on it. Personally I wrote about how I worked for the Kerry Campaign and how I "made a difference." This even got me into the engage the world fellowship.</p>
<p>As far as reccomending Dickinson....</p>
<p>I was sort of tricked into thinking that this place was academically better than it is. While it is a great school, there are many others that I would rather be at. That is why I am considering transferring.</p>
<p>Watershed: where are you transferring to? Is it easy to meet people there or did everyone know each other already? Over here at Towson, all there is to do is drink also, nothing else, no campus activies.</p>
<p>As for the essay, the questions are why are you transferring, how have your abilities and outlook changed since leaving secondary school, and what academic abilities do you value and why?</p>
<p>At Dickinson, do people care about their academics or not?</p>
<p>alison, I can completly relate to you- I am a freshman @ UMASS-Amherst and am experiencing the same thing. My program here though is also horrendous, and I have been planning to transfer since july. I am in the middle of the spring transfer process, it's hard but if you hate it enough the hard work is worth it. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>avtussel07...It's good to know that others are going thru the same thing. Where are you planning on transferring too? I have to start working on the essays. I can't even get my work done bc i'm too upset - should be fun with the essays bc I have to do a good job with them</p>
<p>I looked at Swarthmore but it looks real hard to get into. I have bad SATs but a good high school gpa. I don't really know anything else about it besides it's real good but hard to get into</p>
<p>Swarthmore is not equally strong in all academic areas, and is geared for someone interested in grad school. Best LAC depends only on what one is looking for. I wish I'd chosen Swat, but let's not get carried away in pretentiously recommending it to everyone...</p>
<p>
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Swarthmore is not equally strong in all academic areas, and is geared for someone interested in grad school. Best LAC depends only on what one is looking for. I wish I'd chosen Swat, but let's not get carried away in pretentiously recommending it to everyone...
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</p>
<p>Yeah, people should read about and visit colleges for themselves so that they can decide if a college seems right for them.</p>
<p>alison: <em>hug</em> I went through the same thing my frosh year. At first I could push myself to work but after a while, I just couldn't b/c I was so depressed. It's really hard to want to do work when you're just so unhappy. Keep pushing and see what your options are. If you're in sophomore classes and feel that they are too challenging, why don't you see if you can take freshmen classes instead? You really don't want to do anything to jeopardize transferring. Your GPA is really important, no matter what reason you're transferring. I've learned this the hard way. Please, please, please just keep your GPA up until you can transfer to a place that is more suited to you. I know this can be a very hard thing to do when you're unhappy but please try anyway. It'll help you a lot.</p>
<p>ScoobyGirl: Where did you transfer from and to? I can't switch my classes now. I am doing ok, B's so far. Your right about the whole work thing and people are just weird here. I mean I only drank tequila before college and now I drink vodka, see what college is doing to me!</p>
<p>How do I write my essays. I have to do 5 million things: essays, send ap scores and previous transcripts since I took courses for transfer credit during high school, find out if the colleges accept my transfer credits and my classwork.</p>
<p>No one here get's classwork. I feel like i'm the only one doing it</p>
<p>wingardiumLeviosa: I looked into Bucknell, but on collegeboard it said it was in a rural area. I want school to be in a suburban area, not in the middle of no where. Is there stuff to do in Bucknell?</p>
<p>alison: Have you considered Bryn Mawr? It's all women and in the suburbs of Philly. It also has very close ties to Haverford College and you could take classes at Swarthmore and Penn.</p>
<p>I transferred from Colgate to my local community college. Now, I'm looking to transfer again in Fall 2006. I wouldn't suggest working on the essays right now. You should just focus on school work and ECs. Do the essay during winter break when you'll have at least a whole free month to focus on them. I wouldn't send the AP scores as they cost a lot of money. Put the scores on the app when you fill it out and only send the scores to whatever college you get accepted to. Colleges don't usually tell you what credits will transfer until they accept you. However, if you call the colleges you're interested in and speak to the transfer admission counselor, he/she should be to give you an idea of what credits might transfer and which might not. Ultimately, you won't know until you get accepted.</p>
<p>Also, Bucknell is an extremely rural area and what do kids do when they're in extremely rural areas with nothing else to do?</p>
<p>scoobygirl: I heard that Bryn Mawr was on the most diffcult level. Wouldn't it be impossible for me to get in?</p>
<p>The apps for spring semester are due november 1st.</p>
<p>So at Bucknell there's a lot of drinking?</p>
<p>I talked to my parents today and they said that I should transfer after the year because I can visit the schools and all that stuff. If I transfer for the spring time, I won't have time to visit them. The way that I see it is that if I transfer in the spring I'll still be a freshman so I can do the orientation stuff and college life stuff. My current school didn't do an orientation; we had to fend for ourselves. What do you think?</p>
<p>I can tell that though bucknell is in a more isolated area, students there love it. There is a lot of partying there, from what I hear but it doesn't seem to affect the academic atmosphere.</p>
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scoobygirl: I heard that Bryn Mawr was on the most diffcult level. Wouldn't it be impossible for me to get in?
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</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr isn't as difficult to get into as Swarthmore or Haverford. It's more difficult than Dickinson. Their acceptance rate for transfers is about 25%, so you should have a reasonable shot. </p>
<p>
[quote]
The apps for spring semester are due november 1st.</p>
<p>So at Bucknell there's a lot of drinking?</p>
<p>I talked to my parents today and they said that I should transfer after the year because I can visit the schools and all that stuff. If I transfer for the spring time, I won't have time to visit them. The way that I see it is that if I transfer in the spring I'll still be a freshman so I can do the orientation stuff and college life stuff. My current school didn't do an orientation; we had to fend for ourselves. What do you think?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If you're applying for Spring transfer for '06, then you might not have enough credits to apply as a transfer at most colleges. If this is the case for the colleges you're interested in, then you might be applying as a first year. I would call the admission offices at the colleges you're interested in to see. Also, if financial aid is a concern, then I would check to see if financial aid is offered to Spring Transfers as some colleges do not offer aid to Spring Transfers. </p>
<p>The one advantage to waiting is that you will have a whole year of college work under your belt. Also, as your parents said, you can visit and do some reading. Many colleges have orientation for transfers. I honestly didn't think that orientation was very useful. It was mostly a sea of faces that I rarely came into contact with afterwards. Plus I had friends that I had met in the summer before freshman year.</p>