<p>Hey Guys,</p>
<p>So I decided to go to a cheap in state school my freshmen year to save ALOT of money and ALOT of debt. Its financially the smart decision but its not without some regrets. Here are some concerns of mine now as I plan to transfer for my sophomore year of school, I hope you guys can help.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I have heard from some people that freshmen year is the best year of college in terms of having fun and dorming. You meet the most people this year. Is this true and is it that big of deal to miss the year? How can I "catch up" on the college experience when I transfer for things such as meeting people, possibly joining a frat, learning my way around?</p></li>
<li><p>I have a list of a few schools that I want to transfer too: Indiana University, USC, Penn State. Now each of those schools has a different perk to it, but if I learned anything this past year is that the finances trumps all when selecting a school. I want to try get as much aid as possible but I fear even if I do very well my freshmen year that transfer students don't get as much aid as freshmen.</p></li>
<li><p>How can I transfer without losing a lot if any credits. I hear that is a big issue with transfer students. Losing credits would be contradictory to staying local for a year in the first place to save money. How can I prevent this. If it helps I'm going to Rutgers not some crappy school for this year so I can't imagine schools being to unsatisfied with their credits.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thats all I can think of off the top of my head but ill post any other questions if they come up.</p>
<p>If the goal is to save a lot of money, why do you wish to transfer after one year? Besides, the school had just started, don’t you want to explore that first? As you may already know, transfer students do not get as much aid as freshman, so what you gained from this coming year experience may not worth the savings.</p>
<p>I think you should explore the option of your choice and if you have a problem with the current school, then talk about transfer afterwards. Do not put “prestige” in front of you because at this point, it may harm you than help you. The name of a school is not that important after you be in the society for few years.</p>
<p>And yes, the problem of a transfer student may lose credits during the transfer unless he has a target school in mind and design the classes he takes around the target school’s requirements. One school’s requirements maybe different from another and in more prestigious schools they do not accept many transfer credits. It varies from college to college and department to department. It is entirely possible that one semester to a year maybe wasted in a transfer. So deal it seriously.</p>
<p>@artloversplus Staying local for a year can save me up to around 40,000 dollars and then some. I didn’t do great in high school so I did not get much financial aid from schools that I was accepted to. By transferring in a year I could HOPEFULLY get better aid packages with better grades and save a years worth of college tuition. I am going to explore Rutgers but I know what I want in a college experience and I have a good feel for what Rutgers is going to offer to me, just as many kids around the country often declare to certain colleges because they feel its a fit for them. I am not only considering “prestige” but it is a part of my decision. The schools I plan on possibly transferring too are not only “prestigious” but seem to be a good fit for me overall. I know this from visits, research, and friends who have gone there. I’m not saying I completely have ruled out the idea of staying at Rutgers all four years, but if I want to transfer out it is best to get to thinking about it now and at least set myself up for it if I do want to do it. I am trying to contact transfer advisors at these schools to try and collaborate with this so that I DON’T lose credits. So yes I am trying to deal it seriously.</p>
<p>Whats wrong with Rutgers? Its as a good school as your target schools. Stay there for two years and if you cannot tolerate, then think about transferring.</p>
<p>It sounds like transferring would not be super ideal financially, socially, or academically… so you really need to be certain that leaving your school is more important than all of the disadvantages. At the same time it sounds like a lot of these concerns are just kind of impressions you have of potential problems.</p>
<p>It sounds like you are taking action on exploring your options by contacting transfer advisors. To me it looks like your biggest issues are just worries that you have but are not certain about, right now all you need is more information! It is true that you could end up paying more if you transfer, but you don’t know that for sure, so just keep your options open. And lots of universities do try to accommodate transfer credits, but at the same time, it is possible you would need to stay in school a little bit longer to graduate. Would that be a big issue for you?</p>
<p>And just from going to university, I will say that I have noticed that transfer students struggle to find a social group, at least at first. But thats normal, and if you work to create a circle of friends and involve yourself in a job or clubs you shouldn’t have a problem.</p>
<p>@lily47593 The thing is until last minute in senior year of hs I heavily planning on Indiana University. I had a roommate, sent my deposit, and was fighting for them to give me more money. They never really budged and it took me some time to finally come to terms with the fact that 4 years there would be a lot of debt. I even met with a friend who is a college advisor at one of the local schools to discuss my options with him, and he convinced me and my parents that maybe I should just go local for a year or two and then transfer to a school that I actually want to go to. So its not like I am trying to transfer from Rutgers just because I don’t like Rutgers very much, but I want to get what I originally planned for. I am willing to go through some humps in the process and I am aware that they are very possible to happen. Too me the only mistake about Rutgers is that maybe as a potential transfer student I should have just gone to a community college for now but at the same time Rutgers offers me a bit of a better experience in the mean time. </p>
<p>@artloversplus I made this post in hope of becoming more aware of the transfer process. I realize some will disagree with my decision to leave Rutgers but for more reasons than one I don’t want to spend all four years here. For example, I don’t love the student body here at Rutgers, I hate the Rutgers campus, it is still 45 minutes drive from my house so unless I spend some money to live there I would have a long haul there, and one more of the many reasons I don’t love Rutgers can be seen above in my response too lily. I appreciate you trying to convince me to change my mind about leaving Rutgers but for the sake of this post I really would rather gather information on if I do transfer how I could make it as easy of a process as possible. Like I said, nothing has been set in stone but as lily said, I want to explore all my options because why not? </p>
<p>To respond to your Opening Statement
- Many transfer students still can be “blend in” with the new environment. It depends on YOU.
- If you want a better aid, maintain a college gpa no less than ALL A+, and if you transfer in the first year, re-take SAT and/or ACT and get full score.
- If you do not wish to lose credit during the transfer, call ahead with the target school and make sure they will take those credits BEFORE you take them at Rutgers.</p>
<p>@artloversplus thanks bud. Thats the answer I was looking for. I believe if I take 30 credits this year that most colleges will not be concerned of my test scores.</p>
<p>@artloversplus and also, I am not exactly sure who to contact at the target schools. The same advisors I talked to last year as a senior?</p>
<p>" I am not exactly sure who to contact at the target schools."
Varies from school to school. Start with admission office, some times you need to talk to the Dean/chairman of that department you are applying to. Talk to some one who can give you a definitive answer.</p>
<p>“I believe if I take 30 credits this year that most colleges will not be concerned of my test scores.”</p>
<p>If you are sure, more power to you.</p>