I am a student at a T10 LAC (one of these: Williams, Amherst, Wellesley, Middlebury, Claremont, Swat). I applied to transfer in early spring and have offers from UChicago, Columbia, NYU, Penn, Brown, and Boston College.
First, any advice on making the final decision on whether to transfer or not is welcomed. The cause of me applying to transfer was academically and somewhat socially motivated. Yet it’s more the overarching social scene that bothers me than lacking friends; I’ve made a good set of friends. The academic reasons are solid, but leaving friends is difficult. On top of that, it’s difficult to decide betClaremween such a wide net of schools without being able to visit. Any advice welcome. I feel somewhat paralyzed in deciding.
Now the crux of my question:
I obviously cannot submit multiple enrollment deposits. I have found other threads addressing this scenario. I will only submit one enrollment deposit. The question I have is this: If I select, say Brown, and submit an enrollment deposit, could I still decide mid-summer to renege on that deposit and enroll again at the school I’m presently attending, say Swarthmore.
That is, does submitting a deposit at one of the schools I have been admitted to before the deadline next week force me to attend, or could I over the summer decide to remain at my current institution and renege on the deposit. Would there be repercussions? Is this frowned upon? The basis for this question is partially coronavirus related as perhaps my current school decides to return on-campus or allows me to take a gap semester, whereas transferring would require online classes.
The first big question: Why do you want to transfer?
You are already at a great school. The top 10 (and actually more like top 20 or 30 or more) LACs are superb schools for undergraduate studies. They are academically as strong as any university, and are just as good if not better in terms of getting into top graduate programs. You said that you have friends.
ANY top ranked school is going to have some amount of snobby-ness (even if that is not really a word).
I have a daughter at a very good small school (it is Canada so they do not use the term “LAC”, but instead consider it a “small primarily undergraduate university”). To me it seems like the advantages of a small school includes getting to know your professors. This plus the lack of graduate students opens up more opportunities for undergrads to participate in research activities. Also, small schools often have small classes taught by full professors. These are all important advantages. If you have research experience and you know your professors, these things can be helpful for graduate school admissions, or to get jobs if it is in an area where the professors would know about job opportunities.
Also, if knowing your professors helps you to get into research opportunities, transferring would put you behind in that you would not know the professors at the schools that you transfer into.
To me the downside of a small school is that it will have a smaller range of potential majors. Does your current school have your intended major, and does it have a good program in this major?
Another big question is affordability. Can you afford your current school? Would the other schools where you have acceptances cost significantly more or significantly less? How much debt is involved one way or another?
@DadTwoGirls Thank you for your input! My current school does have my intended major. However, the department has become somewhat weakened due to faculty changes. The quality of the department at one of the schools that has accepted me is likely better (my calculations), but maybe teaching intimacy/quality would decrease even while faculty strength and course breadth increased.
@DadTwoGirls For my major of interest, I’d say leaning toward transferring. For friends and extracurriculars, my current place is fine, great friends wise. That’s the split. I’m being pulled in both directions. There is the slight pull of societal prestige attached to the schools I have been offered transfer positions at, but I’m trying to not allow this to deeply affect my decision; I want to have the best academic and social college experience possible, setting myself up for a successful and happy future.
The main question I have though relates to the enrollment deposit, largely due to covid-19 and such.
What I really meant was, what school are you thinking of transferring to? I am understanding from your list above that you have been accepted to quite a few very good universities.
I would try to ignore “prestige”. Certainly any top 10 LAC has plenty enough “prestige” among anyone who knows anything about US schools.
I do not think that there are any bad choices among the schools that you have listed above, particularly if you are not going to be piling up debt at any of them.
@DadTwoGirls As of now, Chicago and Columbia appeal. I like the idea of the cores at both-- I think at Brown I’d likely be creating my own “core,” if that makes sense.
If you are accepted to all those schools and accept/deposit at one, you need to withdraw from the others…other students are waiting for those spots. You can’t expect a school to hold a spot for you if you deposit elsewhere.
If you are talking about a waitlist situation, you can deposit at the first school, and then if you get off a waitlist you can renege on the first school and deposit on the second. You will likely lose your first deposit.
@Mwfan1921@austinmshauri I was accepted to all those schools, but have deposited at none of them yet. This wasn’t really my question. The situation I am talking about is that I am currently a student at a liberal arts college. I was accepted into the aforementioned schools for transfer. If I submit an enrollment deposit at one of the transfer schools, does that forfeit the spot at my current school. To my knowledge, my current institution is not requiring enrollment deposits until mid-summer. So suppose I submit a deposit at only one of the transfer schools, but then mid-summer withdraw and submit a deposit to my current school (which I have been at for the past year, I’m a sophomore). What would happen? Is this unethical?
Regarding the ethical dimensions of your question, they seem to pertain mostly to your current college. Using your hypothetical schools, it would be OK to “melt away” from Brown in mid-summer after making a deposit. These things happen. However, it would not be OK, in my opinion, not to inform Swarthmore that you may not return as a student, which clearly would be the case if you deposited elsewhere. The key in this scenario, then, would be to resolve your decision with Swarthmore, potentially through an approved leave of absence, or perhaps through an approved arrangement that would allow you to attend in the fall under multiple scenarios.
@soulgaurdia I’ve narrowed it down, but have not completely decided. Bump, I suppose, if anyone has advice on how to make said decision. I’m hesitant to leave my present school because there are aspects that I like.