Transfer fall 11'- Chance and questions!

Colleges and Universities A-Z American University
1

<p>So I am currently a freshman at a private, catholic, 4 year institution and am completely unhappy with the enviornment here. I currently have a 3.32 out of 4.0 and am a Double Major in Political Science and International Studies. I took many gen ed classes here for the first 2 quarters but next quarter I will try to take classes that are easier to transfer.</p>

<p>Schedule Q1</p>

<p>Gen Ed Writing Rhetoric Discorse 103
Gen Ed Math and Tech Reasoning 120
Italian 101
Immigrant Youth </p>

<p>Schedule Q2</p>

<p>Gen Ed WRD 104
Gen Ed Math Tech 121
Italian 102
The Kennedy Presidency </p>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>Model United Nations (5+ years counting HS)
Young Democrats
Black Student Union
STARS mentorship Program
Currently in the running for a state department position (one more round to go!)
Interned for a political campaign in HS, but I don’t think I can include that in my app.</p>

<p>Other:
Minority- African American female
Legacy- One of my parents attended AU</p>

<p>(My GPA is only based on the 1st quarter)
Questions-</p>

<p>I am currently taking Italian, and am not picking it up as well as I thought I would but I love the language and want to continue. My parents bought me a supplemental program to help me out. I was thinking about not taking Italian 103 next quarter and catching up on the supplemental program then resuming in the fall. Would this look bad to the Admissions Committee if they saw that I didn’t continue Italian into the third quarter?</p>

<p>I have a feeling that my Gen eds might not transfer as well as I thought they would. I am thinking about taking 2 poli sci and 2 IR classes next quarter so that I will have some credits that transfer over. Good or bad?</p>

<p>I had a terrible experience with my roommate this year, (to the point that we are now in separate rooms) and am nervous to have a roommate again next year. I’m considering opting for a single, but knowing that I will be a new student, I acknowledge that I need to make friends. Should I try to get a single or double? I made friends with my whole floor this year because I stayed out of my room majority of the time that my roommate was there.</p>

<p>Typical greek question: I talked to a few people attending AU currently bout the prevalence of greek life on campus. Half said it is really prevalent and the other half said not at all. What’s the deal? I just want to know if they participate much in community service, campus activities, parties etc. </p>

<p>Last but not least- Food. Is it the typical college food or is it really good. On a scale from 1 to 10 (one being the worst). Also I heard you can use meal plan money to buy food at restaurants in the area (PRETTY STOKED ABOUT THAT lol) do many restaurants actually participate in this?</p>

<p>Lots of appreciation to anyone able to tackle this bad boy. I didn’t expect it to be so long.</p>

2

<p>1) No it would not look bad to the admissions committee – they’ll test you when you come in anyway because they require a certain proficiency level out of all students, in at least one language, regardless of previous coursework. Any work you put in before that test is really up to you, I would just have you note that the Italian program is one of the weakest language programs at AU. </p>

<p>2) Good. AU is notoriously awful about transferring in Gen Ed credits, and depending on which advisor you get when you come in – they’ll work with you on trying to match your classes to AU’s Gen Ed requirements. However there are certain things, like Math, which HAVE to be taken on AU’s campus regardless of previous courses taken. Just take a look at AU courses, and try to find one that matches up relatively well so you aren’t spending welcome week in your advisors office battling out transfer credits. </p>

<p>3) I would highly advise against rooming alone – even if you make friends with your floor – it puts you at a disadvantage. a) Without the story of, we used to room together but he/she was crazy, you are just the crazy person willing to pay the extra money to live alone. b) Your floormates will largely be crazy freshmen, experimenting with their boundaries in their first week of college. You will bond with some, but it won’t be as easy as when the entire process was new to you. Trust me – even a year in college gives you certain life experiences they just don’t have.</p>

<p>4) Disclaimer: I am Greek. Greek Life takes up less than 1/5 the student body at AU, and is really only prevalent at certain times. We just finished rush a few weeks ago, so the first week of spring Greek Life is huge as each of the chapters do PR and try to get as many people as possible to go through formal recruitment. It’s also big, particularly with the Frats, during Welcome Week – since they host the major parties that all the Freshmen go to. So I imagine at those times, it’s really annoying, particularly for people who have a negative stigma associated with Greek Life. They do all have mandatory philanthropy, and take part in campus activities. It isn’t a blanket organization, some chapters have lots of friends outside of Greek Life, others keep to themselves. Some give Greek Life a bad name, others really add to the campus dynamic. </p>

<p>5) I would give it about a 5. It’s actually relatively good food, I’m just a senior and have seen every rotation that they have more times than I care to count. I know we rank very highly with vegetarians and vegans for the options we provide. My only bone to pick with the dining program is that they aren’t open on odd days (like the Sundays before school starts after break). You CAN use EagleBucks off campus, and a relatively high number of places participate – and they’re always looking to expand. The two new ones are CVS and WholeFoods which made students all really excited. In fact, most of the restaurants in Tenleytown accept EagleBucks as a form of payment.</p>

<p>Let me know if you have any other questions – I know Transferring can be rough, but you should be accepted.</p>

3

<p>I’ll add what I’ve learned from my daughter, now a sophomore. </p>

<p>She had no interest in Greek life, went to a couple of frat parties freshman year (note all the frat houses are off-campus), was not enchanted, and has been pretty much oblivious to the Greek scene after that, as are her friends. Basically, if you want the Greek experience, it can dominate your life as much as you want it to, and if you aren’t interested, it will have no impact on your life at all. This year D joined the service fraternity (co-ed, and not a Greek scene in the usual sense), which for the first time was over subscribed and had to reject applicants. (I see that as a positive trend.)</p>

<p>D dislikes the dining hall food–from what I’ve tasted, I don’t disagree. She spends all her Eagle Bucks and a lot of her job earnings at the on-campus alternatives to the dining hall. We have her on the cheapest meal plan and she still will not have used up all her meals by the end of the year. </p>

<p>I don’t know how it works these days, but when D started two years ago, she encountered no language requirement. (She had taken AP Spanish, but did not take the AP test.) The only placement test she had to take was for math, and it was not challenging.</p>

<p>I’m not sure there are even any single rooms to be had on campus (after all, they are force-tripling freshmen every year), and I doubt they’d be available to a sophomore in any case. If that’s important to you, check to find out. </p>

<p>Good luck with your decision.</p>

4

<p>Thanks so much, this information is invaluable. </p>

<p>It is unfortunate that Italian is one of the weakest, I am assuming Arabic is strongest… am I correct?</p>

<p>The info about rooming is good to know. I was thinking it would be fairly easy to get singles since most do not want them. That in combination with what AU transfer said about bonding has pushed me to take the chance with rooming with others.</p>

<p>When it comes to DC, do many students venture outside of Tenleytown often or do they stay within the area of AU?</p>

<p>Do groups host many events (concerts, festivals, speakers etc) on campus?</p>