Transfer from MIT?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

<p>Hello, all!</p>

<p>I went to MIT for two years (I only finished three semesters, though), and I hated it and left to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I did really well at MIT for the first year (I had a 4.8/5.0), but during my third semester I only took three classes and got a 3.7/5.0 GPA for that semester, making my overall GPA a 4.3 (the fact that I didn't want to be at MIT was hitting me hard and giving me existential angst; I thought I wanted to be a scientist for my whole life). </p>

<p>After dealing with my problems, I decided I wanted to write for some sort of environmental conservation magazine for a career, so I want to transfer somewhere to major in journalism. I'm really interested in Northwestern, but I know transfer admission is really competitive. </p>

<p>My high school stuff was good enough to get me into MIT and Stanford (99+ percentile SAT's, some serious science research, RSI). I think I can get decent, but probably not glowing, recommendations from a writing professor and philosophy professor at MIT, and my high school teachers think I'm God's gift to the Earth (lol I'm from a rural area). Is transferring to Northwestern reasonable, or should I be shooting lower because of my bad semester at MIT? </p>

<p>Looking to ease my mind,
hopeful1992</p>

2

<p>Given that you must have had a stellar record in HS, and continued to excel in your first year at MIT, I do not see any cause for concern provided you adequately explain the reasons for your disinterest in continuing at your present school and your new direction and how you think it will get fulfilled at NU.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

3

<p>Getting into NU isn’t the problem – graduating at a reasonable time is. Medill is especially known for its rigor, just in terms of the amount of work you need to do. There are the intro-level classes, which typically take at least a year to finish, and you also have to consider Journalism Residency, in which you spend a quarter off-campus doing an internship. Basically, my point is this: typical academic credits don’t transfer and aren’t interchangeable with journalism requirements, so you’d essentially be starting from scratch. Would you be okay with graduating three years after you transfer to NU?</p>