Hello, I’m currently a freshman at Ohio University. When I first applied for college I did not get accepted into Ohio State. This came as no surprise to me but it was disappointing nonetheless. My GPA throughout my first couple years of high school was horrendous due to my own lack of discipline and maturity. I managed to raise it a bit junior and senior year but the damage had been done. I got a 30 on my ACT without studying for it. One of my biggest regrets is actually not doing any preparation for the test and no taking it seriously because I feel like I could have achieved an even better score if I put any work in.
Ohio State was my first choice but clearly that didn’t work out and I ended up going here. I still wish to go there but I’ve been stressing out over the transfer application greatly. I did well my first semester and earned a 3.7 GPA. I have kept up that production through this semester as well and might even get a 4.0 this time. However, here is where the probem lies: I am still undecided on my major. I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a person, but I still haven’t decided what I want to be. I want to go to Ohio State because I love it there. I love the city, the atmosphere, the pride of the students, and I feel like there are countless opportunities for me there.
What I’m trying to get at is that I don’t know how to go about my personal statement for my transfer application. Obviously I don’t want you to write it for me, but I’m just concerned about how much my undecided status currently is going to hurt me. I feel like OSU is where I can find my place, but I don’t want to sound directionless on the application. Basically I’m just ranting at this point but maybe all I need is for you guys to calm me down about this situation.
My son is also an OU freshmen…CHEM ENG. He got admitted to OSU, Penn State, Purdue, Marquette…you get the point. We chose OU for the scholarships…what’s the point on being admitted to Harvard if you can’t afford it. Anyhow, OSU was one of the lowest finaid packages we got (the lowest was Purdue offering $500 each year…not even a semester). My cousin on the other hand is a OSU Mech Eng grad. He ended up with a huge debt he is still repaying and his “dream job’s” salary is mostly repaying loans…not every OSU grad gets their dream job is what I’m trying to say. Another thing is the professor’s at both Universities. I can’t say much about OSU professors other than what my cousin has told me, and he says many of them attend the lectures and that’s it. Office hours but few give the extra mile. My son’s experience is completely different. I could mention professor Paris (CHEM) who’s always been aiding my son and other students to reach their max. Personally I got nothing negative to say about OU and I’m proud and thankful my son’s attending there. I know OSU has a better rep and the campus and location are very different, and probably even better but to me that doesn’t make up for all the good things going on with my son’s college education and experience.
As for if your undecided st6atus may affect you, I believe so. Another thing you may want to look into is if you meet the required credit hours to transfer. I don’t know about OSU but I know several colleges require you to have at least 48 approved credits, and as a freshmen I don’t think that will be the case. The school doesn’t define the student but backwards. What ever your path will be you will find it at any college, liking one college over the other is a whole different story, but if OSU is where you feel most comfortable then I think that’s your best option. Good luck with all.
@otoledo, I don’t mean to take this thread in another direction, but I’m very interested in your comments about OU. We live in the south, but I just happened upon some information about this school. My DD is a junior in high school, so we’ve got some decisions to make very soon. She is thinking of going the engineering route, but also loves art, dance and social sciences. She has a 3.95 GPA (unweighted) and a 32 on the ACT. I’m wondering if OU might be a good fit for her. I would appreciate any thoughts you might have. Also, I’m very interested in the scholarship potential. We would be OOS, so it may be out of our reach.
If your D is interested in Engineering and has a 32 on her ACT she is eligible for the Russ Impact Scholarship. I do not know what that is now but my older D was offered $8000 in addition to the other scholarships offered (3 years ago). In the end she went to Purdue. My younger D chose OU over Purdue, Miami U and tOSU though she will be a Dance major (BA) and double major in Exercise Physiology. She chose it because it met all of her wants and needs better than any other school she found. She has similar stats as your D.
@clowncar My sons GPA was slightly lower than that, he didn’t take the ACT, but his SAT was close to 2200…so I dunno how that transfers into ACT scores. While we were looking for colleges we didn’t even know OU existed, he’s OSS as well. OU offered my son around $15K in scholarships including $6K for OSS only. They are quite generous with OS students and even more with highly qualified students as your D. All I can say is I’m very grateful with OU and Russ College of Engineering, just keep in mind that it’s a relatively big college and there is a lot of partying and Greek life going on, but it’s mostly concentrated in the South Green. My son lives in the East Green, more specific in Shively Hall, which is the only substance free dorm. Not much pary and freak stuff going on in East green, and they actually enforce the substance free policy. This year two students were kicked out for entering the dorm under the influence