My daughter is currently a freshman at a small LAC. It’s a long story, but she’s had a rough first semester emotionally adjusting to college (she regularly sees a counselor). Things have turned around a bit but she’s still not fully settled and periodically miserable - complaining constantly. It’s never clear what the issue is so transferring somewhere else was out of the question because it’s hard to know what to look for if you don’t know what you’re solving for and now most deadlines have passed.
Given she isn’t happy and can’t clearly articulate what will make her happy I’ve begun to think that instead of spending $70K a year for her current school she should transfer to Rutgers and she can be miserable for less than half the price as we are in state. I know this sounds harsh without knowing my daughter and it’s not something I’m forcing on her, just something I’m suggesting as an option. She is open to exploring it (today at least).
My question is whether anyone has experience as a transfer, especially one from a small school (~2,000 students). Her classes are around 20 students with one less than 10. She loves the academics where she is, has personal connections with professors and is doing well but that doesn’t seem to be enough to make her happy. It’s also a supportive environment - she doesn’t feel overwhelmed with signing up for classes, navigating the system, etc. That was an important consideration when she was looking originally. She hasn’t declared a major but is between anthropology and sociology. Not sure how big those departments are at Rutgers or how spread out her classes would be.
Thanks in advance for sharing any insights or impressions about life as a transfer or Rutgers in general. They are still accepting apps and she has a 4.0 HS average with 3.75 first semester college average - no scores required given she’s completed a full semester so I’m assuming that she would be accepted.
Thanks in advance.