transfer from UC Berkeley to a small school?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hey guys, this is my first CC post, and sorry if it ends up being a mouthful... I'm just kind of lost, and any sort of advice would help.</p>

<p>Here's my deal: I'm about to be a sophomore in UC Berkeley engineering, and I'm considering transferring for my junior year. My freshman year was alright; not a blast nor completely miserable, just alright. Socially, I tried putting myself out there and made some friends, but didn't click with the vast majority of people I met here. Academically, I struggled with most of my classes and managed just a 2.9 gpa after my freshman year. Dealing with these problems at a huge university like Berkeley made it feel like I was starting to fall through the cracks, so to speak.</p>

<p>I have also been struggling with depression for some time now, and it took a turn for the worse this summer. Because of that, I'm pretty nervous about how I'll hold up in my sophomore year.. Berkeley just doesn't seem like a forgiving place to try to play catch-up when you're struggling. My plan right now is to give Berkeley another shot this school year, and if it's still not working out then I transfer for junior year.</p>

<p>I guess my first question would be, is it reasonable to think about transferring because of these issues? I really want to consider it if it'll lead to a better college experience, but at the same time I don't want to be to pull the trigger too fast on such a big decision.</p>

<p>If I do decide to transfer, I'm looking at small-sized colleges as a destination, because one thing I learned from freshman year at Berkeley was that a huge university is not my thing. Has anyone had any experience transferring from a large school to a small one? I've heard that it's tough transferring to a small school since not many of their undergrads are leaving.. is that true?</p>

<p>Thanks so much for reading!</p>

2

<p>First, you have to overcome your depression, see a therapist or a doctor.
Even with 2.9 GPA, you will be welcomed by a lot of small schools, they won’t be peer schools though. </p>

3

<p>I completely understand. Huge universities are not for everyone. Some ppl prefer smaller colleges where they dont just fee like another face in the sea of students. I also think it makes an atmosphere more conducive to forming better, longer lasting friendships. Quality of student life is a huge factor in you performance in school and I bet if you transferred to a college where you feel happier, your grades would take a jump.</p>

<p>Berkeley is NOT forgiving and neither is engineering. Be careful not to walk into an academic probation. </p>

4

<p>I was also wondering, when colleges look at my 2.9 from Berkeley, would they take into account Berkeley’s reputation for being tough? Or would they just look at gpa straight up?</p>