transfer or no? my college is boring me to death.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I was admitted to all sorts of ritzy schools last year as a high school senior, but I took my in-state because I got on with full merit. Only problem: I hate it at the University of Kansas. I've been depressed the entire semester. My classes are tedious. I feel stagnant and stifled. I'm a girl who loves to learn... and for the first time in my whole life, I'd rather stay in bed than go to class. It's a miracle I pulled a 3.7 GPA at all because I mostly skipped the homework bit.</p>

<p>I tried really hard to challenge myself. I did. I'm in the honors program. I took 17 hours - 5 classes - but still, too much time on my hands. I consulted with professors outside class, went to lectures, debates, concerts, art openings, wrote for a literary magazine, took tango, salsa and ballroom dance lessons. Next semester I'm taking 20 hours of core classes I hate, just to get them out of the way, and auditing French and Art History for personal interest. It's not enough.</p>

<p>I want an undergrad school where I can design my own curriculum. I'll make a stimulating program all on my own -- because prerequisites, even after tons of AP credit ticked off requirements, are killing me. I did basics in high school. I don't need it again.</p>

<p>Please, suggest places that will stretch me. A big city (or close proximity) is desirable. School size doesn't matter as long as I have reign over my classes and enough choice to eventually find my niche of study. (I have no idea what I want to do. I like sciences, maths, languages, arts equally.) Merit aid is important -- I don't qualify for financial aid, and even with the family helping I can't pony up more than $10,000/yr.</p>

<p>Suggestions? I've considered just biting the bullet and taking a huge loan to get out of dodge -- but there's no way I'm doing $40,000/yr for private or out-of-state unless I know for sure it's worth it. My folks and my academic advisors tell me I should just plod through now, especially since I'm undecided, and then pay to go somewhere really strenuous and exciting for grad school when I have career direction... but I am miserable. I can't tolerate three more years like this first one. I don't want to settle for my education or waste my time on mind-numbing classes, and I don't want to be stuck in Kansas for the three or four majors (and subsequent seven-year degree) it would take to be happy here. I thought about taking a year out to travel or volunteer or intern but it's only putting off the inevitable. Study abroad is appealing too, but again -- it's a break, not a solution. I'd even move to another state for a year to gain residency for a transfer.</p>

<p>Heck, I'd get married simply to financially divorce myself from my parents. Then I could afford where I want to go. ;)</p>

<p>But please, your thoughts.</p>

<p>...................................
Transfer stats:</p>

<p>College: 3.7 GPA</p>

<p>High school: 4.8 GPA, 001/430 students, 2300 SAT, 35 ACT... also editor-in-chief of yearbook and lit mag, president of environmental club, misc. other activities</p>

2

<p>Join the Army. It'll help you put things in perspective and help you pay for college later.</p>

3

<p>Brown and Amherest are excellent open curriculum schools, but they don't give out much merit aid. Grinnell and Smith (this is a women's college) college does have some merit aid but aren't exactly in urban center. There's also the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies, which gives merit aid and is close to (but not actually in) some big cities.</p>

<p>That's all I know right now.</p>

4

<p>You need to do some soul searching and a little growing up. You don't want alot of loans, you do want to divorce your parents so you can go to a private school, and you are undecided for a major. You have alot of issues to deal with before you consider making any moves.</p>

5

<p>Kansas Jayhawks is boring? I had a friend there who really liked it, u can always transfer to any school u like now. Why did u even go there with that scores / gpa in high school???</p>

6

<p>"I was admitted to all sorts of ritzy schools last year as a high school senior, but I took my in-state because I got on with full merit. "</p>

7

<p>Gallitan at NYU has a really good individualized approach. You essentially design your own curriculum and then tell them what your studied. You have to find some way to tie it all together, but it sounds really cool. My sister loved it. <a href="http://www.nyu.edu/gallatin/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nyu.edu/gallatin/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

8

<p>First off, ignore those telling you to grow up. You seem very grown to me. They don't know what it's like to attend school with professors who have become numb because the vast majority of their students are numb. For someone who's very bright, it's Purgatory at best.</p>

<p>Here are some things you should know. First, I will guarantee you that the faculty at Kansas would be thrilled to have someone like you who really cares about learning. It's like discovering a border collie in a flock of sheep. Most of them will bend over backwards to help you, including doing individual study of any kind you think might interest you.</p>

<p>Second, I've yet to teach anywhere that the rules can't be bent or even broken with the right signature on the right form. If you need to get out of your prereqs then talk to a counselor about how to get that done. Yes, it can be hard to get it done, but it's almost certainly not impossible.</p>

<p>Given your situation, a transfer might not be the best option for you. Merit money for transfers can be hard to come by. I think the marriage thing might work out if you can find a willing partner. </p>

<p>Seriously, there are some very brilliant faculty members at KU. There just HAS to be a way to take advantage of what they have to offer. I think I have a good idea of what you're going through, and I know it's not fun. But given your situation, I think you would serve yourself best by finding a way to make this work for you.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

9

<p>I don?t understand why you?re saying U of K is boring. First of all, if my memory doesn?t fail me this time, I remember Lawrenceville was only 30 minutes car ride away from Kansas City International Airport - so you can easily enjoy the KC night life and whatnot, if you want. Secondly, U of K academics is nothing to be scoffed at, granted it?s not cr?me de la cr?me institution- it is still a good premier state school. Lastly, if you think you?re not challenged enough, try take some hard engineering or phsyics courses in your upper class man years or better major in super duper difficult ChemE or something. You will spend some serious hours in studying - that will straighten you up. Good Luck!!!</p>

10

<p>I don't think some of you understand what the OP is going through at all. My best friend is in the same situation. She's going to Ohio State, and even though she's in honors, she doesn't like it there at all. She was stuck in the regular dorms even though she wanted honors dorms, and just absolutely hates all the people. She's a really friendly person, but is just on an entirely different level from almost all people at her school and can't connect with them. She's also pretty bored sometimes, although I think her academics are a tad more difficult, so she just studies when she's bored (she's never been like this before, she's always been really social). </p>

<p>So as for your situation, I think if it stacks up financially then you should transfer. If you can't transfer then try double or triple majoring to challenge yourself with work. Also you should try to join clubs where you can find people as focused and intelligent as yourself. Make some friends who are like yourself and you'll like it much more then. I'm sure there's someone else at Kansas who feels the same way as you.</p>

11

<p>IMO---you know in your gut what you need to do. Now, find a way to do it.</p>

12

<p>I'm surprised that you took the U of K deal over "ritzy schools." What schools were they?</p>

<p>I highly suggest a transfer. I would usually say you've got stellar stats and are ready to transfer to top schools, but a 3.7 at the University of Kansas (even the honors program) is not very impressive. </p>

<p>Brown doesn't give much money at all to transfers. It sounds like you need to do some searching yourself and tell us what schools have interested you so far. If you're considering moving to another state to gain residency, states like Virginia, Texas, Michigan, California would be a good way to go as you could attend a CC for a year and gain priority in transferring into an honors program or something at UVA, UT-Austin, UMich, or Berkeley. Trust me - at one of those schools, you'll be challenged.</p>

<p>And if you're considering good graduate programs (which, considering your previous record, it seems like you would be) you need to get out of Kansas. Regardless of how amazing you may end up doing there, it is rare for a student from a school like U of K to get into a top school after undergrad.</p>

13

<p>Let's see.</p>

<p>Let's say part of the problem is 'burn out' with education and part of the problem is Lawrence, Kansas.</p>

<p>Which schools were you admitted to?</p>

<p>I propose a few private schools that are located in great settings--and you would get to meet kids from all over the world. Your 3.7 means you should have no trouble getting in.</p>

<p>Columbia
Barnard (good merit aid)
NYU
BU (good merit aid)
Tulane (good merit aid)
USC (good merit aid)
American University (good merit)
UMiami (good merit)</p>

<p>Call the admissions offices of any of these schools and talk through a transfer with them. they are going to eat up your story, believe me. Then follow up with a letter and a transfer app to a few of them.</p>

<p>Don't expect to find Nirvana--it doesn't exist but there are plenty of bigger adventures around. Part of a college adventure can be learning your way around a dynamic city.</p>

<p>Make sure that when you do transfer, you can do Junior year abroad because your low boredom threshold means you are going to need it! LOL.</p>

<p>My personal favorite for you would be Barnard. You take the same classes as students at Columbia and you live in New York City. I'd say there's half a chance you could call today and start there in a few weeks.....</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

14

<p>
[quote]
I think the marriage thing might work out if you can find a willing partner.

[/quote]

Wait wait, whaaaat? If you get married, I gather your parents' assets aren't used against you when calculating your financial need? That would save a TON of money, as I the school I go to meets full need. My alternative is to take about 100k out in loans, as my parents are non-contributory to my education.</p>

<p>Hmmmmmmmm</p>

15

<p>"Regardless of how amazing you may end up doing there, it is rare for a student from a school like U of K to get into a top school after undergrad."</p>

<p>...that statement is completely untrue. Grad schools rarely care where you did undergrad...I say that if you definitely want to do graduate school, finish up at UK as quickly as you can (you can even go abroad for a full year) and then go to the best graduate school you can get into. My sister went to University of Missouri (which is a comperable state school to UK) and got into the Kennedy School at Harvard for her graduate degree. Especially if you want to go to law school or medical school, save up your money on undergraduate and spend it on what actually matters...graduate school.</p>

<p>If you can't afford to leave Kansas, I say suck it up and make the best GPA possible. There are probably plenty of intelligent people there if you search for them, and you should try to improve your GPA closer to a 4.0. </p>

<p>I'm sorry you are unhappy at UK, but I assure you that if the problem is not being challenged, you could definitely try some difficult pre-med classes and be challenged. Consider a job, volunteer, get involved, or intern in Kansas City.</p>

16

<p>
[quote]
...that statement is completely untrue

[/quote]
</p>

<p>On the contrary, consider Harvard Law's undergraduate representation, which can be found here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.law.harvard.edu/admissions/jd/colleges.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.law.harvard.edu/admissions/jd/colleges.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You can see that elite undergraduate colleges send far more students on to arguably the best law school, often both in terms of total number and percentage. Coincidence? </p>

<p>For this case specifically, the University of Kansas sent three students to HLS. A top public school with a comparable (actually smaller) undergraduate class size, the University of Virginia, sent 19. Thus it is my advice that, if the OP wishes to have the best chance at top graduate schools, she should transfer either directly to a top state school or make her way through a community college.</p>

<p>Congratulations to your sister, greenface, but she is an anomaly. It is quite rare, as can be seen, for students at universities such as UK to go on to the top grad schools. And for the record, providing an example of one unique person that went from Missouri to Kennedy is not enough to support your argument and refute mine, since mine was simply that it is rare for that to happen, not impossible. You have merely supported what I've said.</p>

17

<p>Some of you asked where I looked last year -- all the places already mentioned. I investigated over 100 colleges. I narrowed the list by crossing off privates that gave no merit or didn't give enough: the Ivies, U of Chicago, NYU, Rice, Grinnell, Reed, etc. I then passed up publics that weren't kind to out-of-staters: the Californias, the NYCs, UVA.</p>

<p>Results:</p>

<p>KU... full ride; $2000 left to pay/yr in other expenses
BU... Trustee full tuition scholarship; $15,000 left/yr
George Washington... Presidential 1/2 tuition scholarship; $30,000 left/yr
Duke... <em>nearly</em> won Robertson scholarship, but no dice so no aid
UNC... no aid
Wash U... no aid
UT-Austin... no aid</p>

<p>I should have taken BU. Don't misunderstand, KU is a good school for most people who attend it; for specializations like engineering or medicine, it's fine, even rigorous, and for the average undecided student it suffices in liberal studies. I thought if looked hard enough I could find a challenge until I had a degree path and, by my attendance, sock some money for later. I was wrong. I regret my ignorance.</p>

<p>I have run into walls at every step. My academic advisor is head of the whole honors department and she can't even get me into honors math, much less write me out of prereqs, Tarhunt. I asked my English prof to aid me with a personal writing project that involved in-depth research into Lawrence history, and he flat out refused. The students in my Arabic class won't even form a table to practice the language... unlike the French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese and Korean departments.</p>

<p>I am truly discouraged.</p>

<p>You know, I've met a lot of people in five months. I talk to everyone -teachers, club leaders, classmates, strangers in coffeehouses, our resident homeless population. I am not a snob. I just want a place where I can explore and be reasonably happy. I don't care if it's private or public. Want to know something odd? Almost all the kids I count as true friends here are bad in the same way. They're desperate to transfer. We band together in down time, but it doesn't fix our real problem: the school part of school.</p>

<p>It's irrational, but I feel I am either terribly unlucky or doing something wrong. Half of me wants to stay and fight. Maybe I just haven't found the right way to work the system. If things need changing - someone has to instigate, yeah? Carve a path for all the other kids who feel as drained?</p>

<p>My other half is screaming at me to vanish to an elsewhere place.</p>

<p>I just don't know. But I need to decide quick - the longer I wait, the harder the move.</p>

<p>(P.S. I do appreciate all your inputs. Comments have been candid, useful and majorly psych-boosting.)</p>

18

<p>I liked cheers' advice. Strange that he or she suggested BU, and that was one of your top choices. I was also thinking that Barnard sounded like a fit. Well, you are in a tough spot. I think that forcing yourself to get a lot of boring core requirements out of the way is totally the wrong thing to do. Do the opposite! You need to take some courses that you like, get to know the professors and other students (including grad students), initiate a dialog, and go on from there. You will become an insider in the department, get to know everybody, be invited to seminars and get togethers. Do not take any cores that you are not interested in. Not yet at least- it can wait, a long time even. Some of your problem is just that you have not settled in and found your niche in college. Other kids are going through that period, too. Another kid may lament homesickness, or missing their old circle of friends and activities, but you are translating to an academic misfit/frustration focus. I do think that you should at least seriously try to transfer, or you will always have regrets. Tulane is a place to look at- they do give good aid. Rice and U of Rochester are possibles. You can look at some liberal arts colleges, but would probably either love or hate them if you decided to go. One weird idea- I read that you can attend Harvard Extension branch very cheaply (under 10K per year). You can live in Harvard apartments but not dorms, and the extension has its own activities. After awhile, you can take half of your courses in the day school. The program is full of people who can't afford Harvard or MIT, or are qualified but were not selected admissions-wise. To me, it sounds more appropriate for people in their early twenties, who say, were unhappy at another school. But you may be ready now, or it may be you in 18 months or two years. You get a degree from Harvard University, but not Harvard College (the Ivy League undergrad branch of the university). Same professors.</p>

19

<p>Daelin:</p>

<p>I'm not surprised that your advisor can't do much for you. Advisors in most schools have very little power. If you want to transfer and can afford it, then I'd tell you to do that. There really are colleges where the students around you are bright, inquisitive, eager to learn, and hard working. If you feel you really need to stick it out for financial reasons, then you need to move up the food chain to get what you need. As for the English prof, that's only one person and it's quite possible that he is already swamped with independent projects. Or he could be lazy. It happens. Try someone else or go to the department head and ask for a suggestion (which will give you a chance to tell your story, as well. Not a bad thing, that.)</p>

<p>Look, in your teachers' and administration's defense, we get worn down, OK? I kick and scream NOT to teach undergrad classes anymore because they are so demoralizing. It's very possible that your teachers have a bad attitude and have adopted not caring much as a defense mechanism. But except for the total burnouts, we all got into this line of work because we LOVE learning and we care about learning and we tend to love those who are like us.</p>

<p>So, there's a mentor out there for you somewhere.</p>

<p>I really wish you good luck. Based on what you've said, I really think you'd be better off at a small college like Reed or Swarthmore or a large university like the University of Chicago. But if you can't afford that, you can't.</p>

20

<p>
[quote]
"Regardless of how amazing you may end up doing there, it is rare for a student from a school like U of K to get into a top school after undergrad."</p>

<p>...that statement is completely untrue. Grad schools rarely care where you did undergrad...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Greenface:</p>

<p>I'm afraid you're mistaken. It varies by field and depatment, of course, but I can testify personally to the fact that where one did one's undergrad work matters. We academic types tend to be snobs. When I see that one of the applicants to our program has worked in a highly respected undergrad school and has a rec from a highly respected and well-known colleague, it makes a difference. </p>

<p>Despite what you might think, we're not stupid. We know that grades tend to be depressed by competition. Grades are often comparison scores, even if shows up only in grader bias. A grade at an old Big 8 school is not the same as a grade at Berkeley.</p>