Transfer? Perspectives from parents?

<p>I'm a freshman at a top-five liberal arts college. It wasn't close to my first choice, but I don't hate it here. However, I don't love it, and I'm having a bit of hard time adjusting/making friends/finding interesting things to do. I can picture getting through and staying here, but it doesn't make me too happy. </p>

<p>Harvard was my first choice in high school and I got waitlisted (which made the whole process so much harder), then was not accepted off of the list. I thought that I'd get to college and stop thinking about Harvard, but that hasn't happened. </p>

<p>Basically, transferring isn't an imperative (I'm not miserable, just... not satisfied). Harvard was my first choice in high school, and I still love it. It’s the only place I’d think of transferring. </p>

<p>Should I apply to transfer? Are they any likelier to accept me as a transfer from a prestigious LAC than they were when I would have been an incoming freshman from a mediocre public high school? Do I need to retake SATs? Write a letter? Just fill out a transfer application and cross my fingers? Or should I just stick it out here and see what happens?</p>

<p>I sense from your post that you will always have this nagging feeling of "why didn't I try again" Maybe this is, in fact, why you are having trouble getting situated where you are - maybe you haven't let go of your dream. My advice is to apply as a transfcer, tell yourself that this time if you are not admitted you will let go of that dream and give your present location a chance. Good luck - I'll be rooting for you :)</p>

<p>What, specifically, does Harvard offer that your current school does not other than the fact that Harvard was "your first choice"?</p>

<p>What, specifically, can you point to that makes you a stronger applicant now?</p>

<p>Those are the types of questions that you would need to consider.</p>

<p>I am aware of a recent transfer to Harvard by a young man who was rejected as a freshman applicant (I am not 100% sure of this, but pretty sure I am recalling corrrectly). I saw his essay and it did a stupendous job of detailing why the (excellent) school he was at did not match his expectations for college intellectual life. It showed detailed knowledge of programs and organizations at Harvard which would be right for him, and to which he would contribute.</p>

<p>This is just one example, but it can be done. Not saying you should do it exactly that way, but I think it will be key to have specific points to make about why you need to make a move and why it should be Harvard.</p>

<p>That said, I am torn (btw, I was a transfer myself): on the one hand, as MarylandMom implies, you may need to give it one more try so you will not be tormented by that "nagging feeling;" on the other hand, you may need to really examine whether you are preventing yourself from getting the most out of your current school. It is humanly possible, I think, to do both - tho not easy - apply for the transfer, but really devote your energies to finding the best your current school has to offer.</p>

<p>Marylandmom, thanks. I think you might be right about the "nagging feeling." </p>

<p>Interesteddad, Interesteddad, you're right. I really do have to think about those questions. </p>

<p>Off the top of my head: Harvard offers a highly respected concentration in government (which is the program that I now know I'd enroll in, though when I originally applied, I was undecided) while one of the similar programs at my school was revamped about two years ago and its still in sort of a "testing" phase. It seems to have a much wider variety of opportunities available for community service and extracurricular activities (most of ours feel sort of under-funded and small-scale, which I guess I should have thought about. A LAC is small, and the extracurriculars would be as well). On a somewhat more superficial note, it's also substantially larger, has a much more favorable location, and (I guess this just about gives it away), is co-ed. </p>

<p>I don't know if I'm a stronger applicant now. I finished off my senior year of high school pretty well, I started my first semester a bit weakly but as it goes on, I've been doing better. I’m taking a pretty strong liberal arts program, and am in a mix of intro and intermediate level classes. I was elected to house council and college government, I serve on an activities finance committee, I'm working on the radio station and (a little) on a student magazine. Does any of this make me much different from what I was in high school? I truly have no idea. </p>

<p>Jmmom, thanks. I might give that route a try. I guess I do need to look harder here too, and prepare for the long haul. Even if I do give the transfer a shot, it's not like I want to get out of here and go anywhere else. I'd like to go to Harvard or stay where I am.</p>

<p>In many respects, it sounds like you are doing well; getting involved in ECs, adjusting to the classwork. I don't know if you would have had similar success as a freshman at H.</p>

<p>If you don't transfer as an UG, you could consider H for grad school.</p>