Hi!
So I’ve recently been faced with a super difficult decision, and although I know this is just an online forum, I was looking for some advice/help from people who may have been in a similar position.
So, first, Emory – I’ve gone here for one year (my freshman year) and I’ve loved it. I’ve loved the people, the environment, and everything. I’ve also managed to do really well – if I stay, I have tons of club leadership positions, a possible internship and a research opportunity. I have a lot of close friends and was always super happy here. It’d also only be ~ 20k a year to continue here. The main problem is I want to major in Physics and Astronomy/Biophysics, and their program isn’t really strong. In addition, the research opportunity I may have might not pull through because the professor may be transferring. In that case, I’d be left without any chances in research, and I’ve already asked nearly every other astronomy professor at Emory and none of them are available to offer research. Which scares me if I stay – I may not get a chance to do research which I’m going to NEED if I want to get into a good graduate school or be accepted into NASA.
Second, UPenn. I applied to transfer because of the problem I mentioned above. It’s an amazing school, Ivy League, it’s offering me an education for 30k a year. I don’t know much about it since I haven’t really been able to live there or anything. It’s closer to home and my parents definitely want me to go, but when I visited, I wasn’t sure I really liked it…at the same time I think I may be able to see myself there. I know that they have a much better Physics/Astronomy program and will definitely have more research opportunities and offer me a better education for my career. Despite this, Emory has been my home for a year and it seems like it’d be difficult to leave it behind.
Thoughts? Thank you!
I will put emotions at the bottom of the stack. Prioritize your academic and future opportunities on top of everything. At UPenn, you’ll make new friends and can always come back to visit friends at Emory sometimes. It’s been only one year and you’ll have at least 3 years to build a whole new foundation at UPenn.
@jule009 I honestly don’t know what you should do…but this premium put on “Ivy” (not all Ivies are even the same. For example, if one was a chemistry major, I doubt it would make sense to leave Emory for Cornell, Brown, or Dartmouth. Same for bio/neuroscience) makes no sense, but if you really really want to go there, then do so for other reasons (and for Godsakes, please don’t assume that undergraduate teaching would be better in your areas of interest. Many privates aren’t that progressive about that, especially in physics. What you would hope for is more course variety I guess? Perhaps because they have an engineering school. But don’t bank on a “better education” as that sadly doesn’t correlate neatly with ranking and prestige differences and I can show many examples of that). And if you are doing that well academically, you can accelerate quicker and take lots of upper division and graduate classes. I am just suspecting the differences at the undergraduate level may not be as big as you perceive them and that it may be hard for them to even manifest if you transfer, but you seem desperate to go to go to Penn.
“In that case, I’d be left without any chances in research, and I’ve already asked nearly every other astronomy professor at Emory and none of them are available to offer research. Which scares me if I stay – I may not get a chance to do research which I’m going to NEED if I want to get into a good graduate school or be accepted into NASA.”
Hmm…in the past I have not heard of others interested in these areas having these problems. Also, motivated students who may have trouble landing opps at Emory have successfully landed research positions and collaborations at this amazing STEM institute in mid-town and came out quite successfully. There are also REUs (one genius friend of mines is at Chicago for particle physics PhD and that was definitely not Emory’s research specialty. He had a lab at Emory and did REUs every summer to get exposure to particle physics). Have you really exhausted all of your options or are you really ready for convenience and additional prestige?
Also, please do keep an open mind with what you can do with certain majors as a freshman. First of all, disciplines like astronomy and physics can be very interdisciplinary meaning that graduate programs in such areas may not need you to do research directly in the field so much as one adjacent to it. You could start from other areas and land there. Stop feeling these pre-preemptive “needs” even if you go to Penn. Many nor even most scientists take the most linear of pathways to their disciplines despite what movies like to suggest lol. (Honestly, now-a-days, lots of computational scientists/physicists end up in your field of interest. I did my MS in computational chemistry and through an internship in a high performance computing bootcamp, I met lots of people in astronomy. And lots of the leaders of the training program were in that area and did not necessarily start there. They kind of adapted their skills to astronomy). Regardless of what you do, please do broaden your ideas for pathways leading to it. Don’t feel rushed to specialize or feel that you “need” to do anything anywhere to pursue any specific career. Think that part it through a bit more no matter where you are.
Thanks for the advice! I actually ended up picking UPenn 
Wow congrats on Penn. Really inspiring, I’m currently trying to do transfer admissions as well and I would really appreciate it if you posted stats + ecs?
Hi!! Of course! @CollegeSoteria
So here goes:
Personal info:
middle class Girl from a suburban town in the northeast (v average lol)
GPA:
HS Weighted: 5.05
HS Unweighted: 3.8
College freshman year: 3.84 (although it was a 3.94 when I applied and was accepted)
SAT: 1570
ACT: 34
Subject SAT’s: I honestly didn’t do the best on these so ://
EC’s:
co-creator, co-pres of HS ethical debate club
section leader in HS marching band
self-published author on amazon
HS Model UN team
Junior Breakthrough Challenge Participant
Rotary Club Speech Contest
HS Poetry Slam
school newspaper
@ Emory:
EIRA (international relations + Model UN) - Publicity Chair
Astronomy Club - Exec Board
Emory Conversation Project (club to promote political discussion)
The Wheel - Wheeltern (school newspaper)
RHA Programming Council
other:
Habitat 4 Humanity (@ Emory)
volunteered at band camps as counselor
job at online transcription company
math tutor and online facilitator for teens with mental illness
Awards/Honors:
National Honor Society
Commended Merit Scholar
Wellesley Book award
Phi Eta Sigma @ Emory
other honor societies + a few scholarships
Okay, that was a lot, but honestly, in spite of all this, I think a big part of my admission was my main penn essay. I intentionally mentioned big parts of penn’s campus, mentioning specific professors I’d want to work with, labs that I would want to work in, and how I could see myself walking down such and such place and studying in such and such building. I feel like that really helped because it showed I did my reserach and I cared a lot. Also, having a very focused and specific passion and really explaining why it’s your passion is also good. But yeah, good luck!! Just put all your heart into your apps and make sure to double and triple check ur essays and I think u got it. Are u transferring for next year? or spring?
@jule009 OMG. Thank you for writing all of that. Sorry for replying so late. I am not that familiar with the CC UI and didn’t see a notification that you replied. That was a lot to read and very helpful. I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE WRITING. I plan on transferring next year. Also just wanted to say wow, you really did a lot in one year at Emory. Congrats again. Do you mind if I PM you?