<p>I'm an American currently finishing up my first year at a large public university in Canada. I came here knowing that I wanted to study literature but I wasn't sure in what capacity. I took a Russian literature class, found that I loved it, and have since taken another as well as an intensive (as in, double-credit) beginner's language course. Part of what is attractive to me about this department is that it's one of the very smallest in a school with pretty large departments, which means that the classes have been focused on discussion, which is what I want. I've also had classes with three of the four profs in the department—the fourth I can't have til I'm a senior since she's going on sabbatical for the next two years—and they're all great, and I've gotten to know them all to varying degrees which I like.</p>
<p>The flipside of the department being so small is that it's severely underfunded. There's not money for anything really. The course list is exciting but it's pretty limited. One of the profs, the only one who's really qualified to teach language, might not be coming back next year, and I'm pretty sure it's because of the financial situation. On top of that, one of the two literature profs I've had will be on sabbatical for at least a year, when I'm a junior, reducing the department even further.</p>
<p>I'm happy at my university, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't sometimes think about what it would be like to be at a smaller, more undergrad-focused institution. That alone doesn't really make me feel like I should transfer, but the situation with my program has got me thinking about it. I'm just toying around with the idea at this point, and the option is still pretty distant; if I transferred, it would be for the beginning of my junior year.</p>
<p>My main questions are does anybody have any experience with transferring for a specific program like this? I'm guessing there's no easy answer to this, but given the circumstances is it possible that program GPA would be more important than cumulative GPA? Also, I'm not sure where I would be applying. I'd probably apply to Harvard at least, since I got waitlisted there when I applied originally (I know that doesn't guarantee anything by a longshot, but I figure it at least means I wasn't too far off in high school, and I think I'll be able to make a more compelling case a year from now than I did a year ago), but I really don't know. If anybody has any knowledge of which Russian programs are particularly strong, I'd like to hear about it, although I may just make a separate topic for that since it's kind of a different question.</p>