Transferring; Finding the right college fit

College Search & Selection
1

Hey guys,

Currently I am attending the College of William and Mary as a freshman. My stats if thats anyway related:

High School GPA: 4.03 (Weighted)
SAT: 1430 CR+M, 2090 CR+M+W
College 1st semester: 3.03 (Disappointing I know, I took a 300-level political theory class and finished with a B+, took most of my time though)

Now on the colleges.
I think William and Mary is an awesome college with great academics. However I do not like its location and want to transfer to somewhere more metropolitan/more well-known throughout the states, since I won’t be going to grad school.

I have generally looked at colleges in the south, partly because I love the city planning in the south (more spread out and cheaper) and because I can’t stand cold weather and wind (I was born in Nepal where the trees don’t shed in the fall and it never snows).

I am somewhat concerned about being an immigrant though. I was born in Nepal and I immigrated to the US when I was 8 years old.
Now I have lived my entire life (since moving to the US) in Northern Virginia, which is very diverse and integrated, at least my high school was. White people, black people, immigrants, are all cool with each other, and people are used to seeing different faces. My best friends were two white guys (one who was “Irish and Polish” - quotes because lets be honest, how far up the family tree would he have to go to actually find anyone from those countries?- and one who was such a white kid he didn’t bother reiterating his heritage (not a bad thing), a African dude whose parents were Ethiopian, one whose parents were Moroccan, one who was German, one whose mom was from El Salvador. Basically a pretty mixed bunch, all basically American.
Anyways I never felt conscious about being Nepali or being an immigrant.

However at William and Mary, the atmosphere is very different. A lot of the kids are from private and Catholic schools, and they seem less accustomed to seeing diverse faces around. Which is unfortunate but understandable, since you are more used to familiar people. Not saying that I have felt discrimination, however.
Mind, all the people are great. I rushed a fraternity called PIKA and they were pretty accommodating to me. The rush chair told me “If you want to join a real Southern frat, this is it”.

Still, I feel like the school is just way too different for me. Everyone self-segregates a lot, and the school being pretty small doesn’t help.

So I was looking at several universities with more “diverse” student bodies (hoping people would be more used to seeing other races around) and wanted to see the general opinion on them and the general feel. I wanted to try the UC’s, but their application deadline was back in October.)

University of Virginia (I understand its very preppy, but its in-state and a lot of NoVA people go there)

University of Texas - Austin (Its in Texas, but still a large Asian and Hispanic population there its a huge school so its easier to find people of similar backgrounds, also Austin is supposedly pretty liberal)

Vanderbilt - Dont know much about this college, other than its in Nashville and its pretty prestigious. Heard its very preppy like UVa though.

Duke - Its Duke. Pretty diverse demographics apparently

Georgetown - Its Georgetown. Pretty diverse demographics. Not sure how much of it is wealthy international students. Also heard its very preppy.

Claremont McKenna - Cali! But also very small

Northwestern - Ok, in the north but still.

Rice University - In Texas, pretty small but apparently quite diverse.

Note by preppy I mean kids that went to private school, not anything else.

I understand that there will be some separation by race at every university, and that there will always be people who are not used to people of different races (or only want a specific type of person to attend college with them).

2

The first question I have to ask is if your parents can afford $50K+/year for an OOS school? That’s what UT and teh UCs will cost. All the schools you’ve selected are highly competitive and a 3.0 UG GPA may not do it. Run the Net Price Calculators to see what’s affordable for your family. Also, transfers generally don’t get any merit aid (nor would those schools really have any except for some tippy-top applicants).

3

Haha, no my parents aren’t going to help with my college tuition at all.
I didn’t apply to the UC’s

UT costs $35,000 OOS which is similar to W&M in-state ($30,000). William Mary is giving me a $15,000 grant, with $7k sub/unsub loans. I have paid the remaining $7k out of money I have saved working in high school.
Thing about UT is that after 1 year I could apply for residency, and the in-state tuition + board is something like $10,000. Furthermore, UT has a larger selection of employers that recruit there, they have a wider alumni base, etc (WM seems to have a pretty weak alumni base, most people want to go to grad school it seems).

My parents make $120,000, which I believe would put the tuition at most of the private schools around $20,000 +room&board. However again if its a school like Georgetown/Northwestern/Duke which is every respected in business it could be worth taking the ~$15,000+ per year for the 3 years, you know?

Ofc. I am not saying I’ll get into these by any chance, it would be amazing if I did. I will most likely try again sophomore year to transfer.

4

W&M costs $30K total. UT is $30K just for tuition. Add at least another $16K for Room, Board and other fees. http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/whyut/basics/finances And it’s not necessarily easy to change residency in college. As I recommended earlier, run the Net Price Calculators on each schools’ web site. You can’t make a general statement about what your expected cost will be. They all offer different aid packages. And being a transfer may make those packages lower than those for a freshman. BTW, you as a student are maxed out on borrowing at $7.5K/year as a Junior and Senior. You would need to figure out how to make up the delta.

5

Erin’s Dad is right on point, and has a record of giving sound advice.

However again if its a school like Georgetown/Northwestern/Duke which is every respected in business it could be worth taking the ~$15,000+ per year for the 3 years, you know?

No. The grads from those schools do not command more in salary than W&M, given comparable grades and work experience.

I would also point out that you may be being both a little optimistic about what some of the other schools are like in practice, while underselling W&M. Duke, Vanderbilt, and UVa are heavily preppy in attitude (before anybody gets upset- of course there are plenty of other people at each of them, the same is true of W&M). Yes, UVa is heavily NoVa- the same NoVa people who are at W&M, but perhaps slightly less serious-minded). As for Georgetown, My D1 was some amused at the difference between students in the college and in the school of foreign service. She said that although the Georgetown undergrads looked diverse in skin color, they were very homogenous culturally.

There are lots of reasons that W&M might not be the best fit for you- you may like a bigger pond, for example. If so, go ahead and move over to UVa, but taking on $45,000 in extra debt for (say) UT makes no sense.

6

Also, this, from the FAQ on residency (http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/residency/faq)

I moved to Texas to go to UT Austin (or another college/university). But I think I now meet the criteria for establishing residency. Is it possible for me to be classified as a resident?

In general people who move to Texas to attend college are presumed not to have the required intent to make Texas their domicile. In some situations, however, this presumption may be overruled if the student submits “clear and convincing evidence” that he or she has established and maintained a residence or domicile, as appropriate. Submitting such evidence is the responsibility of the student seeking to be classified as a resident.

“Clear and convincing evidence” (according to my friend in Austin) is something such as purchasing a place to live.

and…

My parents live in a state other than Texas and claim me on their taxes. Can I establish residency?
If your parents live in another state and claim you as a dependent on their federal income taxes, then you are not eligible to establish residency unless one of the following is true:

You are graduating from a Texas high school.
Your parents can claim a temporary absence from Texas.
You are over the age of 18 and your parents stop claiming you as a dependent when filing federal income taxes; in this case you would be eligible to establish residency as an independent student.

7

Kinda a strange meeting place but I’m also a freshman at W&M applying to transfer as well! I share some of the same feelings as you and it’s nice to know Im not the only one who wants to transfer out of this school.

8

As an undergraduate, it is almost impossible to apply for residency in another state. Most states have very, very stringent rules that make it very unlikely… it is not just a matter of living in the state for a year… So if you cannot afford out-of-state tuition, then cross the school off the list.

Also, a 3.0 GPA isn’t going to allow you to transfer to the most selective schools (Rice, Duke, Northwestern, Georgetown).

To be brutally honest, your best bet is just to stay put and make the best of the opportunities you have at W&M.