Transferring from a community college vs UMichigan

Hi gang - could use some insight into something I’m debating for next year …

I am currently a freshman at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and I am thinking of transferring to a different school for my sophomore year. Umich isn’t terrible, but I want to go somewhere closer to home and smaller.

Additionally, I am debating leaving after the first semester here, and going home to take some classes at a community college in the spring while doing an internship and working part-time. This would allow me to make some money, get some work experience and travel/figure some things out while still getting credits in.

Would it be more beneficial for my transfer applications (to places like tufts, brown, Babson etc…) coming from a school like Michigan over a community college? Or, if I make good use of my time in the spring semester, would I have an equal chance coming from a CC? I am unsure whether I should stick it out at Michigan for a full year or spend my time in a different way.

Grade aren’t really an issue, I am doing well in my classes right now and am pretty involved in campus, but could do equally well or even better at a CC. Any advice about which track is better would be super helpful - Thanks!

I actually did what your thinking of doing… I was at Iowa State for only one semester before I transferred to my local community college. I regret it for some reasons but I am thankful for other reasons. Personally, I loved living on my own and being away from home. Did I have the most friends at Iowa? No, but I had a decent amount. Did I get homesick? Sure, who doesn’t? But the main reason I left was that I was unsure of what I wanted to do and I didn’t want to waste money. My GPA wasn’t the best either but after transferring to my CC, I did way better.

In terms of your issue, I feel like the choice is yours. UMich is a great school and Ann Arbor is an amazing city but if you want something different, go for it. So if you want to transfer to your CC for the spring semester, you can do that. Remember that colleges allow you to write about a special circumstance about why you transferred and you can simply put something like: Family issues.

But I think the main thing to keep in mind throughout this is that some colleges require pre-reqs before you are admitted into their program. So make sure that if you do transfer to your CC, check with the schools you’re interested in and make sure you meet all pre-reqs if they have any and that if you need to take it at your CC, that they will transfer over. Also, CC is WAY cheaper so if you’re trying to save money, I’d say transfer after this semester.

I hope I helped a little bit but I too am trying to figure things out. I am in the middle of applying to transfer to colleges and UMich is on my list as one of my reach schools. Best of luck with everything!