<p>My GPA isn't going to be amazing but will admissions officers take the difficultly of the previous college into account?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Yuppers - they take it into account.</p>
<p>I think it might depend on the selectivity of the LAC you are trying to transfer into. If you are trying to get into the top 15 or so LACs, they might wonder if you are capable of doing quality work at the new school. I don't think the course work at Williams, Swarthmore, Amherst, or Pomona is going to be any easier.</p>
<p>I don't have a problem with that. My grades aren't terrible I just have problems with calculus. I'm not trying to tranfser to an easier school, just a school that's less impersonal and a better fit in general but I was just worried about the competition from kids with 4.00s at less demanding colleges.</p>
<p>4.0 at less demanding college will not trump a good GPA in the 3.5+ range from a more demanding college. It's the whole package.</p>
<p>Agreed. Just out of curiosity, where are you now, and where do you want to transfer?</p>
<p>I'm just interested in why you feel so unwelcome.</p>
<p>do you go to U. Penn? I'm just guessing based on your location. I understand some people feel larger universities are more impersonal and want the smaller atmosphere at a LAC. </p>
<p>When you apply as a freshman, they take into account the rigor of your HS, I'm sure they'll do the same for a freshman transfer. Rest assured a gpa of like 3.5 at an Ivy is impressive, more so than a 3.8 at an average to below average school.</p>
<p>yes I do go to penn. I want to transfer to either pomona or claremont mckenna. It isn't terrible here but i'm just not happy. I'm from a small town so the urban campus is a little much for me. Also, the lectures are way too big and I just feel really detached from the school in general. I'd rather go to a college than a university for my undergrad years if you know what I mean...</p>
<p>also is the gpa from both semesters freshman year or just the first?</p>
<p>When you apply, your transcript will only have the first semester grades, so only that will be used for your gpa.</p>
<p>oh geez...no pressure there..</p>
<p>If Penn gets out uber early, before decisions are sent, you could send your transfer colleges an unofficial transcript (grade report). My D did that last year, don't know if it helped or not, but it can't hurt.</p>
<p>I'll probably just bank on what got me into college in the first place. i mean who doesn't need one extra native american :) but really i don't think i'll ever forgive calc if it ruins my chances because i only have 4 classes and thats not much room for error</p>
<p>I'm transferring out of Williams, you can take my place</p>
<p>rl.hill- Why are you leaving Williams?</p>
<p>es four, my reasons for transferring are three-fold: money, stress, and general dislike for the small-town college atmosphere, which nineteen seems to cherish so greatly. </p>
<p>In terms of money, Williams is crushingly expensive, at $52,000/year. The college is need-blind and for the most part gives its students good packages, but even with a $100,000 outside scholarship, I find myself bickering with FinAid, because of a provision that states that an outside scholarship has no bearing on a student's EFC, which means I STILL have to pay like 4000/year.</p>
<p>In terms of stress, Williams is one of the toughest and most stressful schools in the country. Most grad schools take our students 3.2's, 3.3's etc. because it is very tough to get high grades here, unless you go the traditional route of taking humanities courses to water-down your GPA. I cuold do that, but i'm an Economics major with Econometrics and Advanced Statistics a requirement, and i'm sure to get creamed there. The stress takes a very real toll on many students at this school. In order to get my work done, i've taken to sleeping during the day and working during the night to get it done.</p>
<p>In terms of general dislike, i'll pull a quote from nineteen and expound from an angle he/she probably hasn't thought of:</p>
<p>"It isn't terrible here but i'm just not happy. I'm from a small town so the urban campus is a little much for me."</p>
<p>Students thinking this way should be careful what they wish for. The small town is a far cry from urbana, and many of the amenities you enjoy in the city are non-existent in the small town. The town of Williamstown has exactly one stoplight, the stores all close at 5, and its a 20 minute drive to the nearest Wal-Mart - that's just speaking on the town. The school itself is only 2000 students (average size for a LAC, actually a little large); but it isn't the size that most turns me off, it's the TYPE of student that attends these sorts of schools. Not that wasps are bad people (they are not) but I was born and raised middle-class, in a home on an average street, not a $3-4,000,000 home in Greenwich, and it affects the students I am able to socialize with, or would be interested in socializing with. The suburban New York, prep culture turns me off immensely.</p>
<p>I spent the summer at the University of Maryland and made friends from all across the spectrum: black, white, asian, straight, gay, domestic, and international. The difference between Maryland students and Williams students is their background: most Maryland students are middle class, whereas the average Williams student's parents probably make $500,000 - $1,000,000 per year, that's average. There are Billionaire's kids here, as well as a fair number of students somewhere in the hundreds of millions. Not that they are bad people, but they come from a different world entirely. They drive BMW 7-series, pay full tuition, and have an entirely different cultural orientation. While I do have friend sin this category, I feel excluded from much of this type of society.</p>
<p>I intend to tell the dean's office tomorrow, but I know they will fight tooth and nail for me to stay. They might give me more money, or let me study away, but at this point my situation here has become in a way corrosive. Although, I do intend to transfer back before graduation, which the school gives me the option to do, because I want the Williams name.</p>
<p>hope that helps, most of this is applicable to all top LACS, certainly the top three (Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan)</p>
<p>"I do intend to transfer back before graduation, which the school gives me the option to do, because I want the Williams name."</p>
<p>The school gives you the option to do that? Huh?</p>
<p>The school allows former students who left in good academic standing to return subject to review by the Dean of the college, independent of the admissions office. There are limitations, of course, but I have friends who have transferred and upon leaving, received offers to return. It is standard procedure.</p>