<p>I'm currently in my first term of my sophomore year, and am looking to transfer from U of M to Penn State after the sophomore year. I was an idiot, and took an extremely challenging semester this semester, and will probably get an A, B, and I'm contention of getting a C- in one of my two last courses. So I have to submit my transcript at the end of the Fall term to PSU. I live in pennsylvania, and my brother goes there, if that matters, and I already have one W. I'm thinking I should drop one of those lower grade courses, and save my college GPA which is a 3.1 currently, and then try to go A B C in the three courses. Will a second W in 2 years cripple my chances of getting out of here? Or should I just go for A B C C but then I'll have well below a 3.1. I'm in a pickle, and I really want to get out of here, so any suggestions? My high school stats are strong too, 3.87 unweighted GPA and top 5% in my class. It's decision time, please help.</p>
<p>yeah I think you are in Umich to Penn State should be a smooth transfer</p>
<p>My understanding of your original post in this thread is that you find the Univ. of Michigan to be too difficult and that you want to attend Penn State because it is easier & you'll enjoy in-state tuition. And, due to taking challenging courses at Michigan, your grades are not good.
This is an interesting post as it demonstrates the difficulty many students encounter when studying at elite, highly selective universities that do not utilize grade inflation. This tends to occur in the Mid-West at schools like Northwestern & Michigan.
You will probably need at least a 3.0 to transfer to Penn State as you will be "competing" with many students from the satellite (branch) campuses of Penn State.
Part of the problem is that many, if not most, public high schools give out high grades for basic, elementary effort & insight while most elite universities demand much more for any grade above a "C+" or a "B-minus". This comes as a shock to students accustomed to easy grading at ordinary high schools. I have seen many examples of this and am often surprised at the easy grading of many high schools, especially in South Carolina & Georgia public schools.
I have reviewed students written work at elite private prep schools in Georgia & New England that was worthy of publication only to receive a grade of "B" or "B-minus" due to the demanding standards of the schools, the quality of the teachers-many of whom were formerly college profs-and due to the quality of the students.
Engineering students encounter steep academic demands nationwide, as well.</p>
<p>Hey cool, also transferring to PSU after my sophomore year.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say I was unprepared but I would say my high school was a joke. I'm an intelligent kid, I got a 1400 on my SATs, but I agree coming to UM was a major change. So my biggest issues is to drop or not to drop. 2 W's too many for a transfer or is it worth the cost to save a 3.0?</p>