transferring out of a full ride school?

Transfer Students
1

<p>So I'm a freshman at the University of Maryland (College Park) and I'm not loving it. I'm not impressed with the academics (though I'm trying to get into an upper level class for next semester so we'll see if that changes things at all) and I don't really like the social scene - it seems to be all about sports and partying, neither of which I'm into. </p>

<p>The only reason that I'm considering staying, and why I came here in the first place over schools I liked better (namely Swarthmore and Georgetown, both of which I'm thinking of transferring to), is that I got a full ride to UMD, so going here is completely free. It's been a good opportunity to focus on getting internships instead of work study, and it gives me flexibility to do summer programs that I wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. If I transferred out, I'd probably be paying around $40k a year, which my family can make work with minimal loans (plus I'm guessing it'll only make a difference next year since my sister's going off to college the year after that, so I think we'd be paying the same amount of money either way), but it'll definitely mean a bit of a harder time paying for grad school and summer programs would be off the table unless I found scholarships for them. </p>

<p>Now all of that would be worth it if I ended up at a school where I was truly happy, because I really don't have that right now. However, I'm scared that if I end up transferring I might not like the new school any better, and then I'm spending all this money to still be unhappy, and I've given up the opportunity to live near DC for four years for free.</p>

<p>Has anyone here faced a similar situation? If you have, what did you end up doing and do you have any regrets? What do you think makes the most sense in my situation? Should I take a chance and try to transfer or should I stick with the opportunities I have at UMD even though I'm not happy there?</p>

<p>Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated :)</p>

2

<p>In all honesty if you are worried about social scenes, quite frankly most colleges are the same. Literally everyone parties no matter where you go, some more than others of course, but Im sure Georgetown is actually pretty into partying.</p>

<p>It sounds like a full ride scholarship is a pretty sweet deal, but you are unhappy. Have you tried joining clubs with similar interest that you have? after all everyone has to find their niche in a given university. You have only been their for a semester, give it another semester before making a finalized decision. Also try going outside of your comfort zone. In college sometimes you have to be willing to attempt to bridge gaps between people with varying interest. Sometimes you end up discovering something new you enjoy or find a new social scene you would have never found out about if you dont try.</p>

<p>My advice is be financially prudent. Only enroll in a university that you can afford. If you can pull off the hefty private school price tag, then go for it. But if you are truly serious about grad school or summer programs and wont be able to finance them if you leave UMD, then I say stay put.</p>

<p>If you are truly unhappy with the social scene, what sort of social scene do you want in a school? Many freshman fail to ask themselves that, or at least do not define what they want in a detailed manner beyond the vague “more intellectual atmosphere”</p>

3

<p>I agree with the above, I think most social scenes in colleges are the same. You’ll find the same group of people that you like, don’t like, or don’t care about. Talk with your parents, and see what they think.</p>

4

<p>I’d try and stay at Maryland because of the obvious reason that it is free. Coming out of college debt free is rare and great. I would recommend that you stick it out since the academics are not hard for you as you expressed

. Since you cann easily get good grades in your classes that is good. I’m sure you will find friends since you have only been there 1 semester. I’d atleast finish the year and if I were you I’d stay for the remaining 3 years. Free BA degree could also allow you go onto a masters degree of come out of college with some money saved up. I’m sure you can handle to much partying but only you can make this decision so best of luck</p>

<p>PS this is my 200 post :)</p>

5

<p>Thanks for your responses so far, they’ve definitely given me something to think about! I am wondering though, I get that there’s partying at every college but is it really to the same extent everywhere? I figured that a smaller school might have a different social atmosphere and more of a sense of community, and that Swarthmore in particular has a reputation for not really being a party school - but if you think that’s wrong, I’d love to hear more about it.</p>

<p>Also to touch on the academics - I see what you mean egelloc80 about being able to get good grades easily but I don’t really see the point in getting As if I’m not happy with what I’m learning. One thing I didn’t really touch on in my original post was that UMD doesn’t offer a lot of classes I’m interested in, like Middle Eastern Studies and International Relations - I’m a Government major at UMD but most of the classes that they offer focus on domestic politics, which don’t interest me nearly as much as international affairs. Do you think this is a good reason to consider transferring or should I just try to make the most out of what UMD has offered me?</p>

<p>(Oh and if it wasn’t clear, I’m staying at least through next semester - I’m putting in some transfer apps soon for next fall, so I’ll be making a decision over the summer about what I want to do, and I’ll have next semester to think over my decision - I just wanted to get feedback from other people who may have been through a similar process.)</p>

6

<p>Just a case study from my D1:</p>

<p>Applying as a fr she got into all of her schools, including several highly selective privates and a top public with a full ride scholarship (tuition, R&B). It was the year before many of the top privates changed their FA policies for mid-upper income families and we would have paid about 35k/yr. </p>

<p>She chose the public and really believed she would get a top class education as she (according to the college when she went for the scholarship interview) would get the best that the school had to offer. By the winter break she wasn’t happy and applied for a transfer for the following fall. Some of her reasons:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Some of the scholarship ‘promises’ were not true, the money was great, but this scholarship did not provide many of the perks that similar top scholarships at other schools provid.</p></li>
<li><p>With a large public (6k fr/yr), the smart kids were out there, but they were harder to find. While the profs were great, she’d been looking forward to being surrounded by excited, intelligent, hardworking students in college and instead it felt like she was back in HS.</p></li>
<li><p>And like UMD, sports, frats, etc. were very big at this school. And while I agree that people party everywhere, there are variants on that theme between schools.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>So she transferred soph year to the school she would have matriculated to if not for the financial burden. And since the new FA policies were now in practice, we received a much better FA package, and the cost was more like 40k total for the three years. So this part differs from your situation.</p>

<p>Two things she realized after transferring and graduating:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>She was happier at her new school despite the fact that grades were harder to come by (don’t believe all that grade inflation stuff, when you go from top 5% of your class to more in the mid range, you do have to work harder to get the same grades). She was happy to be challenged and have a much greater proportion of her cohort with the same academic and social mindset as her.</p></li>
<li><p>In hindsight, she thinks that if she probably would have been OK with her original school if she’d tried harder to make it work. Her fr year roommate, who was on the same scholarship, stayed and did well. There were differences though, as the roommate had an academic home (Classics) which really did a great job in making her feel that she had a smaller place within a large school. Since D1 was undecided, she didn’t have that support.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>So, all I can say is that nothing about your dilemma is black and white, there are pros and cons to both sides and it’s a very difficult decision. Best of luck!</p>