Transferring out of Colgate University

Transfer Students
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Ok so this might be really long but I have a lot to ask/talk about so here we go. I just moved in as a freshman to Colgate University. It is a very prestigious school and I was so happy to get in. My grades in highschool were pretty solid, I went to a highly ranked public one. I got a 770 on the math section of the SAT and am currently looking to major in math. However, I only got a 2000 on the SAT and my weighted highschool GPA was a bit below Colgate’s average accepted GPA. Colgate was a stretch, HOWEVER both of my parents attended Colgate, which definitely was a nice advantage. I am not 100% sure I would have gotten in without my legacy, but odds are it would have been less likely.

I’ve been here 2 weeks and hate it. I knew when applying early decision that Colgate was a party school, but I brushed it off. I don’t drink or smoke, mainly just because it isn’t my idea of a good time- not being able to remember the night, throwing up in the bathroom, etc. (No hate on people who do, it just isn’t for me). I assumed that going to such a prestigious institution would mean that along with partiers are a fair amount of hispters, nerds, and very intelligent people. However, EVERYWHERE I look, people are rich, white, immature, homophobic (I’m closeted gay), athletic (which isn’t a bad thing, but I am not an athlete and I wish there was some diversity in terms of fitness, I feel so lame) , and all anyone talks about is getting drunk and hooking up. I have met a fair amount of people I like, but nobody I really have connected with intellectually. I realize that as the semester goes on, it’s possible I’ll finally find my niche and stay at Colgate, but half a month in I am ready to break down- I hate it here.

Since Colgate is in the middle of nowhere, the only activities are drinking and partying and fratting. Guys aren’t even allowed into frats unless you’re affiliated, so there’s not much to do here for me. And I wouldn’t even want to go, because here is another issue- I HATE GREEK LIFE. I should not have gone to this school knowing greek was so big here, it’s my mistake. Again, I assumed the fratty douchey attitude would only make up part of the population, but pretty much every one of the 50 or so guys I have met so far and talked to are insanely fratty.

Essentially, the only reasons I came here are because my parents were stoked, and it is academically the best school I could have gotten into based off of my highschool stats (I think)

But here’s the question- if I do really well academically at Colgate for a year, are my odds good of transferring to somewhere maybe even better (Carleton, Pomona, Georgetown, NYU, maybe even an Ivy league?) and also more suited for me? I actually like to socialize, party, play sports for fun (and preferably with people who aren’t ALL jacked), but I’m a bit of a nerd and I feel so out of place here it’s almost funny. Colgate was also ranked a terrible school for gays- yeah, I should have thought through my college selection process more. My plan is to absolutely work my ass off, and hopefully I can get into an even better school despite the fact that my highschool grades aren’t ivy level or anything.

I realize this post if kind of vague, but anyone who can give me some advice, make me feel better as I regret ever coming here, and give me some insight on my chances of transferring to a fantastic school if I do well in my first year at Colgate would be greatly appreciated. After a one year transfer, do colleges care about highschool grades anyway? Or just Colgate grades, assuming I transfer? Some schools I’m interested in:

Carleton, Macalester, NYU, Georgetown, Bates, Colby, UCLA, UC Berkeley, William&Mary, Hamilton, Haverford, Vassar, Pomona, and I doubt I could get into these, but Yale and Columbia.)

Hope y’all have a great day.

1 Like
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The Colgate name will help you transfer if that’s what you decide to do. As you would only have completed one semester of record at Colgate, your high school grades will still be looked at, but the term at Colgate will be weighed heavily as well.

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No one knows what a school is TRULY like until one is in residence, so don’t be too hard on yourself! Everyone goes through an adjustment period. It is possible that you may end up loving Colgate. I’m sure there are SOME kids with similar interests who also don’t like to drink themselves into oblivion. Possibly you may not be looking in the right places. What about some service clubs/organizations? Are you musically inclined? What about those types of groups? Faith based groups? Possibly even a LBGQT or advocate organization?

If you do decide to transfer, generally speaking, High school grades and your standardized test scores will become less and less important relative to your college record, with the more college you have under your belt. Since you will have only completed one semester by the time the applications are due (for fall 2016), they will still be considered.

You may need to broaden your list to include other schools as some on your list may be extremely hard to get into. And you need to have junior standing to transfer to UCLA and Berkeley.

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Im not musical, or religious. I do community service, and the friends I met thorugh there are basically my only friends so far. They’re cool people though, but they’ve all moved on and also made other friends they really like and I haven’t.

I’m so sad UCLA and Berkeley only take juniors and seniors :frowning: I need to think of some safeties, lol. It’s good to hear that Colgate’s prestige may help me get in somewhere good though!

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first you need to figure out what type of school that you will be comfortable in. Your list is all over the lot: large, urban-Manhattan to rural tiny LAC’s.

'GAte is a fine school, but you will have to 'essplain why you want to trasnfer and what the new school offers that 'Gate does not.

Also note that the tippy top schools – like Yale and Pomona – take few-to-zero transfers. They don’t have the dorm space, since 99% of the Frosh return.

Cornell is one top school that is transfer-friendly, however, at least in CALS. It does have an active greek scene, but also has plenty of hipsters and everyone in-between.

The UC’s are gay-friendly, but unless you are instate, you’d be foolish to pay OOS rates to attend, IMO.

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UC take sophomore but you need to take classes after high school and one year college but the summer after freshman year.

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sabott,

I hope you give yourself more time and thereby give Colgate more of a hearing before you set yourself against
the institution and commit yourself to what amounts to a divorce. I mean, you have been there only 2 weeks and are already making a case by characterizing the cohort as rich, white, immature, homophobic, athletic and jacked, and many males fratty douchey. Well, that may be a summary of your take now but I hope that it won’t stand the test of time in the coming weeks.

These assertions about the Colgate student body, from my experience, are simply not true nor are they borne out by any objective measure… Also, while Colgate is in a rural setting the discreet character and striking beauty of the campus within that setting are some of Colgate’s advantages. There are scores of clubs and societies of an academic, service, cultural, spiritual and recreational nature supported by dedicated staff and magnificent facilities. Greek life for many students does not set the pace; there are only 5 fraternities and 3 sororities for a student body of 2900. You might throw yourself soon into a couple of clubs and societies and meet like-minded students and administrators. That way you too would be engaged alongside or despite the partiers and as you ramp up your studies as they become more demanding and follow-through on your freshman advisor’s suggestions.

Good luck in the coming weeks acclimating yourself and challenging yourself to make the most of your freshman year. And if you do ultimately transfer I wish you success!

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@sabottt You must recognize that often, no matter how prestigious the school is, there will often likely be large drug and hookup cultures in existence. I want to transfer to UC Berkeley myself, and that school is no exception, although it is certainly a good institution. Many colleges have drug use and whatnot - you can only really avoid this if you go to a school like BYU.

I think you should reconsider Colgate and try to make friends that you can relate to.

Other factors I understand (namely homophobia). Still, though - much of what you don’t like about Colgate is present in nearly all colleges (with varying degrees, sure, but it’s still there). You have to brace yourself for that regardless of whether you’ll stay at your current school or not.

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sabott- My son is considering Colgate- I would be very interested to see how you fare over the next few months or so and I wish the best to you. Would you be willing to report back on CC in a few months to let us know how things are going? If you take markham’s solid advice and find clubs where like-minded people might congregate that could make a huge difference.

My son goes to a private school where he has a group of 5-6 close friends he hangs out with, but does not have much in common with most of his class, who are mostly athletes and partiers, but those friends are enough to allow him to enjoy his high school experience. Come back and let us know how it’s going in a few months as you meet more students and maybe find your niche.

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USC takes sophomores. More frats there too but it’s LGBT friendly. Plus it’s near a big city lots of things to do.

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“Im not musical, or religious. I do community service, and the friends I met thorugh there are basically my only friends so far. They’re cool people though, but they’ve all moved on and also made other friends they really like and I haven’t.”

I was only trying to suggest things to get you thinking of different avenues to consider. Maybe Intramurals? Student Government? Anyway, if there is something you really would enjoy doing, and there is NOT a club, possibly you can start your own one. Regarding your community service friends, I think it is a common misconception to think everyone ELSE has found their lifelong best friends. No one really knows each other all that well at this stage in the game. Everyone is still feeling each other out.

“It’s good to hear that Colgate’s prestige may help me get in somewhere good though!”

Should you decide to transfer, your record at Colgate (and in part your HS record/test scores if transferring as a soph) is what will get you in “somewhere good”, not the Colgate name per se. To an admissions officer, all things being equal, someone with a 4.0 from Colgate might be viewed favorably against someone with a 4.0 from say, a CC. But, mediocre grades from Colgate won’t trump someone else’s excellent grades from another school. I can guarantee you that the transfer applicant pools will be extremely competitive at the schools you are focused on right now. So, try to do well this year so that you will be in the best position possible, regardless.

My advice, though, would be to put transferring out of your mind for now. Try to make Colgate work and give it the full semester at least. Get involved in a variety of things on campus. Focus on your studies. At Christmas Break, reassess where you are. If you are still miserable, talk over your desire to transfer with your parents, and see what your options might be. If you do decide to proceed, you can then come up with a well thought out and reasonable list, and apply to those schools for fall 2016 admission.

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@artie1 I’d be happy to!

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How are you now sabottt? I hope you have found people with similar interests as you.

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As a safety, I would consider applying to UT-Dallas. I currently go there and am trying to transfer, but there is little drinking and partying there. A lot of diversity with a lot of international students. Not a lot of diversity in thought as they are all secular and all leftists. Strong LGBT population.

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@sabottt - I think you should go to a school in an urban area, such as Boston, NYC, DC, Chicago etc. Those schools will give you options for off-campus activities if you can’t find a niche on campus. Plus it is easier to find internships, etc

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Sabottt – Just stumbled upon your post accidentally while looking for something else. I’m also a Colgate grad from 30+ years ago; one of the early women after Colgate went co-ed. While many aspects of your experience undoubtedly do exist at Colgate now – as they did when I was there – it did not envelope me, as you describe. Ultimately, I was able to find friends who were not involved in the frat/jock/athlete/drug/hook-up scene The school was generous with scholarship $$ for me, and I also had a campus job. My freshman year, I looked seriously into transferring. Rice University looked pretty good to me at the time. I was homesick (from California), and had to work really hard to keep up my grades. Half of my learning took place outside of the classroom; true for most college students. And yes, my father was a Colgate grad. At the end of my freshman year, I was accepted into the Dijon Study group as a sophomore and decided to go one more year. I ended up staying all 4 years and am glad I did. Still in touch with close friends from Colgate and not my high school buddies. As a freshman at Colgate, I would not have believed this was possible. BTW, the education I received in such an intimate setting was priceless. At 59+ I am still a confident student, learning all the time. Yeah, some of it’s me. But Colgate is part of that too.

You haven’t posted in a while. I hope you will check-in and let us know how things are going. At least let us know where you vis a vis your transfer possibilities. I will say that I admire your ownership of the situation, acknowledging that you chose the school. Your plan to work hard in order to make yourself a successful transfer candidate sounds like a good plan. Once upon a time, it was mine.

Hope to hear from you.

Colgate Grad (and parent of a college freshman)
’78, cum laude
(barely made cum – had a fabulous senior year academically…)