Transferring out of GS to a peer school?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia School of General Studies
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<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I am just wondering whether you can share with me some stories of past transferred-out students as I am planning to transfer out in fall 2015.</p>

<p>After coming to Columbia, I realized that the living expenses are too expensive and I can't really choose courses I am interested in due to the strict core requirement. In addition, social life has also been quite disappointing due to the lack of dorm life for GS students. I don't like to stay in GS lounge as it feels a bit strange to me, though this may not be the case for others.</p>

<p>I came in as a sophomore and everything about academics has been OK so far. I am not sure whether I can get 4.33 GPA because A+ is somehow unpredictable but I believe I'll get at least 4.0 based on current performance. I'm very satisfied with the brilliant professors here, but the core requirement and the lack of social scene, combined with higher-than-expected living costs, just make me feel sick.</p>

<p>I know that quite a few GS students have transferred out but I can't seem to get in touch with any of them. Would someone be willing to share experience if you or your friends have transferred out to a peer school?</p>

<p>Thanks guys!</p>

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<p>I know these issues are quite private so please inbox me if you don’t want to post a reply here! Many thanks and I appreciate your help!</p>

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<p>There’s a good lesson here: a Columbia undergraduate education is inextricable from the core curriculum. </p>

<p>To answer your question, SadGirl, I don’t know of anyone who left GS for a peer school. Though, I’m sure it’s happened.</p>

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<p>I’m curious what you consider peer schools.</p>

<p>I know very few people who’ve left GS and continued at another institution. Not saying it doesn’t happen, but I can’t think of almost anyone since 2011. Plenty have left school entirely, but few leave GS and continue elsewhere.</p>

<p>I have heard of a student who transferred to Yale’s Eli Whitney, but I never personally knew them.</p>

<p>Also, I’m highly skeptical of “at least a 4.0,” at this point in the semester, unless you’re only taking one or two very specific classes. </p>

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<p>@SadGirl1995,</p>

<p>I’m so sorry to hear that your experience at Columbia has been disappointing. Certainly, for some students, Columbia may not be the right fit, but I don’t get the sense this is a widespread issue. To that end, I don’t know of anyone I can put you in touch with who has transferred from GS to another school. </p>

<p>However, since it sounds like you’ll be here for at least one more semester, I want to encourage you to take advantage of the events organized by Student Life or the GSSC (student council). These offer great opportunities to socialize with other GS students. If you’ll be in town for Thanksgiving, the GSSC is hosting a Thanksgiving meal for GS students at a local restaurant—that’s just one example. Events and other opportunities to meet up with students are also often posted on these pages:</p>

<p>Student Life page: (<a href=“Student Life | School of General Studies”>https://gs.columbia.edu/student-life&lt;/a&gt;)
Official GSSC page: [ <a href=“Facebook”>https://www.facebook.com/generalstudiesstudentcouncil&lt;/a&gt; ]
Unofficial GSSC group: [ <a href=“GS Students | Facebook”>https://www.facebook.com/groups/gsscinfo&lt;/a&gt; ]
Unofficial GS Facebook group: [ <a href=“https://www.facebook.com/groups/213775568723534”>https://www.facebook.com/groups/213775568723534&lt;/a&gt;]</p>

<p>Another way to get involved is to join one of the hundreds of student organizations, in which not only GS, but all Columbia undergraduates take part, offering an even larger pool of students to connect with.
[<a href=“http://www.columbia.edu/node/136.html”>http://www.columbia.edu/node/136.html&lt;/a&gt;]</p>

<p>While you are correct that GS students are not eligible for dormitory housing, GS students do have an RA, Anna Demidova, who organizes monthly social events for those living in University Apartment Housing. If you are not already receiving her e-mails, you should contact her at <a href=“mailto:GSResidentAdvisor@columbia.edu”>GSResidentAdvisor@columbia.edu</a>.</p>

<p>Lastly, if you have not already done so, I’d encourage you to make an appointment with a financial aid counselor, to ensure you’ve taken full advantage of all the resources that may be available to you. You can contact the financial aid office at 212-854-5410.</p>

<p>I hope this information will help you feel more comfortable here at GS. The transition to college can be a difficult one—socially, personally, financially, and academically (though it sounds like you’re doing just fine in that arena!). Please feel free to reply here or send me a private message if you want to discuss your concerns, or if you have any other questions at all. I’m happy to help in any way I can.</p>

<p>Christina
GS Tour Guide</p>

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<p>As an addition to my above posting, since some of the links did not show up, the last three in the block of links are all FB pages that can be accessed by adding [ facebook.com ] where the **** show up.</p>

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<p>That’s facebook-dot-com where the **** show up.</p>

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<p>@campaigner‌ Thanks for your input! I don’t think I’m eligible to apply for Eli Whitney as I’ve only been away from school for 3 years, but that news itself is quite encouraging.</p>

<p>I’m taking 5 courses, mostly 3000-level. As mid-term results started to roll out when I posted, I had a sense that I would get all As and A+s. Academic quality here has been really great and the grading is not too strict, so I believe a 4.0 or above will still be the case as long as I don’t screw up finals too badly.</p>

<p>I am thinking about other ivy plus schools with a more flexible distributional requirement. I just want to tell the incoming students that Columbia is great, but it’s really not for everyone. If you do not feel comfortable being asked to take this and that and you want to have a strong control over your curriculum, you may want to commit to somewhere else. I thought I was well prepared and would enjoy taking all these cores, but when I came here and had a change in academic goal,(I switched from a social science major to humanity+natural science) the inflexibility here really disappointed me. </p>

<p>@GSTourGuides‌ Thanks for your input and I appreciate that. I’ve joined a few clubs but unfortunately the clubs I’m interested in are not very active here and I quitted after a few weeks. I do know the monthly RA events but they don’t really excite me; I attended once and it was not as good as I expected. I’ve also spoken with the FA office a few weeks ago and they told me they couldn’t do anything for me financially. I’m not too bad socially because I hang out with some old friends in the city, but this just further strengthens the feeling that I’m not really enjoying the social part of my college life here.</p>

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<p>Try Brown. They have a totally open, choose-your-own-adventure curriculum. Complete 180 degree shift from Columbia’s core. Also Providence isn’t too expensive.</p>

<p>What is your background? If you happen to be a military veteran, I have some points of contact at Brown admissions I can put you in touch with.</p>

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Whatever happened here, OP?

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I’d love to hear an update as well.