Hi,
I am currently debating transferring out of UVA. I am a second year student from out of state, looking for a smaller, more intimate college. While UVA has amazing opportunities that I am grateful for, I find it overly competitive. There is an immense social pressure to know the “right” people and be involved in the “right” clubs, especially because people need to apply to their majors, Coming from out of state, I also feel immensely disadvantaged socially because so much of the school is instate, particularly from NoVa. I come from an average OOS high school, so I lack the connections that many OOS students have from fancy private schools. Academically, I also thrive in smaller classes. I had wanted to challenge myself at UVA with larger classes, but I feel very lost and disconnected. As an English major, I have more smaller classes – which I have subsequently done well in – but they are few and far between.
I am hesitant as a second year student, as many people will already have their social circles, but I feel like I did everything “right” at UVA – trying many different clubs, going out, etc. – and I just don’t feel comfortable here. In addition, I deal with major anxiety, depression, and OCD. My first year GPA was about a 3.6-3.7, but after suffering through an abusive relationship, my GPA is about a 3.5-3.6.
I would like a school that is smaller and has much less of a competitive social pressure. Dealing with my mental illness makes it even harder to balance extracurriculars, and at UVA, you’re EXPECTED to be in 10 different clubs and the president of at least half. I also am very off-put by Greek life. Any help/recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
Sounds like you have some pretty solid reasons to transfer to me
You can thrive at UVA if you stop measuring yourself by what you perceive other people to be doing. Your major advisor, your department, and the university itself do not “EXPECT” you to belong to one single club, let alone ten. No one who is pulling a decent GPA can do that kind of thing either. Granted, there can be an illusion that this sort of thing id the norm, because the people who appear to be doing it are the ones you see out there doing stuff in the public eye all the time. But if you take a stroll past the study carrells in the library, or past the windows of the science labs, you will start to see how many students are busy at work far from public view. Those are your peer group.
All that said, there are a lot of good LAC-type institutions with good English departments that would be happy to have you. Talk the money thing over with your parents to get an idea of your working budget. Read the catalogues carefully to come up with an academic reason for your transfer in addition to the social ones. Look at where your favorite professors did their undergrad work, and talk with them about theor experiences at those institutions. You will need strong LORs, and it can be helpful if the writer knows the place you are applying to, or at least the kind of institution itself (e.g. for Hollins U, someone who really gets writing programs and/or is a grad of a women’s college would be a good choice for an LOR).
You also can look into year or semester abroad, or a domestic exchange. That would get you to a different campus for a while.
You also mention several complicating mental health issues. A medical leave of absence to sort through those is always an option. During that time off, you could work on your transfer list without the distraction of classes and UVA life in general.
Wishing you all the best!
Good advice. It can be hard to separate all the strands out. More to the point, your anxiety, depression and OCD challenges will go with you.
If your English classes are ‘few and far between’ you must have just about finished all your distribution and graduation requirements, which means that by fall you could be in pretty much all upper level English / Humanities classes.The range of upper level classes available to you at UVa will be difficult to match at a smaller school (not dissing smaller schools! just pointing out an advantage of bigger ones). The English department at UVa has some great specialty programs, and some super professors (I have seen them be extremely supportive of their students, both in the immediate term, but also putting them forward for fellowships, etc). I suggest spending some time hanging out in your department, getting a feel for it, and getting to know the other majors before you decide to leap (and I guarantee that there are plenty of non-Greek types there).