Transferring to a less prestigious school?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I've been scouring the internet for information on other students who have found themselves in the same predicament as me, but so far I've been unsuccessful. It seems like there are a lot of very knowledgeable people on this site, though, so I'm hoping you'll be able to offer me some advice!</p>

<p>The facts:
I'm currently a freshman at UC Berkeley, considering a transfer to the University of Oregon. </p>

<p>I was a fairly competitive high school student, with a 4.2 weighted GPA and a 32 ACT score. I studied abroad for a semester during my junior year, and I was very active in my community at home (tutoring and environmental advocacy), as well as co-founding the Slow Food Club on campus and serving as secretary for two other clubs.</p>

<p>I was accepted to several universities last year, but although I received an excellent scholarship to American, my father made it quite clear that although the decision was ultimately mine, he would very, very strongly prefer if I "lived up to my potential" and attended a well-known, prestigious school. I eventually decided to go to Cal, partly because I didn't receive enough financial aid from any similarly-ranked private schools, and partly because I knew it would make my dad proud. He's a Cal graduate himself (both BA and MA). However, although I admit he definitely had a sizeable influence on my decision, I take full responsibility for the situation I'm in now: both my parents, my father included, were very clear about the fact that the decision was ultimately mine. I just ended up making the decision for the wrong reasons.</p>

<p>UC Berkeley is a wonderful university, but I have been very, very unhappy here. I've put every effort into improving my experience, but I think what it boils down to is that, despite all its great qualities, Cal just isn't the place I was looking for, and I considered the wrong factors when deciding to come here.</p>

<p>The current situation: </p>

<p>I am applying to several liberal arts colleges and hoping that somewhere along the way, one of them will offer me a sufficient aid package, but based on the packages I received last year, I feel it's very unlikely. </p>

<p>I'm also applying to the University of Oregon, which I didn't even consider last year. I visited Eugene last semester to see one of my best friends, and to my total astonishment, I fell completely in love with the campus and the city. I visited again just a few weeks ago and attended some of my friend's classes, and for a fairly big state school, I was amazed at how small and intimate they were -- none of them were more than 20 people, and none of them had TAs. The students interacted directly with the professors, and everyone was extremely thoughtful and intelligent. </p>

<p>This friend I was visiting is someone who got excellent grades in high school and probably could have gone to a top UC, but he decided to go to Oregon because he felt it was the best fit for him personally. He got a substantial scholarship, and with all his AP credits, he's already taking upper division classes (hence the small size). Looking back, I wish I'd done what he did and thrown prestige out the window. And I'm seriously, seriously thinking of following in his footsteps and transferring there next year if my "fancy" liberal arts schools don't offer me enough financial aid. But I'm really concerned that the non-traditional move from a school like UC Berkeley to a school like Oregon will be frowned upon by grad schools, law schools, employers, etc. </p>

<p>So, the Question: </p>

<p>Will transferring from Cal to the University of Oregon be misconstrued by grad schools or law schools as an attempt to inflate my GPA, or as a sign that I couldn't handle the workload at Cal? Will this kind of transfer significantly affect my chances of being accepted? I've read stories of great students who went on to do great things after attending a less renowned university, but what if those students had transferred to the "lesser" school from Cal or UCLA or somewhere like that?</p>

<p>I don't know of anyone else who has left a prestigious school for one that isn't so prestigious, or of anyone who's planning to, and my parents are reeeeeally skeptical, so I greatly appreciate any advice you have to give me! Thanks so much!</p>

2

<p>Every year people transfer “down”. The most common reason is simply because they can’t afford the “higher ranked” institution anymore. But plenty do it for their major field or because they just weren’t happy at the first institution. I even have heard of a student who hated Harvard so much that he went to his home-state public U!</p>

<p>People get into grad school, law school, and med school every year from colleges and universities that you have never heard of. Don’t worry about how this transfer will look on your resume. What will matter is how you take advantage of the opportunities afforded to you at the university you do transfer to. </p>

<p>Good luck with everything!</p>

3

<p>I’m speaking from a parent’s perspective. You seem very unhappy where you are but maybe this is partly due to the fact that you really didn’t want to go to Cal in the first place and only did it for your father. As a freshman, you haven’t been there very long and it is quite common for freshmen to go through a period of transition and then later discover that they really love the school after all. However you seem set on transferring. Be careful of the “grass looks greener on the other side” aspect of your situation, you don’t want to change schools only to later realize that it was a mistake.</p>

<p>If you were my child, I would suggest that you look into all the other schools you’d like to attend, go ahead and apply for a transfer and wait and see what comes of it. In the meantime, study hard, get good grades, get involved with student activities and make the most of your time at Cal. By the time you start hearing back from the other schools; you may just change your mind and decide to stay at Cal. If not, at least you did all that you could to give Cal a chance and maybe it isn’t the right place for you.</p>

<p>Cal has a great reputation but you should be going to a school based on what is best for you. How others view “prestige” and “reputation” can be misleading. I do not believe that it is healthy to live a life based on what others think, you have to be true to yourself.
If you do end up going to a school with “less prestige” but thrive, excel, get great grades etc. and love it, then it’s great. You can then go to a more “prestigious” school for graduate work.</p>

<p>My advice, for what it’s worth, is:
Be pro-active
Make sure that you and your parents are on the same page
Who is paying? You don’t want to go into debt. I assume that you are a California resident.
As such, the cost of studying at Cal is a bargain for you financially. Unless of course, your parents will pay for your education and are willing to do so, then that’s another story. But from your post, it seems this isn’t the case and that you are counting on a good financial package from the college.</p>

<p>The hard reality: finances are important. Considering you are already a student at Berkeley, do you really want to transfer to another school and take on debt? Lots of kids are dying to go to Cal, OOS pay a lot more. If you go out of state, you’ll pay a lot more somewhere else. Consider best case/worst case scenarios.
Things happen for a reason. The situation would be different if you were still in high school and hadn’t decided which college to go to. But this is water under the bridge. Throughout life you will find yourself in situations where you wonder “what if”, should I have taken this job, should I have moved here, what if I did this instead…Make the most of what you have. (BTW, just because your friend is happy at the U of Oregon, doesn’t mean that you will be…). Your father has life experience, listen to him with an open mind; he wants the best for you.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you applied to other schools, got great offers but ended up staying at Cal because YOU wanted to?</p>

4

<p>College is a very special time in your life and you should be at a school that inspires you. You spent high school keeping one eye on the transcript, but college is where you will hopefully be able to take a break from that for a while and concentrate on what speaks to you, your heart and thus your path. As hard as it is to buck the common perception of prestige, you have to trust yourself above all. Unless you are in engineering, business, or one of the specialized departments at Berkeley, I question the value of its undergrad prestige anyway. You can always go there for grad school.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for all your advice. :slight_smile: I am trying to shake off the notion that prestige is the most important factor in a college education, but it’s definitely difficult.</p>

<p>collegecarla, my parents and I are very concerned with the idea of taking on a lot of debt. Cal is a bargain for us right now. The reason I’m considering Oregon so seriously is actually because although I am applying to much more expensive and more prestigious private schools, it’s very unlikely that I’ll be offered enough financial aid to make those schools affordable. If I get lucky, I’ll probably end up at one of those schools without having to take out loans, but if not, Oregon is a very cost-effective alternative to the UC system (which I’d like very much to avoid). I’m eligible for several scholarships, which would lower the total cost to about the same as Berkeley’s, and on top that the cost of living in Eugene is so much more reasonable than here in the Bay Area. </p>

<p>Anyway, I know that typically, graduating from a less-prestigious school isn’t a negative factor in grad school admissions, but that’s when the student has spent all four years there, right? I just have this feeling that it might seem strange if someone who got into Berkeley – and could afford to go there – voluntarily decided to leave for the University of Oregon. But you don’t think so? Will it maybe be something I’ll have to explain on my applications later, or in an interview? I won’t be able to justify it academically, since Berkeley’s programs are some of the best in the country. I feel like the fact that I’m very uncomfortable and unhappy here wouldn’t really fly as a viable reason if I had to explain myself…</p>

6

<p>Also – I realize my friend’s happiness at the U of O isn’t a surefire indicator of whether or not I’ll be happy there as well, but I really, really enjoyed both my visits to there. More than I enjoyed my visits to some of the private schools I’m applying to, actually. The students aren’t slackers like I thought they might be – they’re engaged and bright, but (thank god) they lack the pretentious quality that so many kids here at Berkeley have. Plus it’s a much smaller school, and whereas here I get treated like a number, my friend at Oregon has been receiving personal attention and advice from the day he was admitted. Also I love the campus: it’s small, beautiful, and feels very safe, which is really important to me. As a female, I don’t feel safe walking around Cal after dark, and even during the day going off-campus makes me uncomfortable. I’ve been seriously harassed multiple times by men on the street, and I hate feeling like I have to restrict where I go and how I dress just so I can avoid negative attention like that when I go out. I know some girls don’t mind it, but it makes me feel like a piece of meat, and it definitely doesn’t help the school’s general atmosphere. </p>

<p>Sorry, ranting. Point is, I really think Oregon would be a good fit for me, and if I can be certain that going there really won’t hurt my postgrad options, I want to go for it.</p>

7

<p>My son transferred down to a much less prestigious school and is very happy with his decision. The other school just wasn’t a good fit despite its prestige and high ranking. He went from private to public as well. We supported his decision since ultimately we felt that the happier he is the better he will do overall. He loves the small classes and professor interaction you describe at Oregon. The atmosphere is more relaxed in general and the students are more down to earth and personable. I really doubt it will have much of an effect on postgrad options.</p>