unc vs. penn

Transfer Students
1

<p>I’m thinking about transferring from Penn to UNC. I decided to go to Penn this year without really thinking about it because I wanted to get an Ivy League education. I know I definitely could have gotten into UNC as a freshman applicant and regret not choosing to apply there. I really do like Penn, but it’s way too intense for me. My sister goes to Chapel Hill, and it’s so much more relaxed. I really care more about having a good college experience than having an Ivy League degree, and also, I miss the South. I know missing home is not a reason to transfer, but I just feel like the whole Ivy League thing is not my style at all. Carolina may be a step down academically but I honestly don’t much care because it’s still a good school.</p>

<p>Also, I feel really guilty about the cost of my education. We don’t qualify for financial aid, so my college education is basically going to cost $200,000, which is ridiculous-- regardless of how good it is, no education should ever be that expensive. My sister’s UNC in-state education is going to be about 1/4 of that. I don’t like Penn enough to justify the cost. My parents can afford it, but I still feel like it’s a waste of money. I don’t think the academic difference between Carolina and Penn is enough to justify the difference in price.</p>

<p>So my questions are–</p>

<li><p>What is the difference between UNC and Penn as far as academic reputation? I feel like I can’t really look at it with any perspective because I live in North Carolina and obviously a UNC degree here is considered good for whatever you want to do, but what about out of state? I don’t know if I’ll want to live here after I graduate.</p></li>
<li><p>In your opinion, weighing all the factors, is this a bad idea?</p></li>
<li><p>If I do transfer, will I even get in? I did very well in high school but didn’t really do that much work my first semester of college, and my GPA is bad. Here’s how I did in high school:
HS weighted GPA 5.0
HS unweighted GPA 4.0
HS class rank 10 of 360ish
SAT 2300 (800 Verbal, 730 Math, 770 Writing)
SAT II 800, 750, 700 or something like that, I don’t really remember
I had 9 or 10 APs, mostly 5’s except for two I got 4’s on.
I also have a lot of relatives that graduated from/attend Carolina, including both my parents and my sister, plus my dad is on the board of governors.
I was on the varsity swim team all four years of high school, state qualifier, etc. and news editor of the paper. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>High school burned me out though and I’ve basically done nothing in college. My college GPA for the first semester was 3.15 (two B’s and two B+'s). Does transferring from an Ivy League school make a difference in how they would look at my application?</p>

<p>I just looked over this and it’s come out way longer than intended, so thanks for reading! haha, I’ve been thinking about this probably more than I should. I’d appreciate any feedback.</p>

2

<p>Many students find Penn, Cornell and Northwestern to be very demanding and intense environments. If you are unhappy at Penn, then apply to transfer. UNC at Chapel Hill is a great school. With your stats, you may have qualified for a full ride at UNC with study at Duke, had you applied as a freshman. Most likely, Penn will not get any less intense. A 3.15 from Penn should be sufficient in your case to transfer to UNC, especially since you are in state.</p>

3

<p>UNC is a great school, but you may also want to look at Duke as well. It is in the same area. Both are great, so you can't go wrong.</p>

4

<p>But jec, if money is an issue, as the OP suggests it is, then how is Duke a solution? It too will cost around $200,000 to graduate, or I suppose $150,000 for the three remaining years. </p>

<p>To the OP, bad is a very vague term. Some would call a 3.7 bad, when clearly it is not. Others would call a 2.0 bad, which is true when trying to transfer. So nobody can really talk about your odds without knowing your college GPA, which matters most.</p>

5

<p>Yeah, I assumed that Duke would be less, but that's probably not true. To the OP, it's a tough choice and I wish you the best with the decision.</p>