Hello. Okay. I’ve been struggling to figure out what college I want to transfer to from a community college I’m currently at. I have a GPA of 3.67 and after this last semester I got all A’s and it will likely go up to about 3.77 according to my adviser. However, I want to go to a college that has a good reputation for research options and working with professors. I am also looking for a college that is on the west coast or the northeast coast. I want to be around a city with internship options. The last thing I’m looking for is a place that’s somewhat challenging and is innovative. I’m currently a liberal arts transfer student. I’m not sure what I’m going to major in. At USC this lady told me to come up with five majors that I might be interested in. However, I’m either going to major in political science, psychology, economics, or something else in those areas. I have been working on honor’s projects with my professors at my community college. I also recently was accepted into the most honorable society for community college students. In addition, I would like to figure out my major soon. I’m taking classes in subjects, but I need to focus in something or two things. I just don’t know what to do. However, I want to go to a university that has a reputation for good research, innovation, and a university that embraces people with learning differences. I have ADHD and Asperger’s. I struggle with math and science or I just haven’t been taught well enough. I plan to go to graduate school and maybe medical school for psychiatry or forensic medicine. Please help me. Give options of colleges I should I apply to, what colleges I have a chance at getting into, a academic major helping thing, and just insight into this stuff. I have one more year at this college. I went part time my first year and now I’m going full-time. Thank you and have a great day.
How many semester units do u have
25 credit hours, 1 honor’s credit.
So were you planning on applying right now or in Ina year?
There are many universities on the West Coast and the Northeast that offer research opportunities and that are challenging and innovative.
What other characteristics are you looking for? What state are you from? And more importantly, what can you afford?
If you’re in California, you’ve got the UCs and the CSUs that you can transfer into - many of them are in urban areas. All of the UCs and many of the CSUs will have great to excellent research opportunities. There are also several private colleges on the West Coast - USC, as you mentioned; Loyola Marymount; Santa Clara University; Chapman University; Stanford; Pepperdine. The Claremont Colleges, Soka University of America, and Occidental College are small LACs where you will also have research opportunities. The top schools (Stanford, Claremonts, Occidental, and USC) will be difficult to transfer into and will probably ask for your high school record and SAT scores as well.
Also along the West Coast are Willamette, Lewis & Clark, the University of Portland, Reed, the University of Oregon and Oregon State in Oregon. The latter two are in smaller towns, although Corvallis (where OSU is) does have a lot of companies located near there or in the town. There’s University of Puget Sound, UW-Seattle, Western Washington University and Washington State University in Washington. WSU is part of the WICHE agreement, so if you are a CA resident you can get discounted tuition to attend, but it’s in a pretty rural area in a college town so no internships or anything nearby. The publics will likely be prohibitively expensive unless your family is relatively wealthy. Reed and potentially Willamette and UPS may be difficult to transfer into, and may want high school records.
In the Northeast - well, there are lots of colleges nearby cities between Boston and DC. If you give more details on the kind of environment you want, you may get more targeted suggestions.
In a year. I have a vocational counselor who want’s me to start looking for colleges.
What’s your home state and how much can your family afford?
Iowa and my parents said that they are willing to help me pursue anything I want to. Also not to let financial stuff hold me back. That’s what they said and I don’t know if that’s a logical reason.
If you’re into psychology, economics, political science, I recommend looking into “Behavioral Economics”. Sometimes it’s a standalone degree, and sometimes it’s a concentration under economics. Some schools also have “Political Economy” degrees (sometimes internationally-focused, sometimes not).
Some examples:
UT Dallas degree in International Political Economy
http://www.utdallas.edu/academics/fact-sheets/epps/ba-bs-international-political-economy.html
CSU San Bernadino BA in Econ with a concentration in Political Economy
http://bulletin.csusb.edu/colleges-schools-departments/social-behavioral-sciences/economics/economics-political-economy-ba/
Wagner College Behavioral Economics Major
http://wagner.edu/psychology/major/behavioral-economics/
Also,
I know you said your parents said not to let financial constraints hold you back, but you really need to talk to them about how much they can afford. Sure, it’s ok to apply to a few colleges you’re not sure you can afford, because you realy want to go there and they might give you aid. But if they don’t, you always need to have at least a few affordable options.
Iowa State has economics, for example
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/economics
Iowa States PhD in economics is ranked 27th in the nation ahead of university of California Los Angeles. That’s pretty good. Ranking doesn’t matter to me. I just want a good program that provides research opportunities and working with the professors.
Behavioral economics I’ve heard of before. It’s interesting you also say political economy because I’ve also looked into political economics but the only concern I have is the calculus. I’ve never taken it before so it’s giving me anxiety.
Wagner College looks like a good choice because they even say on the department webpage that they have their third years take on research opportunities. I knew I was probably being unrealistic when it came to choosing colleges. A lot of my credits will transfer to Iowa State. Another university that’s the best in Iowa is the University of Iowa. It’s actually consider a public ivy. It just shocks me that Iowa State has a better Econ program. U of I"s program is ranked 55th.
The only problem I have with economics is some of the math. I think statistics will be fine but pure mathematics might be challenging. What other things would you consider major wise besides economics? There’s no doubt Econ will get me a job. Thanks for your help.
American U in DC would likely have an excellent Poly Sci dept and is perfectly placed for internships.
@Tyrone7991 Good on you for doing the research though. I recommend not writing off Iowa just in case! Financial situations change. Recessions happen, jobs are lost, etc.
Are you sure Behavioral Economics will not have calculus requirements? If you’re nervous about math, you could always take a community college pre-calc class before transferring so you can brush up on your mathematics? Also, Political Science degrees can have many different “concentrations” that are interesting. For example, Wagner College has a government & politics major as well:
Well there are no behavioral economics programs in Iowa. At the University of Iowa, for undergraduates, it’s policy economics, analysis economics, and business economics. If I am going to do behavioral economics, I will likely have to go to graduate school somewhere and study it there. At Iowa State, they have a B.S. in just economics with prefrences in mathematics. That’s what worries me, but I’m always up for a challenge. I want to go into a challenging field that I can 1. get a job, 2. not have a lot of anxiety about, and 3. succeed at and enjoy. What do I do? Calculus is required at both of my universities and so in linear algebra, which I’m not worried about. Algebra is something I can tackle. If I don’t do economics, what other challenging fields do you think I should consider?
I’ve also considered philosophy.