What schools do you think will be a best fit for me if I transfer?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I am very unhappy here at Embry-Riddle doing the aerospace engineering program and would like to transfer to another school and major in English Literature, my current gpa is a 2.8 and i'm starting my junior year this fall, and I will be taking summer classes to increase my GPA.</p>

<p>What schools are a best match for me? I would like to go to school in a big city with a lot of diversity, in terms of culture and ethnicity, but most of these big city schools seems like a reach for me, I’m going to apply to my dream school USC/NYU/Northwestern but from the responses I got from a previous question, it looks like my chances are slim to none. Can anyone suggest schools that best fit my criteria? I really appreciate the help thanks</p>

<p>P.S some of my other choices are Umich, Pepperdine U, Vanderbilt, but I don’t think I’ll be happy at these schools, but they are realistic goals, some even a reach like Vanderbilt. I really need some advice on this. Thanks</p>

<p>BTW should I just retake some of the courses for next semester and stay a sophomore standing or transfer out to a community college and start from fresh? My situation is so bad I really don't want graduate here at Riddle and want to fullfill my college education somewhere else, some of the classes I took were really challenging, such as Differential EQ/Matrices, which I failed in and will be retaking, I retook Calc 3 and got a B, other courses such as Dynamics and Fluid Mechanics I will be taking in the summer, and I also did get an A in statics. </p>

<p>I don't know how I will explain the difficulty I went through, I know a lot of ppl go thru the same crap so i'm not trying to individualize this, however I also went thru some personal and physical problems that I prefer not to share with this forum, but will do with the college I plan on transfering to if they deem it necessary. </p>

<p>If anyone can help me with my situation I really appreciate it, I've been trolling many forums including yahoo answers for help but they just told me right off the bat that it's impossible for me to transfer.</p>

2

<p>i dont think they accept senior transfers</p>

<p>if you're a junior now...</p>

3

<p>Are you looking to transfer second semester of your junior year? You would have to find out which schools accept transfers at that point. I know that SUNY New Paltz does, but that is the extent of my knowledge. I'm sure there must be others.</p>

4

<p>Well if i'm planning to transfer to an eng lit program, I won't be able to transfer some of my engineering credits, and will have to start from fresh because I really cannot stand this major, I will be able to transfer credits for my general education requirements and hopefully transfer in as a sophmore standing student, I know this will force me to lose some credits but i'm willing to do so. After all I only have once more chance to make this right, and I didn't make the right decision with Aero Engineering.</p>

5

<p>btw i'm planning to take a semester off next spring, so I can just pull myself together, maybe travel and go see the world and really think about what I want to do with my future, because I'm extremely lost.</p>

6

<p>Sigh nobody has any advice on this site?</p>

<p>where else am I suppose to ask?</p>

<p>Please help...</p>

7

<p>I sometimes want to get immediate answers to my questions too :p
Be patient. It's late so by tomorrow you will probably have some answers. I ca'y really help you because I am not an expert in that matter but I wish you the best and hope that you will feel better. Take advantage of the summer to fix your emotional life. I hope that you will get wherever that can make you happy.</p>

8

<p>Your options are limited given your GPA and the time at which you're applying (now, I assume).</p>

<p>Check out the following link and list to see what schools have spots. Plug in the names to Collegeboard, Princeton Review, etc., and run some searches here on CC. If you find a fit with open spots, contact admissions immediately, get the process rolling.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/505277-nacac-2008-space-availability-survey-released.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/505277-nacac-2008-space-availability-survey-released.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

9

<p>ChrisEW22,</p>

<p>Sorry if I appear harsh with some of what I'm going to say here, but I do so in order to give you what I consider good advice.</p>

<p>(1) You've decided to switch from Aerospace Engineering to English Literature as a major--good for you. At least you've decided what you do (and don't) want to do in a future career and are taking steps to get out of an area you dislike. It has been proven over and over again that people who do what they like are happier and more successful over the long run.</p>

<p>(2) Transfering as a junior--while it may seem illogical to have taken as long as it has for you to decide to change your major, it's actually quite common. The average undergraduate changes their major about 1.2 times--meaning some never change and others change 3 to 4 times. At least you didn't wait until your senior year. However, the problem with transferring as a junior is that you probably do not have all the prerequisites fulfilled for your major, many of your courses will not transfer--and also since you didn't apply to transfer to any school yet, your list of schools will be very limited if you don't plan to take a "gap" year prior to starting the junior year. Many schools take only juniors and below as transfers--probably the majority. The number of schools taking seniors is extremely limited.</p>

<p>(3) Preparing to transfer. Since you don't know where you want to apply yet, you are unlikely to have been taking the prerequisites for your program that the transfer school requires. Consider that when you apply to some schools you will be competing against students who, unlike you, have been "grooming" themselves to be accepted into these programs by taking all the prerequisites the school requires for the past two years. This puts you at a significant disadvantage in getting into a top school in some cases. For example, did you know that the average USC applicant has already taken 6 specific general ed courses--and if applying for an area like communications or business had to take an additional specific list of 3 to 12 additional courses specific to the program?</p>

<p>(4) Choice of schools. You have a 2.8 GPA--accept this as a fact. Accept also that this means that schools like USC, Northwestern, Michigan, NYU, and Vanderbilt--all of whom admit students with a 3.6 GPA or above on average and who admit less than 25% of applicants will not be accepting you as a transfer candidate. Accept also that you probably have not even looked at the required courses (as indicated above) and you begin to see the problem here--How do you expect to compete with the student who has a 3.7 GPA and has taken the courses the school asked them to take--while you haven't.</p>

<p>(5) The good news. As indicated above, there are schools where you are unlikely to be able to get in. Okay, then that means you need to apply to schools were you can get in. There are ones you can possibly get into this year (for the coming fall) on the list provided by Jahn1012--or if you want to take a "gap" year, there are a whole lot more schools to go to. Another option is to accept that it will take you five years to graduate, and spend this coming year at Embry-Riddle or at a community college taking the courses you need to get into a good school as a transfer. Then transfer as a junior--and only transfer the courses applicable to your major.</p>

<p>(6) Lastly, stop criticizing everyone else for not helping you out. Nobody owes you that, you know. Plus, to be blunt--yours is not an easy case to suggest alternatives for, since you've stayed in the one area for a long time and made it difficult for a transfer college to think that English Literature is really your "passion" and what you want to do for a career. You need to start taking courses to convince your transfer college of this--and courses that will make you happy and get you out of this "aeronautical engineering dreariness" that you are in. I'm guessing that you can be really successful in courses once you are taking ones you like--so go do that. Then you'll be building a background that says to the transfer colleges--"choose me, I'm qualified and committed to this field".</p>

<p>I wish you the best--seriously--and please understand that, while tough, my comments are just designed to let you know that you have options, but maybe not the ones you have in mind. You'll do just fine if you apply yourself--and you've already taken the toughest step--which is to admit that you needed to change what you were already doing--which wasn't working out.</p>

<p>Best of success to you.</p>

10

<p>P.S. If you want more info on which schools might be good ones to transfer to in a year or so, give us some more info to work from--for example:</p>

<p>what state do you live in?
Can you afford an expensive school (apparently you can since you listed USC, Northwestern, and Vanderbilt on your original list)?
Are you looking for a metro area? (as opposed to being in Prescott)
Where do you want to live after graduation?
What part of English literature do you like best (writing, history, the classics, comparative literature, specific writers)?
What courses have you already completed in this area?
What general ed courses are already completed?</p>

<p>This will all help us decide what might work for you in terms of other schools (although this will only help us give a very broad list--and you'll have to do the leg work on narrowing the list down).</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

11

<p>Calcruzer:</p>

<p>I really appreciate your comments and advice, and on a sidenote I wasn't criticizing anyone, I was just sulking at the fact that I might not be getting some advice I need. I've done everything to get help, and since i'm new here I didn't realise it'd take a few weeks for a response. Yes you're right nobody owes that to me, but nobody owes anyone anything here, I just ask for a little bit of advice because I'm really lost, I just need some direction, I can walk the path myself.</p>

<p>And for the sake of of giving ppl here a better understanding of my situation, I have become deaf overtime during my time in college (although I did not want to disclose this info but it may seem necessary). This is the primary reason why it took my GPA down, since I don't know sign language or can't read lips, I found it extremely hard to overcome this problem, as the disability services couldn't do much to help if I was not proficient in these types of communication. Secondly it was also part of my ego, I did not want to accept I was going deaf, so I stayed in college to overcome the problem myself, I didn't really seek help until now. Disability services did help to some extent, like provide me with notes from students from my class but this was pretty useless as I had the same notes, the problem is understanding the notes taken in class which are pretty much elaborated on through speech, it would be ridiculous to tell the professor to write down everything he says from word to word. I tried my best, I've read textbooks in my free time to help me understand things, but this came to a point where I just got fed up with everything and become depressed at one point. All I ever asked for was to give me the same advantage as other students. Hearing aids don't work cause the problem is not with my ear but rather my nerves, this may require me to undergo cochlear surgery but since i'm an international student, I'm not insured for this kinda of expensive and complicated procedure. </p>

<p>Now that I've disclosed my problem I shall answer your questions.
First off I live in Cali (i'm an international student though), and my family moved here whilst I was in college at Riddle. Really the state does not matter to me.</p>

<p>Yes I can afford expensive schools for the next two or two and half years but I will have to find financial aid if I decide to stay longer. </p>

<p>I really don't have plans where I want to live after I graduate but right now I'm thinking Cali, however this decision isn't certain yet, it all depends on job openings after I graduate</p>

<p>Really I actually like everything about Engllish Lit, I like the classics, the writing but I plan to focus on creative writing if I do major in English Lit. I also love analytical aspect of it, these were the classes I excelled in here at Riddle and not the engineering.</p>

<p>It may seem like I did not complete a lot of the GE courses, because I only listed courses like dynamics, statics above. But I actually completed a lot of these before I took engineering courses which was required of me. After I get the problem with my hearing sorted I will take courses specific to the Eng Lit major.</p>

<p>I've done all listed on the USC website except for two of them, which I will be taking when I get back to school.</p>

<p>Again, I really appreciate your input and there were no hard feelings for the brutal honesty, I'd rather have things given to me realistically. </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

12

<p>For California Universities (UCs), most of the campuses have a maximum number of units that can be taken from a 4year school and still transfer, I believe it is 90 semester credits. The only UCs that will look at you for transfer if you have more than 90 units taken at a 4year are UCLA, UCI and UC Davis. Most of them want you to have a 3.0 and up GPA. However, all is not lost... you can go to a community college, finish up your General Education and take more English pre-reqs and boost your GPA up over the next year to put yourself in a better position for transfering.</p>

<p>The state schools in California (CSUs) hardly care about the number of units you have and many have a low threshold for GPA (2.0 for some). Some of the state schools are very solid, in a big city, and will have the diversity you are looking for. You could transfer to a CSU, clean up your GPA, graduate - and then go for a great school for grad degree.</p>

<p>The private colleges in California also rarely care about the total number of units you have, so again, your best bet may be going to a community college (raise GPA, finish general ed, get more English pre-reqs done) and apply that way. Santa Clara University has a very nice English program and has been known to accept people in the English program with a 3.0 ... but try and make your English-classes GPA a <em>lot</em> higher than that. And there are many many more private colleges in California to check out.</p>

<p>As for your hearing disability - I wonder if your best long-term classroom management would be to TAPE the lectures... and then hire (or if available, through a program that pays for it) someone to transcribe the lectures. If you can afford a private college tuition... then maybe try for a public institution and use some of the THOUSANDS of dollars saved to pay for transcription service. </p>

<p>Also, consider that if you took a gap year or two (more than a semester) to deal with your medical issues and adjust to your hearing loss, that ANY college will take that into account when you apply for transfer. That said... if you took some time off, went to community college (even only part-time for awhile), brought up your GPA, proved yourself in English courses, that you would be a very attractive transfer student. You would represent someone who was tested and mature... so take your time if at all possible. (Also, community college would give you a chance to figure out if English lit really is what you want... nothing would be more frustrating than to transfer to a 4year and decide that it is not and still be turning in circles).</p>

<p>Your post had a practical aspect to you (what kinds of colleges/transfer issues) as well as a personal (medical and personal - dealing with the major shifts in your life and the emotional fallout from it). Of the two, the latter is really the part that you probably should focus on, and the former will become more clear as you clarify your goals and methodically gather information. All the transfer limitations/requirements are posted on the college websites (sometimes takes some digging - like the UCs that have a 90 semester limit) and I would suggest starting a spreadsheet and collecting that information as you find it.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Annika</p>

13

<p>I agree that your situation has enough complications to it that it is difficult for us to give as much advice as we might like. We would not want to steer you wrong and very few (if any) of us will have had experience with the very unique set of circumstances you face.</p>

<p>I wonder if you could do this, given that you are in California (and maybe even a California resident?): Why not make an appointment to meet with the appropriate staff member at a ccc near you. Ask their advice for a situation like yours. They would have perspective, I would think, on whether you should do some cc work prior to trying to transfer, might know how many transferable credits you now have... and many other elements. </p>

<p>I do think you should focus on a set of schools which are:
*in locations you like
*have the major you want (virtually all will have this, of course)
*are down the scale in selectivity from the schools you've listed - it is just more realistic for your stats, I think... and you have plenty of challenges on your plate.</p>

<p>I think you have a great attitude. Will you be having the surgery prior to trying to transfer? Or will you have developed some accommodations/strategies to mitigate the hearing issue? I think you might also try to speak directly (in person or by phone) with Admissions Officers of one or two of your "dream" schools... see what they suggest. After all, your deteriorated hearing could well explain the lower GPA and, if you can document that it is solved, somehow show what your academic performance would be once addressed, they may evaluate you quite differently. At least I would hope for that.</p>

<p>Good luck to you.</p>

14

<p>Forgot to mention as I was reading all this again, THANK YOU! Esp, Andale and Annika for your informative responses, I will take all that into account. </p>

<p>And to answer your questions Andale, No I won't get surgery as insurance doesn't cover it and it hits the 20,00$-50,000$ dollar range, which I cannot afford. In fact, I'm not covered for insurance for my hearing problem now, so I'm not currently seeing a doctor. I will however be going to CC next semester (I'm taking fall 09 off) and hopefully the disabilities services can accommodate me in some way. I especially like Annika's suggestion on the transcribing the lectures, as that would help a lot. Never thought about it.</p>

<p>Anyway I've narrowed my choices, and I've done a lot of research, as a Cali resident and someone attending CC next semester, it would be wise to apply to the UCs, i'll be applying to LA, SD, SB and Irvine (maybe Berkeley for the hell of it - I guess it wouldn't hurt to apply). With my top choice being USC, even though it's a reach.</p>

<p>I'm adding Occidental, Santa Clara, Fordham and Syracuse to the list as well. Since private schools are quite flexible with credit limits.</p>

<p>I'm still looking for some safeties, these are really tough to choose because these are schools I would only stay in if I can't get into my other choices.</p>

<p>Again thanks for all your advice.</p>