Why do professors and counselors discourage students from going to a certain school just because of its prestige? I recently talked to my counselor and told her that the reason I wanted to transfer out of my university was because I thought that the other school was better.
Why did my counselor and instructor give me a dirty look when I wanted to transfer out of my college
Because you’re telling them that their school isn’t good enough for you, so you’re going somewhere that’s better. There are far better ways of phrasing that without coming right out and saying it.
Can you tell me other ways of phrasing this? I think i do this all the time even with other things. I believe I am too truthful and straightforward. Do you know how I can fix my way of communication?
You are taking the tuition dollars that pay their salaries and moving them to another institution. You are also sort of putting down their school by saying you think the other school is “better”. They also may have invested time counseling your, working with you in office hours, and mentoring your progress as professors – and then you kind of dumped on them. You could have said something like you think it is a better fit with the major you want to pursue, will cost you less, has stronger career services, is closer to home so you can see your family more, whatever the case is. If you are just moving for “prestige” alone (whatever that is), I don’t blame them for giving you a dirty look.
You could have said something like “I’ve really loved my time at school x, but I feel that school y is better able to accommodate my goals because they have ____________.”
That gets more or less the same point across, but not in a generalized sense of saying “this school is better, so I’m going there.”