Hello,
I completed one semester at a small regional school. I did not mesh well at the school and ended the semester with a 3.4 GPA. My classes were very difficult including an honors seminar and ‘weedout’ Calculus. I was accepted to transfer into a state school for spring semester of this year, however, due to finances I will not be attending until fall. My financial aid package is terrible, and my EFC is only 3,000$. If I didn’t have savings, I would not be able to attend.
I know I will have to transfer again after I complete this year, so I would like to take advantage of attending a larger institution where I will have access to things like organizations and research in my major (which was not offered at my previous school, my department was falling apart and losing faculty members left and right. Freshman were not allowed to join comp sci clubs either)
I am taking a class at community college over the summer in order to try and get ahead with my credits, so far I’m on track for a 4.0. Despite this, I have one W on my transcript for Calclus 2. I tried taking it along with my other class this summer, and ended up with a professor who did not even work out example problems. By the second day of class, it was considered a W.
My question is, will transferring twice look bad, especially with my old GPA? Is transferring due to financial reasons considered a red flag for adcoms? Will having a W look bad? If I need to retake Calculus 1 in order to ace 2, will that be considered another redflag? Will taking a class at community college alongside my classes at my university look bad?
My goal is to get as many meaningful extracurriculars as possible, while maintaining a 4.0. It’s my dream to go to grad school as well, so I really want to be successful in undergrad. Thank you guys for the help!
Why do you think you would need to transfer out of the state U? That will be your third institution. If it isn’t affordable, just don’t go there. Finish up an AA or AS degree at your CC with top grades, and look for an affordable place to transfer to for the last two years of your undergrad degree.
I agree with @happymomof1. I don’t understand why you are transferring to an unaffordable school. Why not stay where you are, and try again to transfer next year? Alternately, you could take a gap year and reapply to more affordable schools, or you could attend community college and then try to find a more affordable school. It seems a pity to use up your savings when you could instead complete your first two years at a community college.
I am also concerned with the combination of “weedout calculus” and your trying to attend a “top 30 university”. I was a math major at a highly ranked school, and calculus was the easiest math class that I took over 4 years. I don’t think that whatever university is ranked #30 is all that much easier than whatever university is ranked #1. The top 30 schools are pretty much weedout classes followed by weedout classes followed by more weedout classes.
I see on another thread that you were asking about the University of Chicago. One daughter has a friend who graduated from there. He is one of the smartest and hardest working people that I know – straight solid A’s through the end of high school. He used to come back during breaks and talk about how difficult it is and how much work it is. It is a great school, but it is academically very demanding and is definitely not a good fit for every student.
I am feeling confused (and maybe not helpful) but I am thinking that you need to have a realistic goal with regards to what universities you intend to try to attend and graduate from. Look for a school that fits you and were you can do well, not one with a big name. Also, be cautious about using up your savings.
There are no extracurricular activities available at community college and honestly the academic environment is not a good fit for me.
It was my dream to attend Northwestern or Uchicago due to their distinct environments, the Core and the quarter system at NU. I only commited to my origional school because I let others talk me into believing that the financial benefit was more important than fit. Sure, I saved money, but I was miserable there. I felt like I learned nothing in my major classes, most everyone in my classes partied and goofed off, I didn’t fit in, and was yelled at by housing services because I have autism and my doctor requested a single room or living off campus. I was going to counseling services weekly and still felt miserable there.
I grew up in a rural area so there were no community colleges nearby, so I had to move three hours away just to come here- it was the only CC I could find that offered my major and would transfer credits to my school. Being away from my family and having to spend the next year at CC would crush me, honestly. I’ve always wanted to go to a 4 year and have the college experience. The CC here has a 9% graduation rate, and a lot of the teachers and students really don’t care.
I don’t mean to sound uppity, and I appreciate the sentiment… I know going to a T30 doesn’t determine success. I just don’t want to give up on my NU dream, and there are no opportunities at CC for me. I feel like if I could build solid extracurriculars and keep a good GPA at a 4 year school, I would have a better shot at transferring. Dropping down to CC would kind of seem like I couldn’t handle the workload.
You attended College A because it was affordable but hated it. Were you admitted anywhere else that was affordable? Did you apply to NU and U of Chicago then and get rejected, or did you discover them too late to apply for your freshman year?
You applied to transfer to College B for this coming fall, but cannot afford it and will need to transfer somewhere else to finish your education. Did you apply to NU as a transfer? If not, why not? If you did apply, but were rejected, what makes you think you can re-apply from B after on year? And, of course, if you can’t afford B for the long term, why did you commit there for the fall? Was it the only place that accepted you as a transfer applicant? If you don’t get into NU, and can’t afford B for the long term, what will you do?
You are currently enrolled at College C which is a community college with residential facilities. Is it affordable for you for the year or so it would require for you to complete an AA or AS? Have you told your CC professors and the counselors there that NU is your transfer target? Do they have any other suggestions for you for transferring on if you would stay to complete the AA/AS degree? If you are unhappy with your current CC, is there another residential CC in your state that could work for you, or a CC in an urban environment where there would be more things going on so that you could have the ECs you are interested in?
Here’s the deal: You have already “dropped down” to the CC by enrolling there for the summer instead of taking a job or finding a way to take summer classes at College B. Lots of students enroll in CCs for a year or more after figuring out that their first choice was the wrong one. Students who have excellent grades and good letters of recommendation do get into T30 institutions from CCs every single year. There is no reason why you couldn’t be one of them. That only 9% graduate and that “a lot” of the faculty and students don’t seem to care are immaterial. What you choose to make of your chances there is what matters.