Worth it to transfer? (UH vs. UT)

Transfer Students
1

I am a freshman at University of Houston (main campus) and I HATE it. I am thinking of transferring but I am not sure if it is worth it.

Here is some background information of me to understand my situation:
I am a college freshman who has just completed my first semester in college with 27 hours (12 hours are from APs and Dual Credit). I am also a commuter who lives at home and is family oriented. I went to a competitive high school where a decent amount of students went to good schools (EX: UPenn, Vanderbilt, Harvard, Yale, NYU, UCLA, etc.) I graduated top 10 percent and when people asked me where I was going, most were shocked and assumed I would reach higher. At UH I am majoring in biochemistry and pre-dental. So far I am very unhappy there due to the social situation. The school I am interested in is University of Texas in Austin.

My first problem is my social life in relation to my academic life:
During my first month in school I have made a conscious effort to introduce myself to people in my classes everyday and currently have not made any new friends there at all. Mainly because of the incompatibility whether it was lifestyle, no common interest or level of intelligence. Now before you judge me for when I state “level of intelligence” in my biology, chemistry and calculus 1 class the majority of students complain about the rigorousness of the classes when for me it is a breeze. When I try to do study sessions it is mainly me just answering their questions that I find are rudimentary; however they can never seem to answer my questions which makes me feel like I am being used as a free tutor. I have just finished my first semester with a 3.98 GPA (one A- and the rest are As). So is it better if I stay because I am making good grades so far or risk it for a more challenging school? I know dental schools mainly care about your DAT and GPA, so staying at UH will allow me to have a high GPA but UT is more recognized and rumored to have better connections with dental schools.

My second problem are the risks:
I want to transfer but I am worried that all will go south and hate UT as well. I know there is such thing as a leave of absence but I do not know if UH allows leave of absence in order to transfer to a school. UT is a lot more competitive and studies show that it is better to be in an environment where you are excelling because it encourages you to do better (me at UH). Whereas a school that has more students the same or even better level of intelligences causes you to feel intimidated and not do as well (possibly me at UT). However UT has better rankings than UH but I heard that where you go does not matter for undergraduate studies, but since UT is more challenging, wouldn’t that prepare me more for the DAT or post-graduation compared to UH? This is also risky because my classes will weigh more if I transfer to UT because it will be bases on 2 or 3 years worth of classes rather than the 4 years.

My third problem is when I should transfer:
Should I give UH another chance and wait as a sophomore to transfer? I would like to do that and get my pre-requisites out of the way but then I am worried that when I transfer to UT and take more challenging courses as a junior, the introductory classes as UH would have made me greatly unprepared compared to the students who have been at UT.

My fourth problem is the tuition fee:
I pay approximately $5,000 a year at UH which is decent compared to others and if I do transfer to UT I will probably have to pay a lot more. Is it true that UT does not give a lot of financial aid for transfer? For FASFA they did not give me any money so that is out of the question. Also, would it be better to go to a cheaper school and save up for graduate school? If that is the route to go and save money my next concern is what if UH doesn’t prepare me for graduate school and going there was a waste? I must mention my dad went to UH and ended up very well but that was a different time (the 80s) and the situation is different now.

As you can tell, I have thought about this a great amount and am trying to weigh out the pros and cons. Are there any other concerns that I have not thought about that any of y’all can think of? At UH I like my professors and the campus is okay, but I think there’s a problem when everyday for the past 4 months I have been eating lunch in the library because there is no one to eat with or when I delete all of my social media because I cannot bare seeing my friends all have fun at their colleges while I’m stuck at home moping around.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

2

Mmybe look into rice and their transfer policies because of your academic success but also staying in Houston may be helpful for you.

3

Yes.

It should prepare you just fine. I’m not sure your classes will “weigh more” as you put it if you go to UT-A. It’s got the prestige and contacts but people go to top grad schools from all schools - your GPA and DAT will matter more.

If they didn’t give you any with FAFSA I don’t see how they’ll give any if you transfer.

You’re taking a risk to transfer and the gains aren’t particularly clear. If nothing else I would wait another year at UH and if you really can’t stand it there than maybe consider transferring to junior at UT-A.

unless you’re not studying and somehow scraping by with As anyway, then this shouldn’t be a problem

4

It sounds like you want the typical college student life which is hard to have when your a commuter. UT would be a great school for you but it appears that paying full price would be a issue. If your doing well at UofH you would certainly do well at UT. For sure UT is a top notch but UofH is not that far behind. Applying for UofH honors and moving on campus would be your best options if you can’t transfer to another school IMHO. You need to be intellectually stimulated and experience a true college student lifestyle to be happy. I really think UT or A&M would be perfect schools for you and would offer everything you are missing. Being a commuter student does suck.

5

I’d finish the year at UH but be scheming to transfer to UT. Keep getting those high grades and seeing if you can find your people at UH, but be checking what the difference in cost would be and be thinking what your UT life would be like.
You aren’t the first UH student I’ve met who was dissatisfied with the social life there, on or off campus. However, know that life at UT won’t be perfect. It is a big school. Many students live off campus. It may take a while for you to find your place there. And yes, it is tougher to make good grades there. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but be prepared for your GPA to take a hit.
Can you visit UT? Got any friends you can stay with?

6

@Lizardly Yeah I’m trying to be optimistic about next semester at UH and will hopefully find people but after this past semester I don’t even want to associate with the school anymore and just get it over with. I know a decent amount of people at UT and am friends with some of them so i’ll be asking them how they like it so far. My cousin who is a freshman there LOVES it but says it’s very difficult. Hopefully my parents will support my decision if I decide to go and guide me a little. A family friend of mines transferred there also after his freshman year at another college so i’ll be contacting him soon on how he did that.

7

Getting into UT Austin is not easy either. I thought the automatic admission cut-off was top 7%. Looks like you just missed it. In either case, transferring to UT will be difficult.

Why not just stay at UH and get a high GPA and crush the DAT? Getting into dental school will be a lot easier for you. Don’t they also have a dental school in Houston too? Wouldn’t it be easier for you to do some undergraduate research in dentistry? Would be almost impossible for you to do that from Austin.

8

@zac2424 can i ask if you are in the honors college? If not, perhaps that is the reason your fellow students are less academic … you should explore joining the honors college as an option. My understanding (as a parent of a potential) is the honors classes are smaller and more stimulating. Also, very hard to commute and have a social life. If you transfer to UT you may find even in the dorm many have already formed their initial friendships; making friends takes a little effort anywhere. You’ll lose a few credits in transferring probably. Cam you try to move on campus at UH?

9

@CorpusChristi I was accepted into honors but declined because I talked to many students who accepted it and said they regretted taking it because it was not worth it. I have tried making friends at UH but many of them I guess don’t see eye to eye with me. I’ve discussed dorming at UH but my mom said, as I quote, “There is no point in getting a dorm at UH, the reason we want you to go there because it is easy and you can live at home. If we wanted you to go dorm somewhere we would have sent you to UT.” Also, at orientation I HATED staying in the dorms at UH. At UT I would probably rent an apartment and find a fellow student at UT to be my roommate.

10

@sgopal2 Yeah, the high GPA is what is making me want to stay at UH because it is a lot easier, but I am worried that I will not be prepared for future at all compared to other students. I have talked to people at UT and UT has a great dental program and many do well on the DAT because of their rigorous academics. My parents would never let me do undergraduate research during the school year but I am doing one in the summer for about 6 weeks. Also, they do have a dental school in Houston and it belongs to UT. So I think UT would be more affiliated with it rather than UH.

11

Another reason to consider staying at UH is that graduate schools like to have lots of different colleges represented. So there are probably lots more pre-dental students applying to UT dental from UT Austin than UH. Given your high GPA, you will likely stand out a lot easier.

Even if you can’t do undergraduate research at the dental school now, you should consider volunteering there. Shows enthusiasm for dentistry.

12

Before considering moving anywhere else, I would strongly advise you to check out the honors college. I know u said u have people who have said it’s not worth it but how can you know if you haven’t tried it out yourself? At the honors college, you will be surrounded by people who have excelled at their own high school’s (DeBakey and many other competitive high schools in the suburbs) but chose u of h because of its scholarships and cost. Class sizes are small and you get to have a strong sense of community with people in your honors college, even if you commute. My good friends son who has went to the honors college absolutely loved it (he stayed at honors housing) and then went on to study at the baylor college of medicine. (One of the top medical schools in the nation). If u do transfer, I fear that you may hate it aswell, seeing as people are not as inclined to let people into their friend groups in sophomore, junior and senior year. Just a thought.