Transfer Applicant Support - Page 3

tahitiKO · 03-26-2008, 10:20 PM

short answer= northampton SUCKS. it's just completely dead. and with smith being a small all-girl's school, socialization would really need to go elsewhere, and the town offers nothing. unless you have close friends at the other 5 colleges you can't really just go there either. and i don't know, i just don't really think that the schools atmosphere itself fits me. plus i want to work in the media and therefore would like to be interning/working actively in in my last two years of college to make connections and being in a city is really my only way to do that.
message me if you need more/other info on smith though, i know a lot about it's programs. don't get me wrong, i think the school has a lot of great qualities, i just know its not for me.

AmenoMusicista · 03-26-2008, 10:28 PM

Fair enough. lol I'm trying to decide between Mt. Holyoke and Smith, as I'm really really trying not to get my hopes up about Barnard (although I just end up obsessing and coming back to these boards). The ruralness of the two wouldn't really bother me I guess as the school I'm at now is in the middle of nowhere. It takes 30 minutes to get to the nearest walmart and everything local closes at like 8. >.> *sigh* Getting accepted at Barnard would just make my life 985,342,120x easier.

AmenoMusicista · 03-27-2008, 04:07 PM

Sorry 'bout the double post, but I'm having issues. My advisor is basically a jerk, to put it kindly. He recently sent me an e-mail saying he couldn't do the form for me anymore, after he already agreed to it and asked me to follow up with him on it. I had all kinds of trouble with him last year, too, getting my advisor report. He "forgot" about it and I had to rush it in around May 5th. >.>
He's just very reluctant to help in any way, which is odd, given his job.

Anyhoo, Smith and Mt.Holyoke told me they have enough materials (who knows if that's a good sign or not), but Barnard told me to go ahead and get someone at the Registrar's Office to do it for me. No problem. I e-mailed the person in charge of transfers there and she told me to bring it in. However, upon glancing over the form she told me she couldn't fill out the evaluation section as she didn't know me.

So now, I'm stuck with half of an advisor form. I don't want to have someone else write it because that would just look weird, but I'm also reluctant to contact Barnard again about this in fear of giving them some vibe that the people at my current university dislike me. lol Does anyone know if they mainly just look at this form for your academic standing, as well as your discplinary record? Ugh.

dancer2436 · 03-28-2008, 12:11 AM

Ameno... you should definitely try to get the form filled out. You don't want your application to be incomplete. My suggestion is that you take the form to anyone in the registrar's office along with your resume and tell them that it is extremely important that you get this filled out ASAP. Last year when i was doing my transfer app I ran into a similar problem. I went to a huge state school and my adviser didn't know me, and I actually didn't even know who my adviser was haha... but I ended up giving it to someone with my resume so that he could get to know me a little better. definitely try to get it filled out, I hope this helps!

AmenoMusicista · 03-28-2008, 01:42 AM

Thanks Dancer, that's a lot of help. It didn't even cross my mind to go back with a resume. XD I'll go back to the registrar tomorrow morning and hopefully I can get this done with once and for all!

tahitiKO · 03-28-2008, 09:43 AM

yeah that sounds like a good plan. luckily i haven't run into that issue. my dean wanted to meet with me personally so she could fill out the form with a little more knowledge and find out why i wanted to transfer-which was nice. thats where small schools are really handy.

AmenoMusicista · 03-28-2008, 11:54 AM

Haha wow that's pretty awesome. I'm kinda jealous of you right now. lol Our Deans try to operate separately from the students, it would seem. Unless you do something that gets you in big trouble, that is.

AmenoMusicista · 03-28-2008, 02:45 PM

Well I went to the Registrar today with high hopes and they shot me down, saying they couldn't fill out the evaluation for me, even though I told them that it had to be from a college official. I went to the English department's office and I asked the secretary if there was anyone who could help me out. She was very sweet about the whole thing and got me in to talk to the English Chair. However, the Head English Chair didn't want to fill it out because she didn't really know me and wouldn't be able to give as good of a report as she wanted to. That's understandable, but I just don't know what to do now. I was on the verge of tears when I left her office. I guess I'll call Barnard again and see what they say.

collegegirl86 · 03-28-2008, 06:31 PM

I just can't pass up these transfer threads!

AmenoMusicista,

I'm not an advocate for being mean to people, but you might have to go in and act like a parent who's paying good money for their kid go to this school. As someone whose parents live in another state, I've had to learn how to assert myself when I'm being shortchanged. As a transfer student, I know how stressful it can be applying to Barnard while trying to stay on top of your work during the semester. The application process becomes a class in itself!

With that said - He's your ADVISOR. In case he hasn't checked the job description, it means that IT'S HIS JOB to fill out the form and help you do whatever it is you need to do to succeed at whatever it is you want to do. If that means he needs to help you get into Barnard, then he needs to get with the program - ASAP. Right now, you still attend Kutztown University. Which means every minute you spend there costs you. Which means you deserve a little customer service in exchange for your money. Which means he needs to fill out the form - ASAP.

Do you know who his boss is? One thing you could do is shoot him a very kind email saying that you understand that this is short notice, but that you did talk to him beforehand and can't afford for him not to fulfill the promise he made you. Carbon copy whoever he reports to. It always works like magic for me...

If that doesn't work, keep going up the chain of command. Someone there has to have an ounce of sense that tells them that someone at that school is going to have to fill out the form. Whether its the president of the university or someone who works in the department of your major. Someone needs to fill out the form - ASAP.

If I were you, I wouldn't let the people you pay get away with not helping you.

Best wishes,
collegegirl86

MayDub · 03-31-2008, 09:41 AM

Is it okay to send in midsemester reports altogether in one big envelope, or are teachers expected to send them separately? i collected them expecting to send them all together, but now I'm not sure if this appropriate.

Thanks!

AmenoMusicista · 03-31-2008, 10:35 AM

Each of my professors filled them out for me on the spot and handed them back to me, and then I mailed them all out at once. I don't think it would really matter. If it did I'm sure they'd specify that they want the teacher to mail it personally.

Also finally got the chair of the English department to fax my advisor form to the three schools that need it. >.>! Thanks for the kick in the butt, Collegegirl. lol I took your advice and went to the chair with the whole situation. I'm really shy so it's difficult for me to be assertive at times, but I just kinda sucked it up and went for it. You are the sage of Barnard transfer wisdom. lol I'm also sending a letter to Barnard with an explanation on my Official's report fiasco, even though I've also contacted them via phone and e-mail.

MayDub · 03-31-2008, 12:29 PM

thank you very much!

good for you on the advisor situation. i honestly can't imagine going through that, as I'm rather shy as well. You stress out about the essays and grades and it never occurs to you that people who are compensated to do that sort of thing for you will refuse. Hopefully everything you've gone through will be worth it!

re-nuh · 04-04-2008, 09:09 AM

Okay, so the applications were supposed to be postmarked by April 1st but not necessarily received by April 1st? I Express mailed my application on Monday and the post office said that it would get there on the Tuesday (the 1st). I live in Ohio, so it's not like I live on the other side of the country. However, today I tracked it on the USPS site and they said it wasn't received until the 2nd. Someone did sign for it, but I don't want it to be like "I'll sign for it, but the committee still isn't reviewing it..."

collegegirl86 · 04-04-2008, 11:40 AM

Good for you, AmenoMusicista! It's good to hear you got someone to actually do the job you pay them to do. I understand their point of view, but they had to know that someone needed to fill out the form.

Re-nuh - If you express mailed your application on Monday, you'll be fine. The adcoms at Barnard aren't looking for arbitrary reasons to reject you. It was postmarked by the 1st, so I really think you'll be okay on that end of things. Don't worry too much, and good luck with the rest of the process!

MayDub · 04-08-2008, 03:23 PM

Have any of you received the information (sort of pin number) we need to start tracking our applications?