Help me out! Should I transfer for fall 2010 or next spring?

opzoro · 02-22-2010, 09:48 PM

Hey guys, this is my first post on CC and I really hope to get some advice, I am so twisted right now!

I am a freshman a top 20 university. I have to admit the academic program in my school is very strong and there are a lot of opportunities, but I still feel like I don't fit in here and really want to transfer. My school does not offer the major I am passionate about and it is in the south - well, I have no bias for the south, it's just that I want to work in northeast or california after graduation, so it's relatively harder to network and find internship in those area. The schools that I am thinking about are Cornell, USC, Columbia, Stanford, Brown and Upenn.

My GPA last semester was 3.5, it's low but I am 95% percent sure after this semester my GPA will be above 3.7. I know it's still lower than most of the transfer GPA's on CC, but that's the best I can do right now. I have some extracurriculars but I am not taking any leadership positions right now, because I am only a freshman. I just decided to transfer so generally speaking I have finished nothing about the application yet.

So right now I am really wondering if I should apply for fall 2010 or spring 2011. I think I can come up with a decent fall application, but given the limited time left(less than a month), I don't think it will be 'perfect'. However, many of the school that I want to apply does not have spring admissions. So I really need some advice.

* will it hurt my chance if I apply for fall semester as a sophomore?

I am eagerly waiting to hear your advice!

happymomof1 · 02-23-2010, 09:23 AM

Since your current university does not offer your major (or, I take it, a related or equivalent major), you will have to transfer somewhere.

Why don't you apply to the places now that only have fall admission. If you don't get in, you can apply to the others for the spring.

You also could consider taking a leave of absence from your current university at the end of this school year, and working for a year while you put your transfer applications together for the places you are really interested in.