<p>I currently attend Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL which I was basically forced to go to due to financial constraints. I have been through only one year, but it is just not the environment and education I was really hoping for. I started out right into my major courses (Chemical Engineering) because of a lot of AP credit, so really I am a year ahead anyway. I wanted to go to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and am considering transferring there after next year. I intend to apply for a fellowship through the EPA that would, if I got it, give me a lot more financial leeway than I had before. Also, I’m thinking I might be able to swing a deal with RHIT since I have had research experience during this past year and these past two summers in addition to a 4.0 GPA. Do you think it would be relatively pointless to transfer at this stage in the game? Also, do you think transferring to a little more respected University (if you would consider more respected) would slightly increase my chances of a graduate school like Stanford (I have been very impressed by their environmental engineering department and there are a few staff that do research in exactly what I am looking into)? </p>
<p>I plan to email the department at RHIT beforehand if I find that I am very serious about transferring and seeing how my courses would transfer at first. Also email the professors there that are into research that I am interested in and see if they can support my fellowship. What do you guys think? Am I jumping to conclusions or would it maybe be a good idea since I find myself very discouraged at IIT?</p>