I’m a upcoming sophomore Religious Studies transfer. I’ve been taking nondegree classes at Hunter for the past semester. Recently I was accepted into Boston University, which was my target school when applying for transfers. I would be a Religion major, I’m hoping to pick up a minor in French/CompLit and do either the joint Religion-Philosophy degree or a dual major English/Religion. I’m aiming for Columbia for grad school, looking now at the religion/journalism program.
Once I was accepted into BU, their financial aid dept put me through the wringer and it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to go, even though I’d technically committed. I was crushed but eventually accepted it and started making plans to continue at Hunter. But about a week ago out of nowhere, BU gave me enough financial aid [~40k] to make going there a possibility. This means I would have to take out another loan. It’s now equal to the price I was paying for art school. But I don’t know if I should go any longer.
I committed, went to the orientation, and wasn’t sure what to make of it. There seemed to be very little stress on academics and the philosophy department seems to somehow be more STEM focused, which was not the impression I got initially, and not a good fit for me as I’m interested in French post-structuralism and theology. A professor suggested that the Religion program difficulty was “moderate, but it is what you make of it”. Would this not be the same at a CUNY for a lot less money? And little or no debt?
Am I crazy for even considering going back to Hunter?
- I thought the connections at BU would be better than those at Hunter, but I’m not sure this is the case anymore. It also seems the Hunter program is more diverse in terms of professors and their personal experiences with religion, which may be good for me as I ultimately am interested in religion as it pertains to culture and philosophy.
- I could also continue to be non-degree, and try again for transfer when I have more extracurriculars under my belt…listening to advice and applying for more schools this time. lol. I really just want to put my head down and study for the next 2.5, 3 years and be secure. Tunnel vision biting me in the ass
- I felt much more uncomfortable at BU than anticipated. I don’t want to go to a commuter school, but the student body at BU and I seem not to mesh. There seems to be almost no one in the English/Linguistics/etc programs… mostly psych majors. Which makes sense in retrospect but doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want to feel ostracized.
- I would pursue the TH Honors program at Hunter if there full-time. (my nondegree gpa is 4.0)
- I was also accepted into Fordham, which I could still commit to.
- I am looking for a strong network of peers and professors in the concentration
- I feel like for 80k a year my attitude shouldn’t be, “well, I can make it work”
Do I continue to take time off/non-degree it, grind way harder, and try again? Settle for Hunter? Or take the additional Sallie Mae loan in stride and go to a top school?