<p>[Google is your friend.](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/applying.htm”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/applying.htm</a>)
;)</p>
<p>yes, I get that EK, but the mom already posted the she called admissions and they said, No. She was just looking for any end-arounds that folks on cc might know of…which is understandable, given that her D is miserable, and every huge bureaucracy - like UC – has “ways…”</p>
<p>If the OP only wanted to know whether it’s too late to transfer she would have posted, “My freshman dd is enrolled at one school but now regrets not choosing UCLA. Is it too late for her to attend there?” The fact that she included all the other info left her open to advice and comment on those other issues. :)</p>
<p>blossom, I appreciate your perspective, too. But I would take a hard look at the freshman curriculum at Pepperdine. Few of the required courses are going to translate into meaningful credit elsewhere. If I were the OP, and I were not withdrawing now, I would be doing everything I could to take courses that would be recognized by a transfer institution.</p>
<p>Some friends of ours have a son who got into his first choice school, Bucknell a popular choice among many here, and hated it so much, he refused to return after winter break. I think he would have left after a month or so, but his parents talked him through the first term. He went to a local public school that year and next and then transferred to yet another school. He’s now graduated from medical school, doing well, and all of this is a distant memory and not considered any big deal. People make decision that they regret, even though they are perfectly fine venues for most people, and they react to them in different ways. </p>
<p>My friends DD did not like USF one bit either and that was the case even a week after being there, but she stuck it out, and did better academically there than she had for a long time in school, which gave her all kinds of transfer options. I am very impressed that neither she nor her family have any derogatory comments about the school and are glad to have it as a stepping stone. Truth be known, it was not the first choice school, and they are glad they are out of there, but it did have some positive impacts in the student’s life. Hopefully she does as well at her new school, as she did there.</p>
<p>OP- please let us know you’re still there.</p>
<p>I say NO to any gap year instead of transferring for students who can do fine in college but chose an incompatible one. What wil the student do to advance their education??? We drove past Pepperdine this spring and I certainly can see why a student could have problems if s/he didn’t feel like they fit in- so isolated from everything you can’t have an off campus life.</p>
<p>Rethink the UW option- with her acceptance there they may take her and she may rethink what she wants in a campus after this experience. Public U’s typically reflect the area’s demographic and have room for all types from conservative to radical, finding her niche and avoiding HS classmates is likely easy.</p>
<p>My D’s three closest friends from high school are all somewhat unhappy with their college choices, all are about five weeks into freshman year. My D loves her college (whew!), but her friends are unhappy for various reasons. One at Kenyon is having trouble making friends, one at Michigan Tech is bored and says the classes are too easy (probably true, he was a very high stats kid who didn’t look too hard for a college), and one at NYU who is overwhelmed by the size AND was dumped by her high school bf last week. I do not believe any are talking about transferring at this point, though. My guess is the Kenyon kid will settle in, and the NYU one will find her crowd. The Michigan Tech kid may need a change for academic reasons, although he is pretty good at making the best of things.</p>
<p>Point is… LOTS of kids are unhappy their first month or two of school, and for varying reasons. I think the OP was awful quick to rush to rescue her daughter (that said, can’t imagine either of my kids thriving at Pepperdine, but I assume OP’s D knew about the religious/conservative atmosphere before accepting). Her rush to say she was not “That parent!” to allow her kid to suffer at a school she doesn’t like seemed too quick to me, unless there is more to the story than she is telling us. Seems like a kneejerk reaction for a kid who has been at a school for a month. I think parents have to walk a line between supporting our kids, and pushing them back into the fray a bit when they squib out without giving something a fair chance. Four weeks at a college that is physically safe and offers the major the kid wants is not enough for a parent to ride to the rescue, IMHO.</p>
<p>What if the kid hadn’t been accepted at UCLA? I wonder if she would be so miserable now, or if this is a case of the grass is greener. If she didn’t even have a UCLA option (and it sounds like she really doesn’t, financially or acceptance-wise), what would she want to do?</p>
<p>Wis75: Again, once she’s considered a transfer student (which she will be if she chooses not to withdraw), she will need 90 credits in order to transfer to UW, and they take almost no transfer students from 4 year schools because of a state mandate to reserve 30% of their all their acceptances every year for students from community colleges. </p>
<p>Pepperdine is a special case because of it’s unique social climate. If this student is absolutely sure this is not a fit and never will be she should cut her losses and withdraw. She can advance her education by experiencing the world–working or volunteering–and maturing. There is a reason that students who take a gap year have higher graduation rates and better GPAs than ones who don’t. Adcoms love gap year students and there is certainly no shame in going that route.</p>
<p>The OP mentioned that her daughter had been accepted to other top schools–another option would be seeing if one of those schools would still offer admission.</p>
<p>yes, it was our experience that my son’s offer of admission at the two privates to which he was accepted (and all his original FA/Scholarship awards) was still active/valid even after he’d completed two quarters. I’m sure that is the case with other schools too–especially if she was a strong applicant.</p>
<p>Scubasue- so you’d encourage this young woman to essentially write off the first semester tuition, room and board plus incidentals? I guess she can recover a few hundred dollars by selling back her books. Withdraw with zero credits?</p>
<p>If this were a family where money were no object and the number of zeros on a check were irrelevant… I’d still think this was wacky advice, but whatever. But to tell a family which is watching every penny (which is how the D ended up at Pepperdine to begin with) that they should “write off” their investment as a Gap Year?</p>
<p>Let’s hope the D got full tuition and full R&B to Pepperdine if the OP is contemplating taking your advice.</p>
<p>And do not be so confident without knowing the other colleges that the offer of admissions AND all the original FA/Scholarship awards are still intact. Many colleges hand out the money until it is gone; once it’s gone and someone changes their mind, oh well. That’s great for your son that the money was still there but I know several cases of “summer melt” and buyer’s remorse where that was not the case. A college needs to have very deep pockets, or is very worried about yield to be able to give significant aid to kids who have already turned it down.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that we do not know what the ramifications of all of this will be, so the OP and/or DD need to find out. Get the facts and then make an informed decision. We never know all of the details of these things, so who knows what is behind the drastic wish for an exodus.</p>
<p>I do know of some cases where kids who turned down some offers were able to get them back on the table, both in part and whole. Also when it was a done deal and they had to start over. How UCLA will respond, I 'm not going to begin to guess. </p>
<p>My best wishes to the student and the parent through all of this.</p>
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<p>The daughter intuited that she didnt “belong” there either so its a moot point. </p>
<p>What makes the school fit/not fit (that wasnt apparent during the selection process or accepted student day) we may never know. but at least there was an opportunity for people to dump on Pepperdine.</p>
<p>^ Absolutely. The amount of money available to freshmen students is signicantly more than transfer students are awarded. If this student can maintain her freshman status, whatever their losses are could be offset by a much better FA/scholarship package than she would get as a transfer student. In fact I’m advocating for withdrawal because I believe it is in the family’s best financial interest to do that. I think they will come out much farther ahead in the long run.</p>
<p>And, I am not confident that her former acceptances and aid packageas are still on the table, but i am sure the chance that that could be true is better at any private schools the student applied to compared to UW or UCLA.</p>
<p>"The daughter intuited that she didnt “belong” there either so its a moot point. "</p>
<p>This is usually the case among teenagers because they know how many of their fellow students will attend their state flagship and consider it not good enough for themselves if so many of their fellow classmates can go there.</p>
<p>“How UCLA will respond, I 'm not going to begin to guess.”</p>
<p>Based on post 81, they seem to have a published policy. State schools are notoriously bureaucratic and will not bend lest they be sued.</p>
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<p>No need to guess. In post #1, mom already indicated that she called UCLA. </p>
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<p>(That is why I can’t understand all of those who suggested that D call…)</p>
<p>I’ve known several kids who “left” their choice college within weeks of arrival. For the most part they had a fall back position that was either temporary or permanent and all the stories were slightly different. Most were happy after the initial upheaval. The problem here is that the OP’s D wants to go to a school that is probably full or even over full and has stated they only take junior transfers. It’s possible that if the D called she could discuss spring admission or any combination of things and perhaps get more intel than the mom got. But we don’t know. I know at my son’s big U it would not happen either as they are packed to the rafters. Only the OP’s D knows whether Pepperdine is a no go – period – and wants to transfer…somewhere else or if it’s simply "buyers’ remorse from which she will recover.</p>
<p>I agree with scubasue that the overall financial picture may be better if the D withdraws, takes a gap year, and then reapplies…but that’s with a lot of “ifs”. <em>If</em> the parents give the D a budget, so that she knows what schools will be affordable when applying as a freshman. <em>If</em> the D can get her applications for next year together quickly, because we are already in the thick of admissions submissions for next year (and incidentally, the D would need to quickly assemble a list of what she’s planning to do during her gap year because that will be a big part of her applications package). <em>If</em> other schools really will treat her for admissions purposes as a freshman, especially for merit aid. <em>If</em> the D has clearly articulated reasons for why Pepperdine isn’t a good fit. Without being able to explain why one school didn’t work and why another one would, the D could very well end up in similar circumstances as a freshman in fall 2014 at a different school.</p>
<p>The OP doesn’t seem to be reading this thread anymore, but if she is: I’d suggest you start a new thread asking parents for help for a freshman who’s not excited to be at her school. There are many many folks here who’ve had similar experiences. Help your D to figure out a path forward. For instance, I know one recent Boulder grad who really wasn’t happy at the school, but had limited choices due to finances. The student decided to cope by minimizing time on campus, to the point of finishing up a double major in three years. Not all of the advice will work for your D, but something will.</p>
<p>Anyone that can’t find Boulder at least somewhat enjoyable has issues.</p>
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<p>Because #1 reads like the question to Admissions was whether she could be admitted as a transfer for Spring. Some of us suggested she call today and see if she can be admitted immediately as a regular freshman.</p>