Does transferring twice look bad?

Applying to College
1

Here’s a little background info (and I just want some opinions that can help me think better)
-I am a current Freshman at Towson University (MD in-state school)
-Dream school: University of Southern California

I started college at 16; with me being young, my mother wanted me to stay close to home for obvious reasons. Towson was my last choice of all the colleges I applied to, about 9. Most were out-of-state, I don’t like Maryland, it’s decent. I like warmer weather. I am currently extremely unhappy where I am. Yes, I love the people I’ve met here and the professors are great. I feel like I don’t fit in, it’s a pretty small campus. I wanted a large one, with more school spirit. I love being involved in school, from lots of community service to a honors fraternity. I wasn’t accepted into UMD. About 4 colleges denied me. I wanted to save my parents money so I settled down for Towson. Every day, it seems like a drag to be here. So my mom, seeing me unhappy, suggested I should transfer to UMD, since it was still in-state, it would save my family money, for my sophmore year. They are also planning to move near my aunt after my second year of college to Texas. I’ve asked and in-state tuition first won’t qualify anymore for me. From there my mom said, “if I’m going to pay the full amount of tuition, you might as well go to a school you’ve wanted to go to since you were little.” I fell in love with USC, when I visited. Might sound cheesy but just thinking about it makes me happy. I’m majoring in Business and their business program is excellent.I’ve always been a girl to aim high. My parents both have never finished high school because they weren’t born in the US. Education to them and me is important. I also want to set an example for my cousins and sister.

Sorry that was really long! But would it look bad to transfer to UMD, that would make me less miserable than Towson, then transferring to USC or a school in California, that would be my preferred place to go to school. THANKS!!

2

@macoines68

wow. that is a complicated situation with a lot of factors.

what do you mean “looks bad”? Looks bad to whom? You do realize you don’t have to explain all this when you apply for a job, right? You just need to list BA from USC, or UMD, or Towson, or wherever.

I think your happiness at Towson has less to do with Towson, and more to do with you starting college at 16. That seems kind of young, and maybe that’s a contributing factor to your unhappiness.

You said UMD rejected you already. Why do you think they will accept you now? Now if they DO accept you, I would recommend transferring there for soph year. UMD College Park is a really good school.

I generally don’t like the idea of chasing a “dream school” so I personally don’t like the idea of USC. For one it’s darn expensive. $70K per year according to their website. How are you or your parents going to afford that? $140K debt for 2 years of USC is a bad bad idea. There is nothing dreamy about spending decades to pay off student loans.

What is your family’s $$$ situation? You said you wanted to save them money and they did not graduate high school. Are you a low income family then, or have they achieved financial success here?

Another problem with the UMD to USC plan is that it will prevent you from trying to be happy at UMD, because you will be fixated on going to USC, and you will be less likely to become involved and try to establish lasting friendships. I agree with your parents that education is important – but fixating on a dream school has nothing to do with that. Having a great visit to USC is very different than actually being there every day for two years. The honeymoon will eventually wear off and then you will likely find that it is not a whole lot different than UMD. What is stopping you from aiming high at UMD?

A big problem though, is the moving to Texas thing. Are you saying that will make you an out-of-state student for everywhere in the country, until they establish residency in Texas? That is a problem. Can they hold off moving until your senior year?

If they insist on moving to Texas, is it possible to finish soph year, live with them, take a year to work and maybe take some community college courses, and then apply to schools in Texas when they have established in-state residency? You could go to UT-Austin, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, or somewhere else for two years at in-state tuition.

Where did you parents move here from, if you don’t mind me asking?