Entering my third year at a university I don't enjoy- transferring even a plausible option anymore?

Transfer Students
1

I attend a small and young Cal State. I realize my desire to transfer out now going into my third year is not orthodox. I think I just kept telling myself throughout my first two years that I would find something that would make my experience tremendously better.
A few reasons why I’m unhappy (skip if irrelevant):
-poor caliber of student: I came from a really competitive high school and took 7 AP classes. The amount of disrespect I’ve seen students give back to professors (talking, texting in class) and the material being taught at a college level astounds me. I don’t feel like I’m being challenged that much. I would be tempted to choose a different major but there’s none at my school that interest me or sound more challenging.
-very few locations to study: there’s no study rooms in the dorms and the only open building to study in is the library. The library acts as a mega-hub for the entire campus as it’s the only large building on campus. Each floor is bombarded with noise- people talking, playing music, making snapchats, babies crying, tour groups, etc. The “quiet areas” are frequently violated. Other than my room, the only way I can guarantee studying quietly is with ear plugs.
-very limited on campus recreation/social life- Our gym and track are decades older than the school itself. There are no grass fields for public recreation. Our student center has 2 ping pong tables and a few pool tables for a school pushing 8k students. Clubs are very limited (I guess due to the school’s low retention rate and high commuter rate).
-extremely difficult to obtain classes: most classes only have one section. If everything was perfect, I could take 16-18 unit semesters I’d likely be able to graduate a semester early. Because of the limited options, I can only take 12 units this semester and hope there won’t be schedule conflicts in the future. I’m looking at taking classes at the local JC- which offers four sections of a class I need compared to just one section of the class at my university.
-campus is entering a new development and growth phase and will be building 2 new massive buildings set to be complete the semester after I graduate. There may be an addition of thousands of more students- which would be a tremendous impact on a school of less than 7k.

I don’t intend to be snobby- I’m grateful for the opportunity I have. However, thinking about moving back next week brings me a surge of disappointment. I made assumptions I shouldn’t have made. In retrospect, I think I should have attended a JC and tried to TAG to a UC or a more established CSU.

I’m wondering what options I have (if ANY) to pursue finishing my degree elsewhere and what that process may entail. From a bit of research on my own, I believe I could transfer to a few other CSU’s in the Spring (https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/Pages/application-dates-deadlines.aspx). Many of the school accepting applications do seem similar to my campus so I fear my situation wouldn’t improve. I’ve heard from a few people that trying to get my credits to transfer to a UC would be near impossible. I’m open to other schools as well- cheap privates or cheap OOS options.

Thank you

2

How many units have you completed at your school? The problem isn’t whether the credits will transfer to a UC (they will), the problem is that most institutions have a maximum amount of transferable credits a person can have. You should quite obviously research how it is at each school, however for the most part the max is 60-64 semester credits / 90 quarter units.

3

You really can’t unring a bell. Most transfers happen at the end of sophomore year, when you have 60 ish semester credits under your belt. The time to apply elsewhere was last year. Assuming you have a high GPA, you could stop going to school for a ‘gap’ year then apply to transfer to another CSU or UC next year. Understand that it is a competitive process so, you’ll need to apply broadly to be sure another door is open to you. Also, many people who take a gap year don’t return to school. I know of no ‘cheap privates’ that are options for you. A few other options to consider are some of the public schools in our neighboring states. UNR, Northern Arizona and Boise State are all pretty aggressive about recruiting California students. Most have pretty late application deadlines and offer Spring semester transfers. I’d look into those and other WUE schools. where you won’t pay full OOS tuition. http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all

I think a transfer will be a pretty big detour and is likely to delay your graduation by a year or more. If you were my kid, i would encourage you to make the most of your current school. Try to get a job/internship in your field and see if you can graduate a semester or two early.

good luck.

4

Totally normal situation you find yourself in. Lots of kids go to CC for the first two years and then transfer into a four year for the last two years. Your in basically the same boat. If you missed the deadlines, then just take a semester off to apply for the spring 2018 semester and enter then.

Good luck.

5

How about just taking a year or a semester off? That will give you more time to examine your options. Depending on your major, you may be able to arrange a “guest senior year” at a different college or university, or you might be able to do a year abroad for your senior year.

Most places that you would transfer to for a superior academic experience will require you to attend for two years. Can your family afford that? If you don’t particularly care where you get your degree from, you would have a fair number of options where you might be able to finish in just one more year. Two reputable distance ed programs that accept up to three years of transfer credit are University of Maryland University College and Penn State World Camps. Western Governors U probably has similar options.

Wishing you all the best!

6

If you want to transfer you still can try. I would do what @MassDaD68 recommended, and take a semester off so you can send out a bunch of applications for spring 2018 and save your money.