Extreme circumstances In Transferring

Chance Me / Match Me
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Alright, a bit to dump here, its a big story so here it goes:

  • First gen, urm, immigrant.

  • Ended highschool with 3.92 GPA, 4.83 W (all As except for AP chem when I was also taking AP Physics E&M at the same time, got an A in the last one). Admitted to state school honors college.

  • Become 18 years old. I never noticed my parents reveal to me (since I was now an adult) that they both lost their jobs for some time, (including temporarily off of health insurance, thank God me and my 5 siblings did not get sick).

  • To downsize, we move away from state school campus. Commute of 30 min becomes 1 hour 30 mins minimum, 2+ hours with traffic).

  • I am forced (despite what I would like otherwise) to commute that to and back from campus everyday. I need a car, so I take up part time weekend work (~15 hours, split sat and sun). Part time work will also cover partly for school, but my dad takes up most of it.

    • To this point, my parents basically exhausted all their funds to move, and their credit was tied up in the new home.

  • First semester is kinda fine, just calc 3 to be concerned about. Joined some technical clubs and had some decent technical work done.

  • Some exhaustion builds up so my performance so not so great as semester continues. I am the oldest of my 5 siblings so I come after school to teach them (mainly the two younger ones) before I do my homework while parents work (not everyday, but many days). Also cook, do laundry and groceries.

  • Car blows head gasket some time late November in middle of highway, could pull to side of road but had to brake greatly, so I had (still do, tho less common) backpain for a while. Also car is blown, so it needs to go in for a new engine. Will take a bunch of shifts to help pay it off with my dad, who also helps me with it. Take the train instead which while available, is inflexible.

  • Blow up on some first semester finals, not enough to fail any courses, but Calc 3 ends up with a C. Some other classes are As and Bs. Overall GPA is 3.1. Continue to work over Winter break and save up so that helps.

  • Have worked some technical internships (2) since freshman year, including a fuel cell startup (part time) on campus and working for a fortune 500 defense company over the summer. Alongside 3 other part time jobs. Currently on my 6th job in 3rd semester (fall 2025).

  • Improved GPA to 3.5 by Spring semester completion. Joined a lab on campus involving materials discovery.

  • Car has another issue, electrical. Needs to get a new harness especially since emissions test is upcoming. Need to work even more shifts to cover it.

  • Took 19 credits in order to take an MSE course so I can use the campus nanofab next semester as a course, on top of everything else…

  • Want to transfer to top schools with MSE minor so I can work on it alongside ECE degree and continue materials research. MSE department at state school is small and I want a school with a dedicated materials minor and better resources.

IDK where to go from here. I have a 3.6 now, but that is while I have consistently worked minimum 10 hours a week and commute ~15 hours a week, alongside house chores and teaching my siblings. I have the ECs and the experiences as well, but do you think admissions will recognize this? I did work to the best my abilities, but honestly there was nothing else I could do.

Also, yes, I do not get as much sleep as I should. I take caffeine pills.

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Will your current college increase financial aid if you appeal based on your parents’ reduced income and assets?

Extreme commuting can be expensive, and it also consumes time that could otherwise by used for studying and working for pay. So you may want to compare the financials of extreme community versus living near campus without needing a car, taking into account potential extra work hours for pay instead of commuting time.

For transferring, would the schools you may want to transfer to offer a lower net price after financial aid than what it costs now?

2 Likes
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What does top mean ? In 2024, top UCB had 24% of kids unable to find a job. You need accredited and affordable. You got a C in Calc so it will be hard. Commuting is pricey but so is living off campus. And top is in the eye of the beholder If you are ABET accredited, you are in good shape.

maybe you can try and transfer to a meets need school. Does you in state public have a low income program ?

It’s not about top. It’s about budget.

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I am securing housing for the next semester, which I should’ve mentioned sooner, but I believe the “damage” has already been considering what I had to go through for that next semester.

I’m in the process of securing a scholarship from a governmental program that promises tuition in return for a period of service, which is why I am even considering transferring in the first place since funding carries over.

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Is it a private program or federal government program - service for tuition? Often those are loan based but loans are forgiven. They are the type of program the government is looking to move on from.

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Top doesn’t mean IVY league, but rather Georgia Tech or Northwestern even reaching.

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Federal Government.

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So you have loans and are hoping to have them forgiven ? I’m not sure those will still be there with the current admin.

Run the NPCs. Ga Tech out of state will be out of range. You cannot burps more that I think $7k or so the last two years.

Dent is not your friend. Go where you can afford. Companies pay engineers by location. When my son interned,he lived with two tech interns but there was U Texas, LSU, Mss State, Tennessee Tech, Ole Miss and more. In his job, Michigan, Purdue, Case Western, U Wash but also W Michigan, Buffalo, Akron, Utah, Bama.

If you get into what you perceive is a top school and can afford - great. If not, you need accredidation. You’re buying into hype. Did you ever read how USNews ranks departments ? It’s a popularity contest of academics, not real world people.

It has little basis in reality.

Meeting your budget is priority A, B, and C. Do not count on loan forgiveness.

In spring and summer of 2025, deans and senior faculty rated the academic quality of peer programs they were familiar with on a 5-point scale: outstanding (5), strong (4), good (3), adequate (2) or marginal (1). Individuals who were unfamiliar with a particular program were asked to select “don’t know.”