Need help finding a university to transfer to [current college sophomore with 3.95 GPA, NJ resident, <$50k, statistics and sociology]

Well UMD and Fordham are wasted apps in my opinion. Same with AU and GW - given a $40k budget. Some SUNYs could work.

So you want to stay close, Look at Mary Washington, Salisbury,- those both hit. SUNYs are pricey - Albany, as an example, won’t hit $40k but they offer a flagship match - they’d charge what Rutgers charges -so look into that.

WVU is a close by flagship that will hit

So you’re not open to going further away?

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This sounds like a masters in public health.

UMBC has applied sociology BA/MA program that might fit.

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If you really want to transfer, you have to decide what is a deal breaker and what is nice-to-have.

I’ll give you an example that I know well and why I think it could work but doesn’t based on what you said.
Penn State University Park has the major you want - Applied Statistics within the Math&Stats major, and that requires an area of focus already built in, which can be sociology courses. They also have SODA, a small major where stats/data science is applied to social science fields and most especially surveys (politics and behavior). Students live around campus jr/sr year. There’s a walkable college town. There’s always things to do and people around on evenings and on weekends. The campus is not split, with lots of green space and traditional quads etc.
HOWEVER it’s 4 hours to the nearest city, it’s HUGE (and as a transfer would likely be pretty alienating), upper class on-campus housing is limited so many students live in student villages/complexes on university bus routes, and most importantly will likely be 55k even if as a Jr you don’t live on campus (there’s zero merit). As a result it’s not a real possible choice.
Another example: Haverford is close-knit, small, all jr/sr live on campus, it’s within easy access to the city, they have a statistics minor you can associate to any major, no focus on business but rather on various forms of stats, and are pretty flexible with double majoring. However they are 90k with no merit.

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tl;dr IMO it’s also unlikely you will be able to finish in two years if you transfer and want to double major.

At some/many schools all your credits won’t transfer. At some/many schools even if all of your credits transfer, they won’t fulfill the new school’s core requirements. At other schools the stats major may be in the B school where it may be difficult to get the classes you need.

Understanding the full picture of transfer credits can be quite difficult to figure out before you enroll at a given transfer school, as some schools won’t even begin the process until then. Talk to the transfer admissions officers, plan out schedules at each school on your list (pay attention to classes only offered once per year or even once every other year), and look at Transferology

Good luck.

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My son is a TCNJ graduate, he rarely came home and enjoyed his time there. Many from our HS also go to Rowan, I haven’t heard it’s a commuter school.

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OP- MWFan is giving you solid advice. Every college (and sometimes every department chair or Dean) gets to decide which credits- whether transfer, a semester overseas, a summer course taken elsewhere- are going to “count”. And something can “count” for a Gen Ed but NOT for a degree program. Which likely means you’ll have enough credits to graduate in four years, but not enough coverage in your major to graduate.

I think finding a sociology department that includes rigorous quantitative analysis may do the trick for you–but you’ll need to go through the course catalogues of any college you are considering to figure out which ones will work and which ones won’t. But a transfer, plus a double major, plus cost constraints, plus no “Midwest” which is more than half the country… that’s where you’re trying to thread a very narrow needle.

The alternative is a statistics major which is basically at every college in the country (even if it’s called the applied math track in the math department) and then trying to fit in as many sociology courses as you can. That will open up a lot of places for you. And keep an open mind- the more business oriented classes may not sound like they are of interest, but data is data. And whether you are manipulating census data (very useful in sociology AND business), global GDP data, health outcomes for a particular demographic, etc. the techniques and analytics are transferable across domains. The Psychology departments of the places you’ve considered may have more robust analytics– it often attracts more “mathy” kids than sociology, ditto for Econ.

I don’t know if the finances will work out because living in NYC is so expensive, but have you considered Hunter, City College, Queens College, Brooklyn College?

Good luck!

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The $40k isn’t a hard cap, I just want to be able to transfer to a university that will be able to give me a good amount of merit aid. Since it’s only two years instead of four, and the two years at Temple were (relatively) cheap, I’m fine with a college thats more expensive as long as it isn’t a ridiculous amount.

We can’t help you with statements like “ridiculous amounts”. You need to quantify your budget. What’s affordable for me may not be affordable for you. And I don’t even know what a “good amount of merit aid” involves.

It’s great that your first two years were affordable- so how much is left in the college fund, how much will your parents contribute, have you taken the federal loans yet???

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OP, I hope that you would indeed apply to Princeton. As you noted, its admit rate is low, but given your excellent academic records at Temple and perhaps with an infinitesimal advantage of being in-state, I think that you do have a chance. Demonstrate to them of your goals and aspirations through the supplements, graded paper and your academic journey so far. Unlike some schools, transfer students are eligible for its generous financial aid at P; families making as much as $200,000 are expected to pay $12,500 a year.

One can learn more at these virtual sessions in January and February:

As ‘Hippobirdy’ suggested, UMBC is another possibility. However, note that quite a large number of students there are commuters, but it does have on-campus dorms; concert hall; a D1 basketball team that was invited to the NCAA March Madness, to name a few features. There are school-run shuttle services that link UMBC with the health-sciences/medical/nursing school campus in downtown Baltimore, which might provide research/intern opportunities.

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In general, merit aid is the wrong thing to look at. Some colleges are less expensive full pay than others with merit.

We’ve given you school examples in the NE to South, Midwest to west. First you said urban but then you said college town ok.

First you said $40k but now it’s an unknown amount.

Help us help you by narrowing to exact desires. You need to be black and white and not gray.

Did you look at schools mentioned above ? Your schools may be back in play if you can afford $60 or $80k/ like Fordham or AU.

I think you need to talk to your folks. Do they know you want to leave ? They are paying so they can tell you what they’re willing to spend. Don’t assume.

But provide us specifics. If New Mexico or Alabama Bham don’t work because you want to be in the NE, let us know.

Were there other schools to which you were accepted as a freshman that gave good merit and might work? My dd had to transfer after freshman year. She applied to several new colleges but also reached out to some schools where she had been previously accepted. All of them said they’d honor the merit from the previous year. One actually offered her more.

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Have you looked into New Jersey state universities?

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Okay I’ve spoken to my parents, and gotten an update. They can pay around 40 - 50k per year. I’m fine with East Coast, South, and West Coast. I’d prefer urban schools but can also go to a college that is in a nice college town. I’ve looked at in-state schools at New Jersey, but besides Rutgers I don’t know if they would make the cut. Schools like TCNJ are commuter schools (and I specifially don’t want to stay at my parents home even if I decide to go back to Jersey), Stevens Institute is more focused on engineering/tech (I’m a social science major) and other colleges aren’t well ranked and/or are commuter schools as well. There’s Princeton like another person mentioned, but that’s a reach for anyone to get into.

So I mentioned some already - like Salisbury (which says you can double in as few as 45 credits - theyr math major has a stats concentration), Mary Washington. Add CNU at a $50k budget. Others not urban but a college town like UNH are worth a look.

I already noted UAB as urban. It has a medical sociology degree which I believe you expressed interest in. The school is a medical powerhouse, urban, diverse and well within budget. UAH is more suburban, less diverse. The Florida schools will work - UF/FSU - more suburban. Another mentioned upthread U of SC - it works. To me it’s similar to FSU but a bit more gritty (the surrounds).

Another with medical sociology that maybe you can combine with data science is UNCC. It’s suburban, several miles North of Charlotte Nice area up and coming school I think. Easily hits budget.

Out West, UNM works. U of Arizona works as well with auto merit.

In the Midwest, Miami Ohio and Ohio U have college towns but are far from urban. Ohio State is not urban but is not far from the heart of the city. Lawrence is a FANTASTIC college town so look at KU which will hit. Other urban or semi urban type schools that will hit (LSU, Kentucky and Arkansas) - all really nice campuses and Arkansas and UK have nice surrounds. Closer to home, WVU would work I have driven through Morgantown but have not seen the college area specifically to know. People think it’s far but it’s directly South of Pittsburgh 80 or so miles so still Northeast.

You noted AU (guessing it doesn’t hit) and Fordham (no idea). You can try meets need schools like Princeton, Cornell, Emory - which would be a good one for you. Have your folks run the NPC to see if they come within budget.

I don’t know if they’ll hit your $$ needs but they can do the same with schools like Macalester and Occidental (run the NPC).

Kalamazoo will hit - it’s urban and adjacent to a larger public so has surrounds.

Some of the LACs might be easier to double.

You might see if other schools (more affordable) have a program like this which in essence pairs with a major such as psych or in your case sociology.

Lots of names to explore - my guess is the flagships like KU or AZ work best but check all - some may surprise you.

I see several masters combining the two so perhaps it’s best to finish your undergrad in one major and then move to a masters.

Ps - UIC has this major undergrad but I cannot figure out costs for out of state - it’s more a locals school I believe.

And I think Queens College CUNY will work and has a minor you might like - below. I can’t quite figure costs but I believe less than $50k.

Good luck

https://qcsociology.commons.gc.cuny.edu/data-analytics-applied-social-research/

Do you want a college where students live in campus housing Jr/sr year or are you okay with a college where jr/sr students live in student apartments near the college but want to avoid students who go home every night or every weekend?
Most colleges will have jr/sr students living nearby, not on campus. However there will be a lot of student life there - films, guest lectures, clubs, sports…

Nonflagships in small states will have a lot of commuters. The flagship will typically be residential with lots of upperclass students living nearby.

Students who live in on-campus housing jr/sr years tend to attend LACs - that’s why I listed Haverford and Bryn Mawr (if you’re a woman) to see if these would be affordable. Bryn Mawr has merit, Haverford doesn’t. Both are near Philadelphia, on the Mainline.

What about UVermont? Virginia Tech? (Excellent social science, especially for someone with a stats/data focus).

Some upperclass Honors students at large universities may have 4-year guaranteed housing but I m guessing that’s already your situation at Temple.

Run the NPC on Princeton: we need the data because they’re the most generous need-based college, so if it’s not affordable, no college will provide any financial aid and we’ll cross off a lot of suggestions.

The suggestion of recontacting colleges that you liked and that DID admit you is brilliant. :raising_hands:

Are you more interested in the mathematical side of statistics, or in the application to social sciences via computational data analytics?

Tsbna mentioned Ohio State, which is urban-adjacent and has a top-notch Data Analytics major, offering both a biomedical/public health specialization and a social sciences specialization. The same department offers a traditional statistics major and minor as well. Sociology is excellent here too. Everything is in Arts & Sciences, so you could probably hit all of your interests by combining majors/minors and specializations. The downside is that tOSU is enormous, and you’re not looking to go even bigger than Temple. But there are ways to make a big school feel smaller, so maybe worth a look. Alternatively, a little farther outside of Columbus but still nearby and also in a nice college town, you might look at Denison, which has a fantastic Data Analytics major as well, similarly offering multiple specializations. Denison is much smaller, and virtually all students live on campus. It’s relatively diverse for a(n) LAC as well. Perhaps a fit for the kind of change you’re looking for, and they do give merit scholarships for transfers.

I also agree with tsbna’s suggestion of SUNY Albany. It’s urban and very racially diverse. Its stats major is a track within the math department, which is to say that it’s within Arts & Sciences (not the business school) as is Sociology, so a double-major should be relatively straightforward. It’s a flagship-match campus, so costs should be roughly the same as Rutgers in-state, or maybe less with merit - OOS transfer merit scholarships of up to 7K/year are given, and you have a great GPA. Undergraduate enrollment is around 13K which is within your range. 55% of undergrads live in university-owned housing, which is more than double the percentage at Temple. Albany would be a lateral move in terms of reputation, but it could end up being a bargain financially and a good fit for your criteria - could be worth adding since you’re already applying to the SUNY system.

Albany and Columbus are both state capitals, with state government related opportunities in public policy and public health if that’s of interest.

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Wow, Denison and SUNY Albany are FANTASTIC suggestions :clap:

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That’s at Temple, and it’s aid you got as an incoming freshman. Aid for transfer students, and especially merit aid, is not usually as generous.

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I agree that Denison could be a good fit for the OP, perhaps a double major in Data Analytics and Global Health, although I see the OP has specified NO MIDWEST. I am from the East Coast and have lived on the West Coast, but the Midwest was an unknown territory for me when our S19 was putting together his list. He is Asian, had never lived in the US and had no preconceptions like I did, so Denison went on the list and turned out to be the perfect place for him. Granville is a beautiful small town and Columbus, a vibrant city, is less than a half hour away. People sometimes drag out Denison’s old reputation as a non-diverse preppy school, but it’s definitely not that now.

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I think OP will need to run the NPC - because direct costs are $92,400.

If he doesn’t qualify for need based aid (hence to run the NPC), are there scholarships $40K+ to get him to the $50K zone - which sounds like may be “tops” for where they want to be?

I imagine, given they paid $20K a year at Temple I believe, the parents are not going to be looking for some crazy #, perhaps even the # they shared with the student ($40-50K).

OP might reach out to the following if interested - the admissions person can help with the aid question I assume:

Who should I reach out to with questions?

For admission-related questions, please contact Chris Taylor, Assistant Director of Admission, at taylorcj@denison.edu or 740-587-6622. For questions related to transfer credit, course registration and/or onboarding, please contact Mark Moller, Dean of Transfer Students, at moller@denison.edu or 740-587-5042.

Thanks

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