Hello,
Need advice.
Rising junior and loves her university (oos)
Applied to transfer instate and was accepted ! Rejected as a first year, but now here we are, accepted for junior year
Unsure of what to do now (odd feeling)
Strong gpa and concerned that gpa will decrease. Currently on Deans list (multiple times) and have good research locked in for coming year. Transfer school has a reputation of having rigorous grading in science courses - aka “dream killer”. Keeping a strong gpa is important, wants to/plans on going to med school or grad school.
Major isn’t science. How would med admin look at taking remainder required science during summer at a different local university?
Not sure about starting all over, re-establishing and maybe having to (???) fight for research ops etc
Ultimately leaving this up to adult child to decide but ughh the pros and cons are tough when looking at future dreams
Relative who helps with tuition asked D to “apply and see what happens.” Did not expect to get in, despite having 3.7 gpa. Now worried since many former HS classmates (high stats) struggling through science classes at the transfer school.
Pros: Cheaper in state, higher ranked as well.
Issue is her pre-med classes. Also having to re-establish herself in a short time with professors, professional clubs, social groups and new friends.
If she wasn’t pre-med then it would be an easier decision
Plan to visit after finals (even though that school will also be out)
Well, she applied and saw what happened-- she was accepted.
It’s an acceptance and not a subpoena. If she’s happy where she is, clearly doing well academically, and on track to meet her goals, can’t she tell the relative “I appreciate your help so much but I don’t want to have to start all over again junior year given how well college is going for me”?
True and yes can say that. We pay majority and as parents we are also struggling with the big pros of cheaper tuition and rank (hate that word).
I always say a happy student is a successful student . . .
BUT darn if $ combined w/rank doesn’t make you rethink the whole thing. Tough decision esp when you love a school and are doing well academically.
As a general rule, I don’t like the idea of a student transferring from an affordable college where they are happy and successful. Here are a few comments:
–A successful transfer can happen but it is difficult. Your D will be walking into a new school where the vast majority of her peers will have solid friendships, ECs, routines already established when much will be new to your D.
–While all coursework in a given subject will cover the same basic material, there could be different areas of emphasis from one college to another which could leave gaps which the student would have to recognize and make-up (that happened to me as a transfer student).
–The expectations of professors could be somewhat different from one college to another and again, your D may have a learning curve when her peers do not.
–Socially, it can be difficult to transfer as many friendships are established freshman year. if your D has HS friends at the college, that could help, but there is no guarantee.
–Your D would be giving up relationships established with professors, ECs, etc. at her current college. Again, she would have to play catch-up.
The big question IMO is will her current college remain affordable?
I’d ask “how much cheaper” and "how much more “prestigious” before I got too far down the transfer rabbit hole.
There are costs-- not financial, but academic and emotional and social-- to transferring. So you know how much money you’ll save- but the costs will be borne by your D. And the prestige/ranking stuff is either significant or inconsequential.
Are you comfortable sharing the cost differential and which colleges we’re talking about?
These are important advantages of her current university.
The ranking really does not matter.
Whether the price matters will depend upon your finances. I know quite a few students who attended a university that was within their family’s budget but that was not the cheapest university available to them.
This can get a student into medical school or into a very good graduate program. However, it would be best if your daughter can maintain this GPA or improve it a bit. If she transfers and her GPA slips that could become an issue for medical school or graduate school admissions.
You can major in pretty much anything and attend medical school, as long as you complete the premed requirements, maintain a high GPA, get the necessary medical experience, have high MCAT scores, and have great references.
Just as one example, there is a video somewhere on-line of a surgeon using a robot-assisted surgery system to paint a tiny picture of the hospital where he works. He had been an art major for his bachelor’s degree, then went to medical school and became a surgeon. I suppose that very good manual dexterity can be used in more than one way.
I think that there are significant risks associated with transferring.
And I agree that this is an important question.
If her current university is affordable, and if it were my daughter, I would suggest that she stay where she already is to complete her bachelor’s degree.
It’s fine for premeds not to major in science as long as they complete the prereqs. Are you saying that the med school prereqs aren’t offered at her current school? Why would she need to take them elsewhere? Does the mention of taking them elsewhere mean that the aforementioned high GPA does not yet include the tough premed science classes?
School rank does not help with med school admissions. If she can maintain her high GPA where she is, including completing the prereqs, then she’s better off doing that (at least vis-a-vis med school admissions) than transferring and taking a hit to her GPA, no matter how “elite” the transfer school may be perceived to be.
I would say that if she wants to go all-in for pre-med, she should stay where she is. If there is a highly-regarded undergraduate major that she wants to switch into at the transfer school, that will launch her career without med school, that could be a legitimate reason to transfer. But I’m not reading that this is the case.
And yes, as others have said, if transferring causes her to take longer to graduate, because of credits not transferring or requirements not aligning, that could easily devour the cost savings.
I would lean toward “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” unless the reasons to transfer are compelling.
Seems like the possible reason to transfer is the lower cost, but it has not been said how much of a cost difference there is, or whether the current school is difficult to afford.
If you can afford the current school, keep her there. Period. It sounds like she’s doing well and established herself there. This will all help when applying to med school. There are posts on here about student’s transferring to their #1 choice and actually not doing well for many reasons. Especially for med school her connections she’s made will work in her favor.
My daughter transferred in her Junior year also. But took a sorta gap year. It was the right move for her in many ways.
There is nothing you have said that would convince me moving her would be the wise move. If it’s financial then do what is needed. Also would all of her credits transfer cleanly? Don’t make assumptions since many don’t.
I stand by my advice from 5 years ago (reposted above). It was true then; it still true today.
What possible explanation can she give to adcomms for transferring to a harder college and then NOT taking her pre-reqs there?
Classes at her new school were too hard? (Med school will be way harder than any undergrad.)
Transferring as junior may be enough by itself to set off alarms for adcomms unless she has a very good explanation (financial hardship, major illness/death in the family, personal health issues). Transferring then NOT taking pre-reqs at her new school will definitely raise suspicions. True for science and non-science majors alike.
Also, if her new university offers committee letters for its pre-meds, she won’t be able to qualify for one if she takes her pre-reqs elsewhere—something she will also need to explain on her med school secondary applications.
If I’m reading your post correctly, a relative who also pays part of your D’s COA at her current college asked her to apply to a cheaper school. Is this relative expressing reluctance to continue funding your d’s education at the same level?
Interesting that I got pegged for a comment I made 5 years ago that I still believe. I was being told by a good friend locally that their D will go to an elite state school OOS with a deliberate premed busting bent (paying 3 times our own flagship cost) to do premed (they give Cs to weed them out) but with a plan to take classes in summer elsewhere. I told the parent the samething in a message that the med schools might have unfavorable impression.
In the current situation, I would be more curious why a 3rd year student hasn’t covered 50-70% of the requirements already. What percentage of science classes are left and can the student take a few in the new school as opposed to making it obvious they are skipping all.