<p>Thanks for the link, texas, and for the kind words, spectrum et al.</p>
<p>I had a pretty honest talk with the young man last night. Instead of focusing on what schools he wants to try to transfer to, I suggested he take a step back and try to think about the long view. As others have speculated, he just doesn’t know what he wants (or in some ways, who he is) so he has so far defaulted to “I’m going to just go to the school with the best name”). But really, what’s the point of transferring if the current university offers the ability to explore different interests (it does, to a large degree) and he doesn’t totally hate it? He is reasonably settled, he has friends, he knows how to navigate the system, and it’s a known entity.</p>
<p>Since he is sort of all over the map with his academic interests–typical among smart, well-rounded 18-year-olds, in my experience–I emphasized how the sincerity of his interest in a particular school or program HAS to come through in his application. And his voice and personality also have to come through. I suggested he write about “small” things this time around–things that give a glimpse into who he is but don’t try to summarize his entire life to date or make broad, sweeping statements about his background. But for now I am stepping back and allowing him to spend a few weeks really thinking about what he wants and why.</p>
<p>I also spoke to his mom and suggested she help him by finding a college counselor before anyone starts paying for transfer applications (or invests a lot of time). She didn’t seem to know much about his plans–kind of like the last time.</p>