Hi y’all. As my winter break is coming to an end, I’m dreading going back to college, and I’m trying to decide if I should apply to transfer next year. I go to a very small liberal arts college out-of-state and had a rough first semester (currently a freshman) where I felt extremely isolated, unstimulated with the academics, a general sense that I didn’t fit in which made it really difficult to make friends, and unsupported by my school. When I initially visited after being accepted, I wasn’t too impressed, but at that point, it was my only affordable option. My scholarship is an amazing opportunity (I basically only pay for housing) and there are for sure some other positives about the college too; it’s part of a consortium where I can take a few classes a semester at the other colleges in the consortium, my classes are always pretty small, and it has a few study abroad programs I’m interested in. I’m mainly concerned I would be throwing away my opportunity with the scholarship since I received nothing comparable from the several other colleges I applied/was accepted to. Additionally, my college is pretty untraditional with grades/credits so I’m worried my credits would not transfer (I’ve already taken a gap year and am concerned about falling behind). Sorry for this post being long, but I really appreciate any insight!
As you think about transferring, ask yourself if you are prepared to put as much energy into staying as you would need to put into leaving.
What clubs have you joined? What organizations or activities sound interesting to you and have you gone to check them out? Have you sat down next to someone in your classes and said “Hi, I found the reading challenging this week, what about you?” Have you found a job on or off-campus and are you making an effort to be friendly?
Community is something you build, not something that shows up in your dorm room. You might find more and better opportunities if you transfer, or you might find the exact same dynamic. It’s up to you.
Are you excited about any of your classes second semester- and if not, why not? It’s not HS where you have to take bio and history and trig and what-not because that’s what HS is… branch out! Take something wacky and weird sounding! Ask your RA “what’s the best class you’ve taken?” and sign up for that.
It’s a process… Hugs.
You can apply to transfer to other colleges, but:
- You need to select your transfer targets with potential affordability in mind. Otherwise, you could get some admissions that are all too expensive. Note that merit scholarships tend to be less common for transfers than frosh. You may want to check if your in-state public universities are affordable.
- For sophomore level transfer (after one year of college), both your college record and your high school record will matter.
Are you taking any S2 courses at the consortium schools? If not, can you still do that? Maybe spending time on those campuses could make sense. I expect you could also join clubs at those schools.
Yes, this should be a concern. Generally, transfer students receive less FA than incoming first years. Do you qualify for need based aid?
Would your in-state flagship be affordable if you transferred there?
I have one off-campus class next semester that I’m looking forward to. I’m hoping it will give me a better sense of what I’m looking for academically. I applied to my in-state flagship which is pretty competitive and I did not get in. Their acceptance rate is occasionally higher for transfer students, and if I were to get in, it would likely be affordable given I live close by and could commute. Thank you for sharing!
This can be a very difficult question. I think that the best that we can do is to give you some things to think about.
First of all, going off to college or university is a huge transition. This is not easy for the large majority of students. Feeling somewhat out of place in this new world that you have just entered is very common, and can happen pretty much regardless of where you go.
Most of us managed to gradually feel more comfortable wherever we ended up at university. However, the fiction that “college is the best years of my life” is just not true at all in the vast majority of cases. For many of us college is something that we got through, even if we did not always like it.
There is something to be said for attending university close to home. For example, that means when something goes wrong (“when”, not “if”) it is at least possible for help to be nearby. However, running home whenever something goes wrong is not typically the best idea either. Part of the point of going off to university is to learn to be somewhat more on our own.
Finances are important. The cost of university is insane and keeps getting worse. Graduating university without debt can be a huge advantage. As two examples, both daughters immediately after graduating university were able to take on opportunities that were only possible because they had no debt (one took a great job that paid badly, one traveled to Europe and volunteered in an “unpaid but you stay for free” position for nearly three months).
The academics are likely to get more challenging and more interesting as you get into upper year and/or more advanced classes. This is also something that you can discuss with your guidance counselor and professors and they are likely to have suggestions.
There are some significant advantages of being in small classes. It is for example easier to ask questions, and easier to get to know your professors. This can in some cases make it easier to find research or internship opportunities.
This can in general be an issue with transferring. One person I know well who transferred ended up taking a full four years at their new university (fortunately in their case it was affordable and they liked it enough to not mind the extra year).
Life is not a race. I would not worry about this part.
This is a nice feature. Frequently this will significant expand the availability of courses and majors compared to other small colleges.
The few people I know who have studied abroad have enjoyed it. There is something to be said for seeing a bit more of the world.
Have you talked to your guidance counselor? Have you talked to some other sort of psychologist or counselor at your college? This does seem like something that they should be willing to discuss. If there is a professor who you like you could also drop into their office hours and talk about this, or talk about what research or internship or other opportunities might be available and interesting to you.
On the one hand you can apply to transfer without committing yourself one way or another until later in the spring. On the other hand it is not obvious how you would know whether transferring would make things better. Nowhere is perfect.
Regardless of whether or not you apply to transfer, you should also make an effort to get to know people and get involved at your current college. Join clubs. Look for research opportunities. We have seen a few threads here on CC from students who did not feel at home at their school, applied to transfer, and then after getting acceptances and also simultaneously getting a bit more settled in to their current school decided to stay where they were. This can be a good outcome in some cases.
Best wishes, and I know that this is not easy.
I don’t know the answer to your question, OP, but here are some random thoughts:
-You seem to be approaching this dilemma in a mature and thoughtful way-- you are doing a good job!
-I agree with those above who say that college being “the best 4 years of your life” is not true for a substantial portion of students. It wasn’t for me, and yet I am grateful for the education I received and the opportunities it has afforded me in my life. So a college situation can still be worth it, even if it isn’t currently feeling great.
-Affordable is SUPER important. Good work on taking this into account. It’s another way you are displaying maturity, and you should be proud of yourself.
-Your current college must have recognized the promise in you if they granted you a full tuition scholarship. We have a saying around here which is “Love the college that loves you back.” That doesn’t mean you have to stay all 4 years, but it’s something to take into account.
-In my experience, the first term of college seemed the slowest. After finishing the first one, it can be pretty normal to feel like “I can’t believe I have to do this 7 more times!” But then the college terms start to go faster.
-You might consider playing a mind game with yourself where you pretend you are getting an Associates Degree from your college and your goal is to knock it out of the park in every way over the next 3 semesters. If you do, it should set you up really well to either transfer to your flagship (if you still want to) or maybe finish the BA at your current school if it has grown on you.
-Thumbs up to the off-campus job! When I was attending a small rural college I wasn’t crazy about, the off-campus job felt great because it got me “out of the bubble.”
-You might want to consider an on campus job too. An on campus job pays back in so many ways: helps you meet people, fills your time, makes you $, possibly gives you a boss who can later write you a reference. I found the busier I was, the happier I was.
-Study abroad really breaks up the time! I did study abroad the first term of my junior year, and after that the time whizzed by! And study abroad was so fun.
-I love the idea of your consortium. I also attended a school where you could cross register with another college. As long as it’s convenient, it really can be a great experience. Some people even end up making friends at the other college (eat in their dining halls if you can etc.)
-Get to know professors. Sometimes professors are the people you may have the most in common with.
Anyway, not sure if any of these thoughts will apply to your situation, but in any case, I hope things go really well for you! Best wishes!!!
Maybe OP is trying to avoid it being among the worst years of his/her life.
College years typically occur during formative growth years that remain as life-long memories; trying to avoid painful memories is an even more worthy goal than trying to make one’s college years the best years of one’s life.