Should I transfer out of The University of Texas at Austin?

Transfer Students
1

I chose this school because of the Hindi-Urdu Flagship. I was accepted, enrolled, and then it got cancelled 2 weeks after I told Northwestern & Emory I wasn’t going there. Looking back, I would’ve chosen either school over non-HUF UT.

Currently I am a Plan II major, considering double majoring in Economics or IRG with the International Political Economy track. I enjoy the people in some of my classes, and my professors are good, but I just harbor such resentment toward UT.

Plan II so far has ended up being very English based, easily my least favorite subject. I do really enjoy my Urdu class, so if I were to transfer it would need to be to a school offering Urdu. In comparison to most people here, I think I got a really good combination of classes, yet I’m significantly more depressed.

In general I’ve never had good experiences with UT. Before coming here, I was always getting sick when I came to campus, and had been disparaging it for the better part of a year until I got into HUF, when I started considering it. Weighing the options against other schools, it seemed better including the in-state cost. I’ve really only enjoyed myself outside of the city, driving to rural areas for research. Upon returning I dread leaving my car.

It may be just that I don’t like public universities; I only really liked the small personal feel I got from private ones outside of large cities. Either way, I’m miserable here (like suicidally miserable) and I want to at least look at transferring schools.

A couple things I really want in any university I might transfer to:
Not in a major city (400,000+) (suburbs are fine)
Cars allowed on campus for sophomores
Teaching Hindi (vastly preferable if also teach Urdu) or offers South Asian Studies major/track
Liberal Arts study abroad program to India/Pakistan (based on major at UT I can’t study abroad here now HUF cancelled)
Personal connections to professors- minimal lectures

Any help y’all can provide me would be excellent. I know I kinda put myself in a bad situation, but if y’all have any solutions that could help me, that would be great.

No joke, after HUF got cancelled I almost enlisted into the Air Force. If transferring doesn’t go well and UT still hasn’t improved for me, I will do so after this year and return to college in the future.

I’m looking mainly at medium/small top colleges, like Middlebury, Brown, Stanford, Yale, and Northwestern again. I applied to the last 3 and was waitlisted Stanford, rejected Yale, accepted Northwestern. Any schools that are generally well regarded and you think better/more selective than UT would be great.

2

What is your budget? Transfers can have a hard time with aid. It is also hard to transfer into the top ranked schools.

From what I know, it is not uncommon to apply to the military academies after a freshman year in college. But you would start as a freshman. Read about the academies including the Merchant Marines and the Coast Guard Academies if you want to serve in the military.

3

Here is what you should know-- the seats at Ivy-plus schools that are available for transfers is largely tied to attrition. Since attrition is almost non-existent in the top Ivy schools, so are the seats available. By way of example, recently, Harvard had over 1500 applicants and admitted about 15, and Yale had over a 1000 applicants in which about 2 dozen were offered seats. Brown is close to 5%.So, while being qualified is certainly a criteria, the other portion must convey why these schools; typical reasons are that these schools offer programs and/or degrees not offered at your existing institution. Transferring because of the desire to attend a more elite institution is NOT consider a valid reason for transfer.

Second, that you could have obtained admission as a freshmen applicant. Third, that you have perfect scores at your current institution. Long story short…it is much more difficult to obtain admission as a transfer than as applying for a freshmen seat…

You might be ok at Middlebury and NW, but it will be very very difficult for the remaining schools.

4

Thanks, and I understand these. I know I’m a longshot anywhere. I’d like to avoid the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine academies- bad history in my family in both. Middlebury has a lower transfer rate than about anything else I listed.

Honestly I don’t have a budget. I am going to have to take out debt wherever I go, might as well enjoy my time while doing it. Whether it be $15k a year at UT or $43k at Northwestern (those were what I was looking at debtwise at thes end of last year).

It’s not just to go to a more elite institution. It’s to go somewhere I enjoy. I don’t know enough about non-elite institutions, so that’s what I’m looking for. If it ain’t UT and satisfies my programs I’ll consider it. I just listed elite institutions because those’re what I’m familiar with.

5

Are your parents going to co-sign a loan for $43,000 per year?

As a student, you are very limited in the amount of loans you can get. Do you know this?

Northwestern meets full need. Was your EFC $43,000 per year and that is why you are at UT? Did your parents tell you they wouldn’t pay? (Not unreasonable)

Why in the world didn’t you apply to schools where you could have received a merit scholarship?

I think transferring is a bad idea if you don’t take costs into consideration.

6

Yes, parents said they wouldn’t pay but would cosign. I did apply to those schools, and got nothing. UT, Emory, University of Washington, all gave me nothing. EFC Norhwestern was $53k, Emory was $48k. I also was told that I would be getting $35k a year before I applied to schools. My father’s girlfriend said she got through school without any parental help and he decided that it would be better to give me $10k a year, telling me this in March. I applied to $127,000 in outside scholarships, mostly $5,000 or less, and got $6,000, $2,000 of it renewable.

7

I am still applying to scholarships.

8

The EFC calculators online also usually were between $35k and 45k. I thought that gap was manageable.

9

I would’ve taken out loans for Northwestern if I thought they had a better program. They didn’t at the time, before HUF was cancelled. But, alas, it was. If anywhere with a better program in International economics and/or south asian studies than UT exists, AND could offer me merit aid, I would love you forever if you could direct me to there.

10

The difficulty you are facing is that merit scholarships are almost all for freshman.

You didn’t apply to the right kind of schools based on a $10,000 per year budget. It is unfortunate that your father changed your budget so late, but this happens.

Try posting your question about merit scholarships in the financial aid and scholarship forum. Someone there might know more about transfers and scholarships.

11

Thank you, and I will post a question there, but I’m significantly less focused on money and more focused on seeking the best program.

12

@Ivybone,
Please call the student health center tomorrow and make an appointment to talk to a counselor. Tell them that you are suicidally miserable so they get you in quickly. All of your next steps in planing to transfer will go more smoothly once you have some help coping with your misery. Good luck and please keep us posted.

13

I’m already talking to people, thanks.

14

t seems you need to treat your depression and isolation, seek out some good advising from your departments of interest. Transferring is going to be stressful and you may end up with less options than now, at a major powerhouse of a university with just tons of opportunities.

I can’t find any reference to HUF being cancelled and UT-Austin has an Asian studies department and really unbelievable language offerings. I can’t believe there are no international studies available to you either. Plan2 is one of the best honors colleges in the country, and if it is not your thing, I am sure it is easy to transfer to Plan1 or just be a normal student, maybe that would give you more options.

Some of your complaints are also odd, including the size of Austin, etc. Why does this matter to you?

10K for an honors program at a flagship is also not something you can duplicate anywhere.

Making fun of UT in Texas HS may have been cool and well received by your mates, who might just be rich and can afford 45K+ annual bills (not many people even in the top 5% have that kind of money to spend). Now you are there, and guess what, all the people there chose to go and are not making fun of it anymore. Transfers out are likely very rare.