<p>Hi I’m currently contemplating transferring to UPitt from Ithaca College. I just need advice on whether or not it would be beneficial for me to transfer. In high school I applied to Upitt, Villanova, University of Scranton, and Ithaca College. I was accepted to all of them, and I decided to go to Ithaca because at the time I was interested in becoming an optometrist and they had an accelerated optometry program. Now I am not so sure I want to do optometry, but I am a biochem major and I love it. And I am pretty sure I want to either work in the industry after I graduate or go on to grad school. My dilemma is that Ithaca is more known for their music, communications, and PT majors than sciences. </p>
<p>I am doing great here at IC so far (4.0 gpa) my first semester and continue to do well this one. I am also already doing research with one of my professors with mRNA decay pathways, but my question is would a grad school rather see that I went to Upitt? I know GREs factor in, so let me ask if an employer or specific lab would rather see a degree from Upitt? </p>
<p>If I end up finding out pitt is a better choice, I know Upitt has rolling transfer admissions, but if I applied over the summer would I be eligible to transfer for the fall? Also I would only have about 35 credits, would that make me ineligible?</p>
<p>Thank you guys for your help!</p>
<p>Hi!
You sound like you’ve already gotten a great start with your first semester doing research, and acheiving a 4.0 even. A grad school is going to be far more interested in what you’ve done with your degree than where you got it from; if they see you from Ithaca with 4 years (presumably) research experience, and then they see somebody from Pitt who just went to all the courses and did nothing beyond that, you know who they’re gonna choose. Also, Pitt offers ZERO transfer scholarships, so I don’t know whether that’s a consideration, but if it is, reconsider it.</p>
<p>That being said, I go to Pitt (started as an Engineer, now Political Science). Their sciences and engineering departments are fannnnnnnnnntastic. But many MANY of the classes are huge lectures, and the only individual attention you’ll get is through recitations with grad student teaching assistants. It’s also quite difficult to get into research here. I have friends in Bio and BioChem who adore it. However, if I were you, I’d stay in Ithaca where you can be a star, rather than at Pitt where you’ll be one of a thousand faces.</p>
<p>Thanks RachelleyLee. That helps a lot. Anyone else wanna weigh in?</p>
<p>Yep, I’d say finish at Ithaca. You did well by getting into research there. Try to get at least a poster out of your research, if not some sort of authorship. PhD programs will care mostly about your demonstrated interest and involvement in research, your GPA in your science classes, and your GRE, probably in that order. Letters of rec are important too, but you should already have a good one lined up from the professor you are working with. When you are readying for a grad school interview, make sure you can discuss your research project(s) thoroughly and that you know not just what you did, but why you did it. Finish strong at Ithaca, you can always apply to Pitt for grad school</p>
<p>why not transfer to an ivy league with your credentials shouldn’t be a problem</p>
<p>Seriously FromRussia90? An Ivy league school sounds very attractive, but do they really value a college GPA that much? After this semester that just ended, I now have a 3.96 GPA (got one A- in Calc II). </p>
<p>Is this actually impressive to other colleges?</p>
<p>oh by the way I’m jetsman2528. I accidentally made a second account.</p>