<p>zwiebel - Isn’t it a bit late to transfer unless your State school is starting in September or are you planning for January/Fall 2014?</p>
<p>^^yes…it does seem odd to pose this question when Wisconsin has already started their academic year this week…</p>
<p>We are in Wisconsin too and every year kids transfer back from far-away, prestigious institutions to UW-Madison. It’s a pretty great place to spend four years, and there is no shortage of opportunities for smart, motivated students. Some of the kids I know who have come back have complained about the “superficial” culture at some of the west coast schools (USC, UCLA…haven’t heard anything about Stanford). I have heard similar things from kids who have gone to schools that are either in the northeast or that seem dominated by students from affluent areas on the east coast (i.e., Tulane, University of Miami). I am not saying their perceptions are accurate–this is just what they or their parents have told me.</p>
<p>It may have just come to light that the OP’s son doesn’t want to go back. Remember, most 19 year olds keep a good deal hidden from their parents, particularly if they think it will greatly disappoint them (which it might since the OP created this thread rather than trusting the son’s judgement). </p>
<p>Additionally, at a school like Stanford, there are very few students either transfer or aim to do so and as a result, students at those types of schools are generally less aware of the deadlines than their peers at CCs or four year branch campuses. I only found out about transfer deadlines because of the transfer board on this forum and since most students don’t go to this part of the internet, many at selective schools lack knowledge of which documents to submit and when to do so.</p>
<p>UW produces darn fine linebackers (the one Texan is worth 10 of them) just like Stanford produces darn fine quarterbacks. </p>
<p>Apparently John Elway just threw 7 touchdowns yesterday according to one newspaper. He is singlehandedly keeping Stanford in news.</p>
<p>Elway rocked!</p>
<p>[Newspaper</a> celebrates John Elway?s epic game against the Ravens | For The Win](<a href=“http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/09/peyton-manning-john-elway-columbus-dispatch/]Newspaper”>Newspaper celebrates John Elway’s epic game against the Ravens | For The Win)</p>
<p>^^LOL…texaspg
[The</a> Columbus Dispatch posts headline of John Elway throwing 7 touchdowns, not Peyton Manning - ESPN](<a href=“http://www.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9640527/the-columbus-dispatch-posts-headline-john-elway-throwing-7-touchdowns-not-peyton-manning]The”>The Columbus Dispatch posts headline of John Elway throwing 7 touchdowns, not Peyton Manning - ESPN)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What kind of diversity? Harvard likely has more geographic diversity, but less SES diversity (Pell grants: 27% at OU, 19% at Harvard). Ethnically, OU has a higher percentage of white and Native American students, but a lower percentage of Asian, Latino, and black students.</p>
<p>So back to the OP. it’s the student who is going to college. University of Wisconsin is an excellent research university. If your son will be happier there, then certainly, allow him to transfer. </p>
<p>If he is happier, maybe his happiness will translate into that personal relationship he seems to be looking for as well!</p>
<p>And he will be closer to home!</p>
<p>OP - Try to figure out if your son is unhappy with Stanford… or college in general. He may need a break before making final decisions. Maybe he could take a leave of absence from Stanford?</p>
<p>for someone interested in IR, prestige matters a ton. Stay at 'furd.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your thoughtful comments, especially Sally, Thumper, and Whenhen, and Gravitas’ link to the Wash U thread. I also found another recent thread about transfers, and that’s helpful too. There’s a lot to consider, and while of course it’s his decision, it’s good to hear some different viewpoints. To answer some of your questions, this would be a January transfer. He’s changed his mind about majors a few times already (which I think is good–that’s what freshman year is for, trying out new things), so just want to make sure he thinks this through. He’s had some very interesting classes with excellent professors, and he’s enjoyed getting to know the professors. Most of his classes were smaller than 20 students. But then again, maybe that is part of the problem–he is looking for more students interested in some of the same things he is (which is not engineering or computer science).</p>
<p>^ I guess he did a lot of seminars. My kid was in several classes with 300+ kids. Even intro to Psychology (I am guessing it counts as non Engineering/CS) had that many.</p>
<p>Yale and Harvard don’t accept mid year transfers and same applies to many top private schools.</p>
<p>He took one intro. seminar and some advanced language and literature courses. Only two typical freshman courses. As a result, he really only knows the students from his all frosh dorm, so that’s less than 100 students. There may be more like minds out there than he thinks!</p>
<p>[Stanford</a> University: Common Data Set 2011-2012](<a href=“http://ucomm.stanford.edu/cds/2011.html#degrees]Stanford”>http://ucomm.stanford.edu/cds/2011.html#degrees) indicates the percentage of degrees conferred in various major groupings at Stanford:</p>
<p>20.6% Social sciences
15.8% Interdisciplinary studies
15.1% Engineering
7.1% Biological / Life Sciences
5.0% Computer and information sciences
4.7% Physical sciences
4.1% Psychology
3.7% Engineering technologies
3.6% English
3.3% Mathematics and statistics
3.2% History
3.0% Foreign languages and literatures
2.6% Visual and performing arts
2.5% Communication/journalism
2.5% Area and ethnic studies</p>
<p>For comparison, <a href=“http://apir.wisc.edu/publisherssurvey/CDS_2012-2013.pdf[/url]”>http://apir.wisc.edu/publisherssurvey/CDS_2012-2013.pdf</a> lists for Wisconsin:</p>
<p>13.4% Social sciences
12.1% Biological/life sciences
10.5% Business/marketing
9.1% Engineering
6.3% Communication/journalism
4.7% Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics
4.3% Psychology
4.3% History
4.3% Health professions and related programs
3.9% Interdisciplinary studies
2.9% Visual and performing arts
2.6% Family and consumer sciences
2.5% Agriculture
2.0% Area, ethnic, and gender studies
2.0% Education</p>
<p>Has he gotten involved in any of the MANY clubs and other activities on the Stanford campus? Even going to their awesome fitness center would be a way to meet people. If all he is doing is growing to his classes and then going back to the dorm, he won’t meet any more people at UWisc unless that changes.</p>
<p>There are tons of clubs on the Stanford campus. What about volunteering for something he enjoys? Does he have a job? Some students become friendly with their co-workers? If he is affiliated with a religion, religious groups on college campuses are very active. </p>
<p>Having said that, if he wants to transfer, fine…get the applications out. Maybe this fall he will meet Miss Perfect…then change his mind! You never know!</p>
<p>
The last two lines stuck out to me. If your son really only knows students from his all freshman dorm, he should branch out more and get involved in activities beyond those of his residence hall. Transferring to Madison will not do anything if your son isn’t willing to put himself out there and participate in clubs, listen to lectures on topics he finds interesting, ask students from outside of his dorm to hang out, etc. Could your son’s reasons for transferring involve a bit of homesickness? From your original post, it sounds as though your son has spent A LOT of time with his high school friends at the state flagship, and might be wanting to return to his hs social group.</p>
<p>This is school specific advice, but make sure your son is aware of how much weight the Stanford name carries. It’s easy to get trapped in the daily routine of college, the laundry, hanging out with people who also got into the same super selective school, and forget that for the rest of the world, Stanford commands respect. When I tell professors at my new school that I transferred from my well ranked institution, I’ve found they treat me with a bit more respect than those who went to say, Southwestern Oklahoma State, and I’d imagine that’s far more true with one of the acronym schools.</p>
<p>whenhen, UW is not Southwestern Oklahoma State. It is a highly respected state flagship with numerous top-10 programs both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, an outstanding alumni network, and one of the highest rates of Fortune 500 CEO production of all universities (public or private). </p>
<p>Also, all the research shows that students who are smart enough to get into top schools do well no matter where they go. It’s the person, not the institution, that determines later success. And in my opinion an unhappy person will typically waste a lot of energy being sad or frustrated or resentful–energy that could be put to more positive use in a different environment.</p>
<p>Sally, although UW is an excellent university with plenty of excellent students, it simply doesn’t carry the prestige nationally or world-wide that Stanford does. Few schools do, public or private.</p>
<p>That said, if the student is genuinely unhappy, something needs to be done. I would first make sure that he isn’t suffering from depression, and consider whether what he needs is some coaching regarding social skills. If he has that type of problem, transferring to Wisconsin isn’t going to do any good at all.</p>
<p>Agree. But prestige is not essential to success in many fields. And there’s always grad school. One of the most successful people I know attended UW-Eau Claire as an undergrad and then got his PhD from Stanford. Stanford will be there if the OP’s son wants to go back one day. For many careers and many graduate programs, the name of the undergraduate institution matters far less than how an individual distinguishes himself/herself while there.</p>