If you don’t get the financial aid you need, how will you get loans? If you’re eligible for questbridge, there is a good chance your parents won’t be able to take a parent plus loan or co-sign private loans, and you will only be eligible to borrow an extra $4000 in federal student loans.
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It sounds like you’re in a difficult spot in your current university socially. As several posters have mentioned having 5 semesters already is going to be VERY limiting. Many of the higher ranking universities you desire and that may give decent financial aid also require 2 years of study at their university before offering a degree. This really limits your options. Have you considered a semester/year abroad? The social situation can change a lot after a break. Best of luck to you.
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Can you ask your adviser how you can take a semester off or go abroad next semester so the social situation isn’t as bad while you figure out what to do/where to go?
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Here’s another suggestion because you want to ignore the budget issue but fortunately the government is going to save you from a crazy amount of loans.
If you hit a job at Starbucks, you can go to very respected Arizona State for free online. I don’t see bioinformatics in the major list but they have a ton and so perhaps one will get close enough.
Then I was thinking - my kids schools both offered in person, online and sometimes asynchronous classes - pick which you want.
Maybe you can stay at your school and go online or asynchronous.
You may think ASU #117 but ASU is beyond highly respected, especially in technical fields. B4 you shoot down schools based on rank, you need to look at how the rank is calculated. It’s not necessarily the best like you’d think. It’s based on many metrics that have no relevance to most kids.
Anyway it’s another thought to help you escape without ruining yourself financially. There’s tons of majors here a I bet one will fit.
Guys, I have an update. My school search will focus on the following schools: NC State, UNC Charlotte, Baylor, Pittsburgh, and Virginia Tech. What do my chances look like for each of these schools to transfer for spring 2026? For NC State and Virginia Tech I am applying as a microbiology major. Obviously finances are important, but let’s stick to the academics for this, please.
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I think you’re good for NCSU and UNCC if you’ve taken the above classes.
What about R-programming? I understand it is rather important for Biostatistics.
At NCSU the minor seems to be difficult to take classes for, with the many majors having priority- but the statistics department is strong and they offer a Data Science minor where registration issues may not be as prevalent.
Wrt Baylor, are you Southern Baptist? How do they treat their core curriculum in Theology etc, when it comes to transfers?
ETA: have you checked you’re eligible for transfer - I’ve just looked at their page regarding admissions for transfers and it reads
Plan to transfer no later than the end of your sophomore year.
Have you run the NPCs on all these colleges?
What about meet-need universities, are they within budget? (Since you want better than top 75, you could run the NPC on Lehigh, Holy Cross, Hamilton..)
You are asking the wrong question.
Based on the courses you’ve taken, and the requirements for your major at all of these schools- how much time is it going to take to get your Bachelor’s? How many of your credits will transfer?
Getting in is the easy part. Getting out- with a degree- when you are transferring late in the game- is often harder. Every college you are interested in has a transfer advisor- what do THEY say about your transcript and your chances? That’s a little more important than a bunch of random strangers on the internet….
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I’m a nondenominational evangelical Christian (not a good one tho), and they say “plan to transfer no later than the end of your sophomore year” for cost and credit purposes. How competitive are my grades for Baylor?
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FYI I got an A in the courses that equate to ENG 101, a C+ in Calculus I, an A- in BIO 181 and I got AP credit for BIO 183. I also took CH 101 and CH 102 and got a B in both of those.
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The question will be - is a 3.0 just thought and you have a 3.5 - or are they going to look into the major courses too.
Your list should be NC State and UNCC or any other UNCs. If you need a 10K tuition, you are wasting your time at Baylor, Va Tech, and Pitt.
When you have a budget, you build around it - you don’t say, well I’ll apply to Pitt and see what happens. When it’s $55K a year, where is the other $45K coming? Not from loans - thankfully the government has restricted Parent Plus (note Parent) to $20K a year. Yep, the government has limited where you can attend starting this year - and I think it’s smart so kids like you stop over burdening themselves which leads to a life of depression, stress and poor choices. You may not want to hear about the budget - but you have no choice given this year’s government actions.
So build around your budget - you want to be hard headed about it but you have two on your list of five, that if your budget is that small, you have any chance of attending. And no doubt UNCC will happen. I suspect NCSU will based on what they published but your core course grades aren’t great.
Good luck.
I’m sorry that you don’t think A’s and B’s are good. That’s what I’ve mostly gotten in my core course work.
Also – for Baylor tuition costs 45k per year. I know I can get a 14k scholarship on maintaining a 3.5 GPA. That cuts the cost down to 31k. Add on a parent plus loan and that gets it down to 16k. Then, add on my FAFSA unsubsidized loans which should get it down to 10kish.
The OP has asked repeatedly to take the finances out of the equation and just to be chanced. Please show them that respect.
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I’m asking because Baylor has a distinctive core curriculum as well as some co-curricular requirements (films, chapel, lectures…) to enrich your experience.
As an evangelical student the theology/Christian heritage classes would not be a problem and can be part of your Why Baylor statement.
It does mean you must check carefully what will transfer to make sure you can complete the requirements over 4 semesters (+1 summer???).
https://corecurriculum.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/core-requirements
https://admissions.web.baylor.edu/admission/incoming-freshman/bringing-credit-baylor
I think your odds are solid (50-50, a match) if you can show you understand the core in addition to their specific offerings for your major, especially in contrast to your current college.
Worth looking into
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What have the transfer advisors at the schools you are interested in saying about your transcript and credit situation? Do you really think a bunch of strangers in the internet know more than a paid professional whose job it is to evaluate transfer applications??? Pick up the phone!!!
NCSU does not have an undergrad major in bioinformatics. They have a minor and graduate program. Is this what you are looking for?
From post 44
Baylor has said my odds are pretty good – im just super nervous