I am currently a sophomore. Majored in applied mathematics in freshmen year, studied reasonably hard but did not do well, I then switched to Business Administration wherein I felt a better chance to earn good grades. When I realized the importance of GPA in term of breaking into top-tier firms/graduate programs and the fact that I am not going to have a 3.8 GPA at the time I graduate given my performance last year, I want to transfer to another college and have a fresh start. What are the schools I should be aiming for?
A broader question is what should be my way out if my goal is to have a relatively high start in fields like equity research/risk management/operation research(basically, technical aspects of banking/consulting but not as technical as quant)? Stay in USC business school and have a relatively high GPA(realistically speaking, 3.5-3.6), switch back to math major and have a relatively low GPA(3.0-3.3), transfer to other business programs, or transfer to other math/statistics programs?
I am very confused now. Thank you all in advance!
Hey Sherry, I’m not exactly a prevalent figure, or excruciatingly knowledgeable person within the CC forums, but I think I can give some thoughts on the matter.
I believe that with a 3.3 at USC it would be extremely difficult to get into a university that is a ‘near’ equivalent, or even one which generally ranks high.
From my understanding, I have constantly heard that USC has a phenomenal business program, and happens to be extremely widely known for it. Because of that, I would suggest staying the course, and continuing your grind throughout your time in USC.
Also, something important to note is this : Graduate programs consider all transcripts, meaning, the GPA that is received from the Grad Schools you apply to will be the cumulative of all courses taken at every institution. From my understanding, even individuals who come from Community Colleges have their GPA accounted for when their application is being reviewed. So, although I do not necessarily know what you mean by “fresh start”, I find this aspect to be important, especially since it seems you have an interest for grad.
In regards to your goals of having a relatively high start, I could only suggest that you : 1. Maintain a strong, and competitive GPA. 2. Take advantage of opportunities – scholarships, internships, clubs, meetings, forms of outreach, and things alike. 3. Sets goals up for yourself – do not simply want to “x, y, z” – have a plan, and pathway as to how you can achieve “x, y, z” – do not be a wishful thinker. The path to setting yourself up for a strong start is not confined to these alone, there are arguably many more approaches, and aspects that you can take as a means to better prepare yourself, however, I find these to be remarkably notable, and some aspects which come to mind while reading your post.
Another thing to note, the advice I mentioned is centered towards the presupposition that you will continue pursuing a degree in Business, rather than mathematics. This is not to dissuade you from pursuing math, but the concepts of projected GPA, program ranking, and my belief that you will perform better in Business over that of Math, and assuming you enjoy Business over that of Math, I personally suggest you crusade on. \m/
Just stay at USC, and work hard at raising your GPA over the next couple of years. If you can get it up to about 3.6 you should be in decent shape.
Switching to another school won’t help. Employers and grad schools will simply average your GPA between both colleges anyway.
My advice would be to stay in USC business if you think you can reasonably get a 3.5.
With a 3.3 transfer GPA you’re unlikely to be able to transfer to a higher ranked Business school.
Only exception : if you’re a CA resident and fullpay at usc: you would save money switching to UCI (but it wouldn’t be better academically than USC).