Why are you wanting to move?
Jan 31 '00
I don’t know how much information can be provided about transferring from one college to another. I found it to be a rather simple task when I transferred from the University of Denver to the University of Wisconsin in 1988.
To get one question out of the way, transferring college credits was a breeze. Since I didn’t take any classes like Structured Underwater Basket Weaving 206 or The History of the Belch or other silly classes that did nothing to further an education, Wisconsin had no problems taking my credits. I lost a few, mostly because DU was on a quarter-system and UW was on a semester-system, but the loss was negligible.
A Tale of Two Cities
So, why did I transfer? I wanted to go to a better school. There’s nothing wrong with DU, in fact, it is an excellent college. However, I had aspirations of law school all the way up until I was handed my college degree. The idea was the better the school I attended the better chance I stood of getting into a good law school.
The University of Denver was ranked very high – but is known only on a regional level. That means that people in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States knew of the school’s reputation, but outside of the area, you were hard-pressed to find someone who has even heard of the school. With the good grades I had earned my first two years of college, I went and applied elsewhere and tried to get into a more nationally recognized school.
I was accepted to a few schools, notably the University of Missouri, which had the finest Journalism School in the country (one of my majors was Journalism), and the University of Wisconsin, which had the fourth-ranked English department in the country (my other major was English). I felt that either of these schools would be a fine jumping point to law school. There were other top-notch schools I was accepted at, but these were my two top choices.
My father is the one who actually steered me to Wisconsin. He indicated that Wisconsin had a much higher overall ranking than did Missouri, and that I should consider this factor because my major may change at any time. Thankfully, this was one time in my life where I took my dad’s advice, because a year later I dropped the Journalism major.
Hindsight is Always 20/20
Looking back, I know I made the right choice as far as choosing the school in the transfer. I was accepted to three law schools, and I’m positive the school I attended made the difference. I was making good grades at Wisconsin and that made up for what I was lacking in other areas.
However, looking back, I think the choice to transfer at all was a bad choice. I wound up turning down all three law schools for a few reasons, one of which was I decided the world had enough lawyers, and another was I was frankly sick of school. I moved back to Denver, and although the University of Wisconsin did open a few doors for me career-wise, I think the University of Denver is far more prestigious in this area.
Another reason I think the transfer was a bad idea is because I really enjoyed my college experience at Denver. I was happy, and the people were genuinely nice. The school was small enough where I was able to get some more personalized attention from the professors than I was at the huge University of Wisconsin. One school had 4,000 students, and the other had over 30,000. I made good grades at both schools.
What advice can I give?
In conclusion, I would suggest any student follow the same rules I set out in my review on Campus Visits. Keep in mind that the same rules apply whether attending college in your freshman year or if you transfer to a school later on in your college career. I would recommend every student take a serious look at their future, and decide whether or not the transfer is worth making. If you are going to a good school to begin with, and are making decent grades, perhaps “moving on up” isn’t the smartest move after all. College is more than grades and more than reputations.
If you are happy in your current college environment, there’s no sense in stirring the pot and muddying the waters. Adjusting to a new college once is difficult enough.
Obviously, if you’re very unhappy to begin with, then a transfer is the best idea possible.
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Member: Jeffrey Schwartz
Location: Sunrise, FL, USA
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