Advice on Transferring

[PressPforPi]

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So I was considering transferring from my small liberal arts college to a larger school in a contiguous state (South Carolina). I'm not necessarily unhappy here. I'm involved, I like the professors, and all my tuition is covered because of scholarships.

However, I do have a few concerns. I feel that med schools won't show me as much consideration as someone who graduated from a bigger school (or prestigious private school). Have any of you ever had these concerns as well? I know I can be just as successful as anyone (not trying to take away from anyone who's in a good school, just trying to show my confidence) but I don't like to think that my goals could be hindered just because of my college and location. Thanks in advance for any helpful comments.🙂

 

[bucks2010]

I mean, how small a school are we talking? Are there any other premeds at your school? Do they have much success?

 

[PressPforPi]

I mean, how small a school are we talking? Are there any other premeds at your school? Do they have much success?

~8,200 students in a city of ~290,000 people. It seems that if anyone is a pre-med, they're in the pre-med organization on campus (from the group picture it looks like there's about 15-20 of them). A pre-med advisor told me that MD/DO schools "know" them (my university). It seems that a small number go off to med school (whether it's a lack of self-motivation or not enough preparing in the courses I'm not sure).

 

[organdonor]

So I was considering transferring from my small liberal arts college to a larger school in a contiguous state (South Carolina). I'm not necessarily unhappy here. I'm involved, I like the professors, and all my tuition is covered because of scholarships.

However, I do have a few concerns. I feel that med schools won't show me as much consideration as someone who graduated from a bigger school (or prestigious private school). Have any of you ever had these concerns as well? I know I can be just as successful as anyone (not trying to take away from anyone who's in a good school, just trying to show my confidence) but I don't like to think that my goals could be hindered just because of my college and location. Thanks in advance for any helpful comments.🙂

No way I would transfer. If there is a pre med club there must be at least some people applying. Transferring is generally a bad idea for many reasons. You've already got relationships with professors (read: LOR's), free tuition, in state status (I presume), and all your credits. You risk all of these by transferring. By saying you AREN'T UNhappy, I assume you are happy? (I've honed my test taking strategy). Don't risk this! You'll kick yourself in the butt if you don't like your new college. You will have to start all over meeting professors who will know you for less time than others they will write letters for. Also, at a larger school there will be more people vying for a similar # of prof's. By transferring out of state you open up a whole can of worms. Not only for undergrad but public medical schools hugely favor in state applicants. Schools and states have their own policies with regards to residency requirements which vary wildly. You will never get to keep all of your credits when you transfer. 75% seems to be optimistic from what I've seen. The two things that I have personally seen that have caused extra years in undergrad are transferring and drastic changes in major.

I got in and a large percentage of my class got in medical school from colleges you have never heard of.

 

[amandaeleven]

I think the benefits of transferring depend on the person and the situation. I transferred to a large public University (read: 40,000 people) because I attended a tiny (read: 450 people) liberal arts school and felt like I didn't have enough clinical or leadership experience. While I graduated in 2 years from my second school, I took an extra year to do a Master's because I knew that I was just starting to establish my presence on-campus with extracurriculars and professors.

I would never have had the opportunity to shadow a cardiologist that I worked with for a design project, to be able to walk to the University hospital for volunteer work, teach underserved middle schoolers about how awesome engineering is and experience 2 different research laboratories had I not transferred (but, keep in mind, my case is most likely more extreme than yours).

Good luck!