In need of transfer advice

[numbersloth]

I'm a student at a small, rural and/or suburban (depending on your classification) LAC. I'm currently a junior, thus next year would be my last year of college if I stayed here. I definitely had a really hard time getting my footing at college and basically only decided to go full-blown pre-med last fall, taking my first semester of chemistry this spring. Once I actually found my passion (medicine/public health/statistics/even chemistry!) it was a lot easier for me to make a strong transfer application since I felt like I had strong reasons for applying to the schools I wanted to go to. It was also easier for me to see that I'm generally unhappy at my college not because of the academics but mostly the social scene and isolated campus feel. Its also a very outwardly competitive school with grade deflation.

I was accepted as a transfer to Barnard College in NYC and I'm strongly thinking of accepting the offer. It would allow me to take a fifth year of school to finish my pre-reqs (my current college has a strict rule that students who have enough credits to graduate must graduate, no exceptions) in addition to giving me amazing resources through Columbia, both at the undergraduate level and through their public health and medical schools and throughout NYC (hospital volunteering will be a no-brainer when its not an hour away by car!).

My one worry is that I've built up some opportunities at my current school that are a bit hard to leave. I'm President of our public health org and VP of a new org we are starting next year. I'm also a statistics teaching assistant. I worry that these opportunities are what adcoms are looking for and it will be hard to find similar ones at a school where I will only there for two years.

Thoughts?

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[efle]

There will be clubs and TA positions aplenty at Barnard, that is def not a reason to stay at a college where you are unhappy and unable to finish the prereqs.

 

[numbersloth]

There will be clubs and TA positions aplenty at Barnard, that is def not a reason to stay at a college where you are unhappy and unable to finish the prereqs.

I guess I'm just worried about not having "continuity" of experience that adcoms may be looking for?

 

[efle]

I guess I'm just worried about not having "continuity" of experience that adcoms may be looking for?

Nobody is going to ding you for transferring out of a college that didn't fit. People do this all the time. Go be happy at Barnard.

 

[numbersloth]

Nobody is going to ding you for transferring out of a college that didn't fit. People do this all the time. Go be happy at Barnard.

So you don't think it will raise eyebrows that I left after three years/am taking an extra year of college? I'm just super worried about doing anything that could be seen negatively by adcoms now that I'm convinced that medicine is the thing for me.

 

[efle]

You'd have to do extra time to finish your prereqs anyways right? This is just a very straightforward transfer between 4-year colleges. Really not going to make anyone toss your app, seriously.

 

[numbersloth]

You'd have to do extra time to finish your prereqs anyways right? This is just a very straightforward transfer between 4-year colleges. Really not going to make anyone toss your app, seriously.

Yeah, I'd be taking at least 2-3 courses after I graduate--maybe more, depending on my sGPA at that point. Its just a normal transfer, except for the fact that I basically transferred to take an extra year of college. Thanks for the advice.