Transferring for non-Academic reasons?

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NoirD2

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So a bit of background: I'm a freshman at the University of Michigan and I've wanted to go into medicine since I was in middle school. I was stuck in state due to financial reasons, so I only applied to MSU and UM. After I was accepted I to UM I instantly snapped it up, I mean it was the more prestigious university, right? Unfortunately I think I may have made the wrong decision (I should have went on college visits!), and now I want to transfer over to MSU after the first year.

The switch isn't because of academics, if anything I'd go into overdrive for the rest of year just so it wouldn't be a blotch on my app. I'm just not a fan of the culture at my current university. I don't like the "doors shut" attitude that everybody has. It is very clique-ish and nobody has any interest in making new friends. I've tried clubs and come to the conclusion that most of them are either inter-fraternity fabrications or people just trying to pad their B/M/L school app. Contrast this with MSU where over the course of a weekend and a half I've met a dozen close friends I now talk to on a regular basis. The whole atmosphere seems more open and inviting, people are more laid back so you have something to look forward too after grinding out an 8 hour long study sesh.

I'm really just concerned the adcoms would toss my app when they see I transferred "down." If I were to transfer I'd try to get into the Honors college, but I will have around 60 credits after my freshman year so that may exempt me... any tips would be helpful. Will the adcoms be that hard on me for making a switch for personal reasons? I remember speaking to the UM adcom and he said do what you love, would they punish me for doing what I love?

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So a bit of background: I'm a freshman at the University of Michigan and I've wanted to go into medicine since I was in middle school. I was stuck in state due to financial reasons, so I only applied to MSU and UM. After I was accepted I to UM I instantly snapped it up, I mean it was the more prestigious university, right? Unfortunately I think I may have made the wrong decision (I should have went on college visits!), and now I want to transfer over to MSU after the first year.

The switch isn't because of academics, if anything I'd go into overdrive for the rest of year just so it wouldn't be a blotch on my app. I'm just not a fan of the culture at my current university. I don't like the "doors shut" attitude that everybody has. It is very clique-ish and nobody has any interest in making new friends. I've tried clubs and come to the conclusion that most of them are either inter-fraternity fabrications or people just trying to pad their B/M/L school app. Contrast this with MSU where over the course of a weekend and a half I've met a dozen close friends I now talk to on a regular basis. The whole atmosphere seems more open and inviting, people are more laid back so you have something to look forward too after grinding out an 8 hour long study sesh.

I'm really just concerned the adcoms would toss my app when they see I transferred "down." If I were to transfer I'd try to get into the Honors college, but I will have around 60 credits after my freshman year so that may exempt me... any tips would be helpful. Will the adcoms be that hard on me for making a switch for personal reasons? I remember speaking to the UM adcom and he said do what you love, would they punish me for doing what I love?

Alcohol will do this!
JK
I don't think it is a big concern. It's not like you are "transferring down" to a CC. But if asked about it, I would try to come up with a better answer than not being able to make friends.
 
Alcohol will do this!
JK
I don't think it is a big concern. It's not like you are "transferring down" to a CC. But if asked about it, I would try to come up with a better answer than not being able to make friends.

Nah, I'll just tell them I wanted a school with a good football team. :p
 
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Nah, I'll just tell them I wanted a school with a good football team. :p

Zing!

But seriously, 4 years of your happiness is way more important than what an adcom might potentially think of transferring "down." In fact, I doubt it will even matter at all. I would have no qualms about transferring.
 
Nah, I'll just tell them I wanted a school with a good football team. :p

:lol:

You will be judged. You need to find a plausible reason that is not "I had a hard time making friends". May I suggest, "It was not a good fit. I should have made college visits." Don't ever say anything bad about the former school or its location but say what you like about the new school.

You will be judged for moving "down" and if you say something negative about a school or its location, a medical school that is similar in culture or geography may think, "Why did he apply here? we're just like UM and he's going to be unhappy here... we're doing him a favor to reject him."
 
Zing!

But seriously, 4 years of your happiness is way more important than what an adcom might potentially think of transferring "down." In fact, I doubt it will even matter at all. I would have no qualms about transferring.

Agreed. While it would be nice to graduate from a prestigious school like Mich, MSU isn't a crap school. As long as you make the most of your time there - do well i nall your classes, get involved in ECs, you'll be fine. If asked, I think saying you just greatly preferred the environment at MSU would be acceptable.

You will be judged for moving "down"
In what sense? Like, is this considered some sort of character weakeness? I'm not sure I follow... Any school not in the top 5 should understand that there is more to what makes a school than just rankings. I've heard that from plenty of med schools themselves, and they discuss particulars about the school itself, not simply its prestige/ranking.
 
Thanks for all the advice everybody. I see no harm moving forward with it plus I've got a year's time before I make my decision. Keep the options open and I'll just do what makes me happy.
 
I don't think it should be a huge issue, but you should give it some more time at U of Mich.

They have 40,000+ students, there has to be someone who you like...
 
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