Transferring to a less prestigious school

[cubbie94]

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I currently attend a top twenty university and have just completed my sophomore year. My current GPA is around a 3.17, and I have done fairly poorly in most of the premed prereqs (mainly B's and a couple C's, one A). I am taking orgo 2 at a private school near home, and am currently getting an A (the highest grade in the class). I am very unhappy here socially as well, and recently applied to my state school, which is still highly ranked (University of Illinois), where I think I would be more successful academically and happier socially, but cannot decide if this would help or hurt my chances at med school. Does transferring from a prestigious school to a less prestigious school hurt my chances? Thanks.

 

[dr.sartorius]

I currently attend a top twenty university and have just completed my sophomore year. My current GPA is around a 3.17, and I have done fairly poorly in most of the premed prereqs (mainly B's and a couple C's, one A). I am taking orgo 2 at a private school near home, and am currently getting an A (the highest grade in the class). I am very unhappy here socially as well, and recently applied to my state school, which is still highly ranked (University of Illinois), where I think I would be more successful academically and happier socially, but cannot decide if this would help or hurt my chances at med school. Does transferring from a prestigious school to a less prestigious school hurt my chances? Thanks.

I think what hurts your chances more is doing poorly and being unhappy. Your undergrad won't matter if your GPA isn't high. What I learned in the whole process is go to a school where you can excel, get that GPA as high as possible, don't worry about the name of the school or the prestige. A 3.8 from a state school is better than a 3.2 at an Ivy League.

 

[mc3894]

I agree. I myself transferred from a university after my freshman year because I was very unhappy. I didn't do all that great because I wasn't motivated and my mood was terrible there. The minute I arrived at my new university, I knew I had made the right decision and I am doing MUCH better, and I believe that has a lot to do with how happy I am with my new school.

If you're unhappy at your prestigious school, transfer if it is going to make you happier, and your academic performance should thus improve as well.

 

[johnston9234]

Remember that time where someones undergrad prestige affected their ability to apply to top schools?

I don't. You know why, because it isn't true. At all

 

[Lamel]

I dunno if it will look bad to transfer down, but it won't look good. Be sure to be able to explain your reasons for transferring well (not just the fact that your GPA was too low). If you do transfer, make sure to get excellent grades.

 

[cubbie94]

I guess I'm a bit concerned because of what Lizzy M, an administrator, said in this thread (quoted below) http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...n-upon-transfer-students.503308/#post-6421346

UIUC is ranked 41, is that considered a significant transfer "down"?

"Be very careful how you describe your reasons for transferring:

Don't bad-mouth the school (saying that it didn't offer a particular major is OK, saying that the faculty in your dept were unengaged and disinterested would not), or your fellow students, particularly if your gripe has to do with race, religion, polliticial affiliation or socioeconomic status.
Don't denigrate the location of your first college unless you are willing to cross all similarly located medical schools off your list. Don't transfer to be close to anyone unless you are willing to limit your medical school applications to schools within 100 miles of said individual. (Actually rather do-able if you are in some prime locations and ridiculous in others.)
Don't let your grades drop more than 0.1 in the semester after the transfer and keep your gpa over the years at the new college similar to what it was before the transfer (or better, if that's mathematically possible).

Never transfer down.

Get LOR from faculty at your old school and/or cultivate relationships with faculty at the new school asap because it will take some work to get good LORs from people who haven't had much time to get to know you."

 

[cubbie94]

Be very careful how you describe your reasons for transferring:

Don't bad-mouth the school (saying that it didn't offer a particular major is OK, saying that the faculty in your dept were unengaged and disinterested would not), or your fellow students, particularly if your gripe has to do with race, religion, polliticial affiliation or socioeconomic status.

Don't denigrate the location of your first college unless you are willing to cross all similarly located medical schools off your list. Don't transfer to be close to anyone unless you are willing to limit your medical school applications to schools within 100 miles of said individual. (Actually rather do-able if you are in some prime locations and ridiculous in others.)​

Don't let your grades drop more than 0.1 in the semester after the transfer and keep your gpa over the years at the new college similar to what it was before the transfer (or better, if that's mathematically possible).

Never transfer down.

Get LOR from faculty at your old school and/or cultivate relationships with faculty at the new school asap because it will take some work to get good LORs from people who haven't had much time to get to know you.

 

[Heplayer92]

Eh, you can always list "cost" as a factor for transferring to a state school, and convenience. Don't say bad things about your current school!

 

[mc3894]

Now that I have seen some of these other responses, would using "more research opportunity" be an acceptable reason to explain why one transferred? That was a huge part of my decision.