Would it look bad...

[Stray]

Hi everyone.

This is my first post, but I've been lurking for a while. I'm hoping to get some opinions/insight. This is going to be a little long, sorry.

I'm pre-med (social work, possible double major in chem). I went to a community college for two years right after high school. I'm putting myself through college for the most part, so I wanted to save on tuition. I transferred to the University of Washington last September. I'm thinking about transferring again . It has nothing to do with my grades. I'm almost done with my second quarter here and I have the same GPA (which is recalculated after your first quarter, doesn't include my old GPA) as I did during community college (3.9).

Reasons for transferring:
- I don't feel challenged here.... AT ALL! I feel like I've learned absolutely nothing.
- I'm paying OOS tuition, which for those of you that don't know, is huge! I also found out I'm pretty much going to get screwed with financial aid next year, which obviously makes paying OOS tuition even worse. I calculated it, and by the time I graduate with my undergrad degree I'll be close to 100k in debt if I stay here .
- I don't like it in Seattle. I've lived all over the US - north, midwest, east coast, but never west coast. Everyone here is insanely rude. I never had a hard time making friends until I moved here. Apparently the fact that everyone here is rude is common knowledge for those that have lived here a while/grew up here. This one isn't that big of a deal, I could definitely suck it up and make it through a couple more years here.

With those combined (mainly one and two), I feel like staying here is a mistake. The only reasons I would stay would be so that it wouldn't look bad when I apply to med school, and UW has a better reputation than the school I would be transferring to (University of Kansas - I'm a legal resident of KS).

So, do you guys think it would it look bad if I transfer again? Would it hurt me when I apply to med school?

Thanks in advance!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[chalupa]

Hi everyone.

This is my first post, but I've been lurking for a while. I'm hoping to get some opinions/insight. This is going to be a little long, sorry.

I'm pre-med (social work, possible double major in chem). I went to a community college for two years right after high school. I'm putting myself through college for the most part, so I wanted to save on tuition. I transferred to the University of Washington last September. I'm thinking about transferring again . It has nothing to do with my grades. I'm almost done with my second quarter here and I have the same GPA (which is recalculated after your first quarter, doesn't include my old GPA) as I did during community college (3.9).

Reasons for transferring:
- I don't feel challenged here.... AT ALL! I feel like I've learned absolutely nothing.
- I'm paying OOS tuition, which for those of you that don't know, is huge! I also found out I'm pretty much going to get screwed with financial aid next year, which obviously makes paying OOS tuition even worse. I calculated it, and by the time I graduate with my undergrad degree I'll be close to 100k in debt if I stay here .
- I don't like it in Seattle. I've lived all over the US - north, midwest, east coast, but never west coast. Everyone here is insanely rude. I never had a hard time making friends until I moved here. Apparently the fact that everyone here is rude is common knowledge for those that have lived here a while/grew up here. This one isn't that big of a deal, I could definitely suck it up and make it through a couple more years here.

With those combined (mainly one and two), I feel like staying here is a mistake. The only reasons I would stay would be so that it wouldn't look bad when I apply to med school, and UW has a better reputation than the school I would be transferring to (University of Kansas - I'm a legal resident of KS).

So, do you guys think it would it look bad if I transfer again? Would it hurt me when I apply to med school?

Thanks in advance!

Transfer. You already have a stellar GPA, and you aren't happy in your current situation. I took lots of classes at community college to fufill pre-reqs and it did not hurt me at all when I applied to med school.
They really don't care where you do your classes. Just do well.

 

[DoctaJay]

i go to a no name college in alabama, and everything worked out. what matters more are your GPA, MCAT, and extracurricular activities. If that is solid you can come from anywhere and get into your desired school.

 

[Shpamme]

- I don't like it in Seattle. I've lived all over the US - north, midwest, east coast, but never west coast. Everyone here is insanely rude. I never had a hard time making friends until I moved here. Apparently the fact that everyone here is rude is common knowledge for those that have lived here a while/grew up here. This one isn't that big of a deal, I could definitely suck it up and make it through a couple more years here.

That's funny that you feel West Coasters are rude. I always thought we West Coasters were a lot more laid back, sometimes to a fault. But to each his own..

As much as I disagree that West Coasters are rude, I totally respect the fact that you feel alienated though--because I felt the same way when I moved to Boston. But as I got to know people there, I realized that the abrupt speaking style isn't rudeness--it's just a way of speaking. When I abandoned that mentality I started making friends who introduced me to lots of cool extracurriculars and volunteering opportunities in indigent areas. It also allowed me to talk to people who had totally different viewpoints, which also challenged me to think about things from new perspectives. So maybe if you abandon the perspective that all people in the Seattle area are "rude" you might start to feel more challenged becuase you'll meet new people who start to open more opportunities.

That said, if you're *really* really unhappy you should totally transfer. I agree with the PP that schools don't care WHERE you go to school as much as that you were able to perform well. You're going to have to come up with a better reason for transferring though than that you felt frustrated where you were. They're going to want to know that you can spend four years at thier school without transferring. They also want to know that you can integrate yourself into their academic community well.

 

[Tired Pigeon]

As far as your med school application, the schools don't care where you did your undergrad as long as it's an accredited 4-year college or university. Don't worry about whether one school or the other will be perceived as better preparing you for the academic work at med school -- the MCAT is the great equalizer and gives them a way to compare you directly to students from all over the place.

If you're not feeling sufficiently challenged at your current institution, there is a possibility this has nothing to do with the institution and everything to do with the specific classes/program of study you're pursuing. Different programs are better/worse at different places, plus your own personal level of interest in a topic really makes a difference in the way you experience it.

With regard to the attitude you find offensive, you might be correct in your assessment that the people there are just plain rude. However, here are a couple of other things to consider. First, maybe it's just a cultural thing that you might get used to in time. Second, maybe being more involved in activities on campus would give you more opportunities to make friends & get to know people. Third, please consider that you may be experiencing depression -- this is not uncommon, particularly in adjusting to a new situation, and the tone of your post suggests to me that this may be a possibility. If this is the case, be aware that you may be just as depressed in another location.

Congratulations on doing so well in school despite your unhappiness with your situation. Best of luck to you in figuring things out.

 

[Stray]

Thanks for the responses. I probably shouldn't have said everyone is rude, that wouldn't be true. I would however say that most people are lol. I've talked to some people about it, and here is my view. People on the east coast are really assertive, and it comes off as rude to some people. People in seattle (I won't say the whole west coast because I've only lived in seattle) are very stand-offish, and that comes off as rude to some people (like me). The seattleittes I've told this to agree. I feel like this because I've tried really hard to meet people, but the ones I'm meeting are rude, stuck up, and unfriendly. UW stuck me in the worst dorm ever - it has the reputation on campus as being the dorm where people just want to be left alone. As to why they put a transfer student here, I have no idea. No one keeps their door open, and if you walk down the hall and say hi to someone, they don't say anything. We had open door night - I was one of two people who had their door open. I'm involved in a lot of stuff. Besides meeting people through classes, I have a job, I volunteer every week, I'm involved with two on-campus clubs, and one off campus club, I go to campus activities, and I go to concerts and other stuff off campus. Really, this is beside the point though. Like I said, that is just a small reason that adds to the other two huge ones. I've lived all over the country, including some ****ty places, so I could totally deal with being here. One of my friends is also moving here this summer, and I have met some cool people. So I'm sure if I were to stay, eventually I would begin to like it here. One seattleitte actually told me it takes a few years for people here to warm up to you lol. My main concern is that I'm paying a HUGE amount of money for what I feel is a really crappy education. The program I'm in here is a competitive program, sooo go figure.

As far as being depressed, I don't think I am. I work with homeless kids, so I've been through training to identify depression. If I felt at all like I was having any kind of mental health issues I would ask for help in a heartbeat. Not to mention that the people I work with would say something to me. I don't hate everything here, I just feel like I'm short changing myself by staying here. I love my job, I also do national work around runaway and homeless youth so it has given me a new perspective in working with this population since they do it differently here, and I've met a couple of cool people. I agree that if I enjoyed living here, then I might feel more likely to want to stay. Honestly though, I feel like I'm screwing myself in the long run if I stay here. Getting a good education is really important to me. Thanks again for the responses, and I will go talk to someone to make sure I'm not depressed

 

[move2west]

I agree with you that people in Seattle are very rude. I refuse to apply to UW for that very reason. I have lived on the west coast my entire life and this is definately not the norm.

If I were you, i would probably transfer. If you can find a school you are happy at you will definately excell. I went to a small private school in the west that is known for a friendly student body and great financial aid for out of staters (cost me less than my in state public school would). Its not in the best state but its great for the reasons listed above (and excellent for snow/outdoor sports). PM me if you are interested