UVA v. WM v. SC

[Anonymous]

My DD is just finishing her first year at the University of South Carolina. This was one of her safety schools. She was direct admitted to their top ranked international business program. Last year, out of HS, she was rejected by both UVA and William and Mary. She reapplied as a transfer student and was accepted to both. Now, she is conflicted about what they do. Choose to move to UVA or William and Mary or stay where she is. She is very involved at USC in student leadership and is among a bunch of smart, internationally oriented kids. She will go to China and New Zealand next year. She has developed friends. I think she likes being a bigger fish in a smaller pond and wonders whether she would lose these opportunities if she leaves. I will support whatever decision she makes, but also hope to provide wise counsel. Any thoughts DCUMers?

[Anonymous]

Are you instate for W&M and UVA? Is money a factor? I am curious as to why she applied for a transfer. Is he unhappy?

[Anonymous]

Onward and upward.

[Anonymous]

She applied for transfer for a reason, now she is looking at the pros and cons of staying.

She will have to leave there at some point anyway, why not now when she can go to one of the places she really wanted to attend and which are more prestigious?

I don't know the answer. Transitions and changes are harder for some people than others. That is the bottom line.

[Anonymous]

It really doesn't matter what she chooses. Under grad might as well be highschool outside of engineering, premed, comp sci, math, physics, accounting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She applied for transfer for a reason, now she is looking at the pros and cons of staying.

She will have to leave there at some point anyway, why not now when she can go to one of the places she really wanted to attend and which are more prestigious?

I don't know the answer. Transitions and changes are harder for some people than others. That is the bottom line.

I feel she is happy, engaged, and part of activities she likes, I would suggest she stay.

Transfer applications are generally due earlier than kids know if they are happy where they are, which is why her original reason (I want what I didn't get last year) was a good one, but not a deal clincher. If she transfers, it will be harder to go abroad and all that.

[Anonymous]

I went to UVA and then transferred to W&M, so I can provide some insight.

If she wants to stick with business, I found the UVA program to be very geared towards landing at the big consulting firms (i.e. McKinsey) or finance, whereas W&M's felt more open to a lot of career paths from finance to entrepreneurship and marketing. That said, UVA's business program is really well-respected. I'd try to talk to some people currently doing these programs if she plans to stick with this path, especially because even if she does an MBA, it's unlikely to be straight out of school. So the kinds of internships and jobs that come from these programs is a good thing to consider.

I also found it hard to break into UVA socially. It's a big school, I got thrown into a dorm with upperclassmen and there wasn't much structure for meeting fellow first years. I'd be curious how that translates as a transfer student. Transferring into W&M went pretty smoothly. You miss the "freshman dorm" experience (people are very connected socially with freshman dorm), but they have a transfer orientation program and I made a lot of lifelong friends doing sorority rush too, some of which joined a house and some didn't. I also found the size of the school very friendly for meeting people.

W&M also has some really wonderful study abroad programs. If she leaves, I'd go there.

[Anonymous]

Transfer. You carry around your undergrad forever in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It really doesn't matter what she chooses. Under grad might as well be highschool outside of engineering, premed, comp sci, math, physics, accounting.

Chemistry? Economics?

[Anonymous]

Transfer to W&M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Transfer. You carry around your undergrad forever in the DC area.

No, you only carry it forever according to DCUM.

OP, ask DD to sit down and do some listing of pros and cons. Is there someone objective to whom she can talk? In other words not an adviser from any of these three colleges and also not you or her other parent?

She also can write herself a letter about what she wanted from college when she first applied back in hide school and what she wants now, with a year under her belt. The student leadership stuff is good and an opportunity to serve while also standing out and it's something she may later be able to use on a resume. Same goes for the international travel if it's academic and linked to her field of study. Don't get sucked into "only go to one of this list of schools or you will never do well the rest of your life" mentality on DCUM.

If the major she wants is only st W&M or UVA, or those schools offer substantially better opportunities like specific internships or whatever, that's crucial and she likely should transfer. Getting the academic program she wants matters most. But it's valid also to weigh things like the larger picture of her life at college. And it can be good to be the bigger fish in the smaller pond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is just finishing her first year at the University of South Carolina. This was one of her safety schools. She was direct admitted to their top ranked international business program. Last year, out of HS, she was rejected by both UVA and William and Mary. She reapplied as a transfer student and was accepted to both. Now, she is conflicted about what they do. Choose to move to UVA or William and Mary or stay where she is. She is very involved at USC in student leadership and is among a bunch of smart, internationally oriented kids. She will go to China and New Zealand next year. She has developed friends. I think she likes being a bigger fish in a smaller pond and wonders whether she would lose these opportunities if she leaves. I will support whatever decision she makes, but also hope to provide wise counsel. Any thoughts DCUMers?

It sounds to me like she would lose a lot by leaving. What does she want to do after college and do the students at USC have the kind of opportunities after graduating that she wants?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Transfer. You carry around your undergrad forever in the DC area.

No, you only carry it forever according to DCUM.

OP, ask DD to sit down and do some listing of pros and cons. Is there someone objective to whom she can talk? In other words not an adviser from any of these three colleges and also not you or her other parent?

She also can write herself a letter about what she wanted from college when she first applied back in hide school and what she wants now, with a year under her belt. The student leadership stuff is good and an opportunity to serve while also standing out and it's something she may later be able to use on a resume. Same goes for the international travel if it's academic and linked to her field of study. Don't get sucked into "only go to one of this list of schools or you will never do well the rest of your life" mentality on DCUM.

If the major she wants is only st W&M or UVA, or those schools offer substantially better opportunities like specific internships or whatever, that's crucial and she likely should transfer. Getting the academic program she wants matters most. But it's valid also to weigh things like the larger picture of her life at college. And it can be good to be the bigger fish in the smaller pond.

Exactly, only on DCUM. Nobody cares where you went to school in so many fields - your work experience carries so much more weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is just finishing her first year at the University of South Carolina. This was one of her safety schools. She was direct admitted to their top ranked international business program. Last year, out of HS, she was rejected by both UVA and William and Mary. She reapplied as a transfer student and was accepted to both. Now, she is conflicted about what they do. Choose to move to UVA or William and Mary or stay where she is. She is very involved at USC in student leadership and is among a bunch of smart, internationally oriented kids. She will go to China and New Zealand next year. She has developed friends. I think she likes being a bigger fish in a smaller pond and wonders whether she would lose these opportunities if she leaves. I will support whatever decision she makes, but also hope to provide wise counsel. Any thoughts DCUMers?

As a parent of transfer student - developing a social network from scratch and breaking into leadership roles in the new school requires effort that takes away from studying - and UVA and W&M are both harder schools academically.
While they both are ranked higher than USC, the USC IB program is well-known. If your daughter is doing well, has friends and active in extracurriculars, AND you can pay for her remaining years OOS, she should stay put.

[Anonymous]

It sounds to me like she's quite happy. I'm a bit surprised she applied for a transfer. Personally, if she's in a degree program she likes (and it sounds like she is enjoying the international business program) and if she thinks she'd be happy to complete that major and work in that field, if she's found friends and activities that make her feel happy and involved (which it sounds like she has) and if the school can offer other opportunities she will enjoy and that will enrich her life (like the study abroad and perhaps other internship or work opportunities) then I wioukd stay put.

I really don't see the advantage for her to transfer. Sounds like she mainly wants to do it for prestige. She didn't get into those schools out of HS and wanted to prove she was good enough, and she has by getting admitted as a transfer and by being successful at SC. I think she should stay where she is, and stay on her trajectory which sounds very positive.

I went to UVA for undergrad and it is a large school and hard to meet people. A lot of strong friendships are made first year and it seems transfer students have a tougher time. We had a few girls join my sorority as transfers so I think she could find a crowd through activities etc but if it ain't broke why fix it??