Reply to DD wants to transfer out of top university but DH won't allow it

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[quote=Anonymous]The Ivies are all different. If she's miserable and unhappy at Cornell, she might not be at Brown or Dartmouth--which are very different than Cornell and each other. Light years ago,there was a kid who was miserable at Harvard and transferred to Williams and was very happy. (Yes, I know, Williams is not an Ivy. It is still a top tier school.)  Another transferred from Princeton to Yale--and had a much better experience.

Sometimes even a switch in major can turn things around. Math majors may be a more than typically intense group. (Pre meds are intense almost everywhere.) I know someone who majored in ecomonics at Harvard for 2 years and was miserable. She switched majors to a foreign language and "everyone is too intense' problem was miraculously solved.She had straight As in her econ classes, BTW, but many of the required classes were huge; she felt unseen by her profs. Her foreign lang classes were small; all her profs knew her name after a week of class. She liked her fellow majors much more.

I have never bought the "a less selective school is less academically intense" argument. Sometimes it is, but sometimes the fight for the "goodies" is more intense. There may be honors classes that are hard to get into.  It may be hard to get into seminars with top professors. Applications for prestigious internships, summer programs, etc. may be screened. Classes may be graded on a curve and students may be very competitive.

If your D is set on being a math major, has she checked out the math departments at the schools on her list? Will her credits all transfer? What courses are required to major? How big are the classes?  Who teaches them?

Some of the schools on her list have a strong Greek culture. She may not have a great chance of getting a sorority bid as a sophomore transfer. (At other schools, she will.) Has she done enough investigating to know? It can be hard to make friends as a sophomore transfer. Is she aware of that?

If she needs to transfer, she needs to transfer, but that list is odd, to say the least. I don't think she's done her homework. Maybe she needs to take a gap year.

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