Anonymous wrote:And she finished HS with a 3.5 unweighted GPA.

Wow really? And she still got into UMD? That gives me hope for my son who has a 3.7 UW.

Is she an URM or first gen college?

And she finished HS with a 3.5 unweighted GPA.

She has a 1280. Our flagship is UMD.

She needs to keep her grades as high as possible, take classes that will transfer to her target school and probably aim to transfer sophomore year. Find out the requirements from her desired school and go from there.

Anonymous wrote:She applied to a range of schools: small, large, big, small, urban, rural, etc.

Specifically Muhlenberg for money and because a few academic programs—mainly the theatre arts—attracted her. She even went to campus early for a scholarship program.

She’s now considering different majors, especially the sciences. Her interest in theatre arts is now transferring to studio art, although she will not major in either.

State of residence ?

Because she was below median for Muhlenberg, I assume that her SAT is about 1180 or 1200. Of course, transfer applicants are judged primarily on their college grades if they have received final grades for a semester or year.

Without more specific information, I feel confident that your daughter will be accepted as a transfer student at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (marine biology & biology are strong majors) as well as at the College of Charleston(arts mgmt., biology, chemistry, psychology, are some of the top majors)(which has an honors college that comes with discounted tuition in the form of merit scholarship money.

Would be helpful to know more of her interests (likes & dislikes), geographical preferences, and budget.

A school that somewhat resembles a larger version of Muhlenberg College might be Elon University in North Carolina.

She can take steps toward transferring, opening up the option, while also continuing to make an effort at her current school to meet new people and get more into a groove. OP, I think you are doing the right thing by letting her work it out, while being ready to offer support if asked or if concerned about her mental health. Just stay in touch and be a listening ear, which I'm sure you are doing.

Four weeks is not enough time to know that this isn’t a fit. I agree with the poster who said that she needs to finish the semester strong. She needs to look into what the next steps might be. Let her take the lead.

She is kind of all over the place with her complaints. She didn’t get invited to a party, parents visiting, regional differences and scheduling a counselor appt. Does she have depression issues? Is it a roommate problem?

She sounds homesick or misses her boyfriend. I would encourage her to make some friends through her classes and join some extra curriculars. Schools make a big effort for freshman to acclimate to their new surroundings. Attending another school as a transfer won’t be as accommodating.

I agree with the poster who said put the transfer on her. All schools have transfer apps, deadlines and requirements.

She applied to a range of schools: small, large, big, small, urban, rural, etc.

Specifically Muhlenberg for money and because a few academic programs—mainly the theatre arts—attracted her. She even went to campus early for a scholarship program.

She’s now considering different majors, especially the sciences. Her interest in theatre arts is now transferring to studio art, although she will not major in either.

I think her college the admissions office or emailing them with her transfer questions is a very smart idea.

My short & quick response: Initiate the transfer process in order to quell any anxiety and wait to see what her options are while continuing to focus on earning high grades in order to facilitate the transfer process.

Why did she apply to Muhlenberg College ?

To which other schools did she apply ?

Over the past few years, I have read that Muhlenberg College was having increased difficulty attracting students--which probably resulted in heavy tuition discounting through scholarship awards.

Muhlenberg has a solid retention rate due, I suspect, in large part to its scholarship discounting.

Muhlenberg has large population of Jewish & of Catholic students so your daughter may want to try to connect with others through her religion if comfortable & interested in doing so.

Anonymous wrote:OP, she does this all herself. She makes this happen, or she doesn't make it happen. I would say you do not let any time-between go by - she's enrolled in college -somewhere-. She doesn't come home to think about it, for example. She can make this happen if she's motivated. Her level of motivation will tell you how serious she is. She may decide it's less trouble to just make friends at her small college and find happiness. Or not. I would not feel you have any role in this. I also do not think it would help her to listen to (too) much of her agonizing over this. This is on her.

I disagree with everything you wrote. I agree with the pp who said get good grades and finish the term strong so that if she decides to transfer than she can.

OP, she does this all herself. She makes this happen, or she doesn't make it happen. I would say you do not let any time-between go by - she's enrolled in college -somewhere-. She doesn't come home to think about it, for example. She can make this happen if she's motivated. Her level of motivation will tell you how serious she is. She may decide it's less trouble to just make friends at her small college and find happiness. Or not. I would not feel you have any role in this. I also do not think it would help her to listen to (too) much of her agonizing over this. This is on her.

If transferring is her goal, I would encourage her to focus on getting good grades and finishing both semester then transferring as a sophmore. You know your kid and how unhappy she is though.

My kid attends Muhlenberg, a small, somewhat regionally-known school. She’s been there for about a month now (classes started two weeks ago), and while she originally seemed happy at first, she now wants to leave it. She says she can’t find her people—for example, what she deemed as close friends just had some get-togethers without inviting her—and she says that most of the school is from the region, which makes it less interesting (she’s from another region).

She also says that a lot of parents constantly seem to visit her classmates. She doesn’t mind that we don’t visit, but she says that other parents make it feel weird and very “regional.” And I think she probably feels left out. She’s doing okay academically, but she definitely has a tough class or two. She also has a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend, whom she loves very much—I know that’s rather unusual for a first-year college student—and I’m sure she misses him (probably more than us, because she hasn’t really said she’s homesick. In fact, she’s glad she’s out of our hometown).

She is now discussing transferring up to our state flagship. To be honest, we are kind of letting her be? We want her to spread her wings and fly, and we think that she is doing a pretty decent job at flying solo. We are supporting whatever choice she makes. She has a large scholarship at Muhlenberg, but the in-state tuition at the flagship would be about the same price. She’s a little worried that she’s jumping ship too soon, but she doesn’t really like her school, she doesn’t really like the people, she can’t find clubs she likes—there’s not many that fit her interests, and the ones that do don’t meet often—and she’s definitely adventurous and doesn’t like staying in one place.

It is worth noting that she booked a counseling appointment for herself. We are proud of her for watching out for herself, as we are worried about depression (and yes, we will definitely step in if we have to).

She’s a little worried that applying as a spring transfer would get her rejected due to her flagship being worried about her jumping ship so soon. It is worth noting that she did get into the flagship last year, but declined admissions for Muhlenberg. She is also worried that a bad grade in a tough college course will kill her chances at admission, and she wasn’t a stellar applicant to the flagship originally—she got in with 40th percentile stats, so she is worried about getting in, too.

She is thinking of calling the flagship admissions office to ask some questions tomorrow. However, we wanted to ask this forum for advice before starting a transfer process.

Thank you.