Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t transfer yet - go through what happened etc. my kid had a 2.8 gpa first semester. Now in junior year with a 3.5 and an internship with a Fortune 500 company. They need to find new methods of studying - what worked in HS, doesn’t work in college

Odd brag. There must be over 100 million employees at all the Fortune 500 companies, including janitors and customer care reps.

Are you an idiot/azzh*le? PP was trying to help a parent and this is your take?

Must be drunk to make this comment. No human understanding.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t transfer yet - go through what happened etc. my kid had a 2.8 gpa first semester. Now in junior year with a 3.5 and an internship with a Fortune 500 company. They need to find new methods of studying - what worked in HS, doesn’t work in college

Odd brag. There must be over 100 million employees at all the Fortune 500 companies, including janitors and customer care reps.

Are you an idiot/azzh*le? PP was trying to help a parent and this is your take?

Anonymous wrote:My freshman year roommate had a 2.0 after first semester. I figured she'd finish out freshman year and never return. She did return and graduated with a 3.0 and went on to have a great career.

Michelle, is that you? I ended up with a 3.1 actually, but you’re right, I did try to transfer. Just couldn’t get in anywhere...

Op has provided 0 info. Not sure why people are responding. It all depends...

Is she partying? If she is excessively partying moving to
another top college won't be the answer if she continues
to party. She'll simply continue partying at a new location.

To some extent this needs to be her call. Does she need
to come home and work a job for a year?

Community college will also be a lot less stressful and
will be more like high school.

In your title of the thread it seems like there might
be an over emphasis on "top school" and "best
university."

The "top" and the "best" may not be the right fit for your
daughter and honestly your daughter should be
researching this and doing the legwork on what
would be best for her.

Anonymous wrote:most state schools probably have a lot of turnover - perhaps not the stop state schools, but some state U would likely take her?

UVA will take a "mediocre" (2.0-2.7 gpa?) freshman transfer from say Northwestern or Duke (I think Duke is no. 10?)?

Anonymous wrote:Don’t transfer yet - go through what happened etc. my kid had a 2.8 gpa first semester. Now in junior year with a 3.5 and an internship with a Fortune 500 company. They need to find new methods of studying - what worked in HS, doesn’t work in college

Odd brag. There must be over 100 million employees at all the Fortune 500 companies, including janitors and customer care reps.

A thought: A top 10 wouldn't have admitted your DC if they couldn't hack it academically!!! Some kids don't thrive in high pressure schools though

If the GPA is truly mediocre (2.0 to 2.7) look for schools in the 70-100 range in US news
But first check on WHY it's low
I know a kid who was flunking out freshman year from a decent SLAC due to excess partying. Moved home, went to the equivalent of Trinity U here in DC for a yr, then to a Clemson-type school, and is now in law school.

My freshman year roommate had a 2.0 after first semester. I figured she'd finish out freshman year and never return. She did return and graduated with a 3.0 and went on to have a great career.

most state schools probably have a lot of turnover - perhaps not the stop state schools, but some state U would likely take her?

Don’t transfer yet - go through what happened etc. my kid had a 2.8 gpa first semester. Now in junior year with a 3.5 and an internship with a Fortune 500 company. They need to find new methods of studying - what worked in HS, doesn’t work in college

If she wants to transfer somewhere good, she needs to buckle down and get some good grades.

But if she is so miserable there that she can’t just find a way to do that, maybe she should just come home. She might not get good grades anywhere else, either.


My kid’s grades aren’t so good either.

Never mind the school - what are mediocre grades?
I think this is the important question. I transferred from one top 10 school to another in the 1990s with a 3.2 GPA or so although no Cs.

Most schools recognize that kids’ grades first semester aren’t always what they will be. College is a huge adjustment. For example, many give pass fail or pass/no record grades for that reason.

I think the other important variable is whether you are full pay. One detail about transferring is that colleges love transfers for full pay students as the record of students doesn’t show up for us news rankings. If you are not full pay unfortunately that is a huge disadvantage.

Hope that helps and good luck to your daughter. It is hard but it can be a great solution. After transferring I was really happy and successful and am now your typical annoying upper middle class DCUMer. Ok probably you are hoping for better but I am guessing your daughter is way more awesome than I could ever be.

Fwiw OP, I went to a top 10 school a billion years ago and was miserable after the first semester. I was determined to transfer, saw a college counselor over break and started applications. During the second semester I got very involved in an activity that introduced me to a whole new group of people. It was a total game-changer; I stayed and graduated with honors & a very happy 4 years.

It's incredibly common for high achievers to experience a tough time transitioning to an environment where they're not the best. Or for a ton of other issues to arise and mess with your head at that age. The key is understanding what is causing her unhappiness and why she is doing so badly in school. Maybe it's all part of the same thing, maybe fixing one part will fix the other, maybe they're two different problems.

I'm grateful for the way my parents handled things when I was calling home crying; they helped me figure out my options but didn't impose a solution. Help your daughter sort through her options - transfer; change majors; find an activity or a sorority or an internship or a semester abroad program. There are lots of ways to help her get on a better path....

I would be on the phone conferring with admissions at your state school with these questions. I would also ask about going forward with the spring semester? If your DD isn't happy, I would consider leaving ASAP. Why spend the tuition $$?