DawnM Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 GAH! My son is a freshman. He is happy where he is, but he is going through the process of applying to the school within the school (his intended major.). We have talked and he knows he should have some back up options, so we plan to spend his break helping him figure out some backup options and having him apply to them. I thought I was done with this for a while......I guess not.......🙄 He is also applying for an RA position, not sure what he wants to do if he gets the RA job but not into the school major. Of course I am hoping he gets both, but I don't know what the level of competition is. That is all.....just commiserate with me. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 I'm not sure what major he is wanting but there are certain ones that are pretty competitive at most schools. I'm thinking nursing as a big one but also commonly engineering and computer science. Some schools are well known for stand-out departments in other majors so those tend to be competitive. Your son definitely needs to do some deep thinking on what's most important to him if he doesn't get accepted into the major at his current school. Is there a different major that can get him into the same type of career? Other schools where he could get his preferred major that may be slightly less competitive? I would counsel for an RA position to be a much less critical factor although overall finances certainly need to be considered into the decision. I wish you and your son the best of luck. I understand the angst for both of you! My eldest DD started at a 2-year school and kept being told over and over again how very competitive her preferred major was at her intended transfer school. Unfortunately, the second-choice school required a different list of pre-reqs from the 2-year school for the same major. It was a huge gamble to go for the preferred school but it paid off in the end. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReader Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Oh, I feel your pain. Oldest started out at a 2 yr school, and just transferred into his preferred school.....he starts in January. It was pins & needles waiting to hear! And middle DS, who will graduate in May, absolutely refused to apply to that school, at all, because of the whole "apply for entry into your major, and it's very much not guaranteed at all, so...." He looked at other programs, applied, is already accepted into it, and is thrilled. (at a different school). Best wishes as your DS searches out alternates and applies; it can definitely be stressful! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 22 hours ago, Pegasus said: I'm not sure what major he is wanting but there are certain ones that are pretty competitive at most schools. I'm thinking nursing as a big one but also commonly engineering and computer science. Some schools are well known for stand-out departments in other majors so those tend to be competitive. Your son definitely needs to do some deep thinking on what's most important to him if he doesn't get accepted into the major at his current school. Is there a different major that can get him into the same type of career? Other schools where he could get his preferred major that may be slightly less competitive? I would counsel for an RA position to be a much less critical factor although overall finances certainly need to be considered into the decision. I wish you and your son the best of luck. I understand the angst for both of you! My eldest DD started at a 2-year school and kept being told over and over again how very competitive her preferred major was at her intended transfer school. Unfortunately, the second-choice school required a different list of pre-reqs from the 2-year school for the same major. It was a huge gamble to go for the preferred school but it paid off in the end. We have no idea how competitive it is, it isn't known for this major, in fact, I personally think he SHOULD transfer, but I am not pushing. Yes, of course we are doing "deep thinking" and no, there is no other major he wants at this school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 I do feel that *I* made a huge mistake. He was perfectly comfortable staying home and going to CC. I was the one who pushed for him to go to a 4 year school. I regret it. But I have now flooded that gate. I just miss him so much. I miss both of my college kids, and my Aspie would do so much better living at home and going to college, but there is nothing for him here locally in what he is studying, so, he goes away, and we pray and sit in angst. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReader Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 2 hours ago, DawnM said: I do feel that *I* made a huge mistake. He was perfectly comfortable staying home and going to CC. I was the one who pushed for him to go to a 4 year school. I regret it. But I have now flooded that gate. I just miss him so much. I miss both of my college kids, and my Aspie would do so much better living at home and going to college, but there is nothing for him here locally in what he is studying, so, he goes away, and we pray and sit in angst. (((hugs, Dawn))) I know just what you mean; you can't let yourself feel the guilt/mistake, though. It's easy to sit in hindsight thinking it would have been better if...... but we really can never know if that's true or not. Prayers for you & your boy, though; if you are a praying person with a faith in God, trust Him to care for your boy. Easier said than done, I know (getting ready to send mine off in a month and the angst is strong...), but it's the one thing we can do, ya know? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 On 12/9/2018 at 5:53 AM, DawnM said: We have no idea how competitive it is If the major was competitive, he would very likely know. He can also poke around the web site for that department, or just ask a professor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted December 14, 2018 Author Share Posted December 14, 2018 (edited) 7 hours ago, katilac said: If the major was competitive, he would very likely know. He can also poke around the web site for that department, or just ask a professor. The answer he has gotten is, "Well, it depends on how many we have applying for the year. Sometimes it is 50, sometimes over 100." They accept 15 per year, and said occasionally they make an exception and take in a couple more if they had an exceptionally good applicant pool. So, it isn't 1000 vying for 15 slots, but it is enough to where he may not get in. And he doesn't know how good they are compared to him. So, he is going to have some back ups. Edited December 14, 2018 by DawnM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 6 hours ago, DawnM said: The answer he has gotten is, "Well, it depends on how many we have applying for the year. Sometimes it is 50, sometimes over 100." They accept 15 per year, and said occasionally they make an exception and take in a couple more if they had an exceptionally good applicant pool. Even at 50 applicants, that's 30% so certainly competitive. But is sounds like y'all are working on backup plans, so it will work out one way or the other! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted December 14, 2018 Author Share Posted December 14, 2018 44 minutes ago, katilac said: Even at 50 applicants, that's 30% so certainly competitive. But is sounds like y'all are working on backup plans, so it will work out one way or the other! Yeah. I do hope he gets in to this one, he really likes this school. And he has applied to be an RA for next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 Is this application for a particular major? Is there another major that is close to his chosen major that would allow him to take the coursework he would like while staying at the same school that he is currently attending? I would think his choice of a major must be extremely narrow if only 15 students get in each year, leaving 60-85% of those who apply and have attended the school for a year in a situation of transferring to another school because there isn't a highly related fall-back major. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted December 15, 2018 Author Share Posted December 15, 2018 7 hours ago, Bootsie said: Is this application for a particular major? Is there another major that is close to his chosen major that would allow him to take the coursework he would like while staying at the same school that he is currently attending? I would think his choice of a major must be extremely narrow if only 15 students get in each year, leaving 60-85% of those who apply and have attended the school for a year in a situation of transferring to another school because there isn't a highly related fall-back major. No, he should have applied last year, he could have known before he went......his ADHD kicked in and he missed a step. I have posted about it before. No, he doesn't want another major. He will transfer. It is ok, we will deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workingmom Posted December 21, 2018 Share Posted December 21, 2018 Similar. DS did incredibly well first semester and its given him the confidence to apply for transfer to the top engineering school. He knows its a long shot but thinking more of "this would be the next step in my education" He spoke with his Cal 2 professor who said he should definitely try and sent out some LOR requests this week. Lets see. Regardless, it will help him put together his goals and CV for internships next summer. Anyone else have advice for transferring to a highly competitive school, besides "its a lottery/chance" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted December 21, 2018 Share Posted December 21, 2018 5 minutes ago, workingmom said: Similar. DS did incredibly well first semester and its given him the confidence to apply for transfer to the top engineering school. He knows its a long shot but thinking more of "this would be the next step in my education" He spoke with his Cal 2 professor who said he should definitely try and sent out some LOR requests this week. Lets see. Regardless, it will help him put together his goals and CV for internships next summer. Anyone else have advice for transferring to a highly competitive school, besides "its a lottery/chance" Sometimes they do need that confidence boost. My dd went to an easy to get into state school her first year. She did very well there, loved her professors, and got a 4.0. She also realized that she didn't have a lot of peers at that school, and she wanted to change her major. So she transferred to the state flagship, which has one of the top-rated programs in that major (#2 after MIT, apparently). I think she could have gotten in there right out of high school - but she told me yesterday when we brought her home for break that she doesn't think she could have. She's a Linguistics major. She had strong, if not perfect grades, and a good if not outstanding ACT score. But she also was already fluent in two foreign languages in high school (with AP tests to back it up) and had taken classes in Arabic and Icelandic. She also had a ton of DE credits with good grades. She said she didn't have enough extracurriculars - she was in orchestra for years, had a couple of paid jobs, and an internship at a living history museum. I still think she would have had no trouble getting in (yes, it's a great department - but it's still humanities at a state school...) But apparently that one year at the other school really boosted her confidence. Her professors had confidence in her - guess that's way better than mom... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workingmom Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 so for those doing the transfer app through the common app. what did you put for colleges attended if your student did dual enrollment courses as a high schooler? I guess I was thinking you only put 1(the college they are currently enrolled as degree seeking) and those other courses would come up in the official high school transcript? or should you be listing all the colleges dual enrollment was done? also ds did part time public school enrollment and some of those classes were dual enrolled while taken at the high school? however all where under the homeschool transcript? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 Update: After long discussions and me getting frustrated but trying to be calm about it, he finally came and told me that if he doesn't get in to. the major he wants, he has picked an alternative major, which will allow him to stay at his current college! So, there you have it! I guess he is making decisions after all. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 52 minutes ago, DawnM said: Update: After long discussions and me getting frustrated but trying to be calm about it, he finally came and told me that if he doesn't get in to. the major he wants, he has picked an alternative major, which will allow him to stay at his current college! So, there you have it! I guess he is making decisions after all. Good for him, and I hope he gets into the major program he's wanting! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 On 1/13/2019 at 11:30 PM, MerryAtHope said: Good for him, and I hope he gets into the major program he's wanting! He did NOT get in. Now he is trying to figure out his next steps. It's ok, he will deal with it. We will be discussing over Spring Break. He mentioned on the phone the other day that maybe he should transfer. Um.....ok son, but you have missed some important deadlines and may not be able to for next year unless it is CC. Sigh..... But we are thrilled he is doing as well as he is. He has ADD, which is not a huge deal, but. his executive functioning is less than stellar sometimes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 10 hours ago, DawnM said: He did NOT get in. Now he is trying to figure out his next steps. It's ok, he will deal with it. We will be discussing over Spring Break. He mentioned on the phone the other day that maybe he should transfer. Um.....ok son, but you have missed some important deadlines and may not be able to for next year unless it is CC. Sigh..... But we are thrilled he is doing as well as he is. He has ADD, which is not a huge deal, but. his executive functioning is less than stellar sometimes. I’m sorry. It’s always a journey with our kids isn’t it? Hang in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 2 hours ago, MerryAtHope said: I’m sorry. It’s always a journey with our kids isn’t it? Hang in there! Yeah, he will be ok, but he will have some decisions to make. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 We just had a big Transfer snafu today. Dd18 will be receiving her AS in Business from the CC this spring, and has planned to transfer to the Flagship State U for the fall. We had already discovered that she needed to be enrolled as a full-time college student for her last 12 credits (aka this Spring semester) in order to qualify for the state transfer program that includes guaranteed admission to the State U and the program she wants to attend plus a $1700 scholarship (still a drop in the bucket, but we'll take it). We met with a counselor, discussed what needed to be done, filled out a whole mess of paperwork in the fall to adjust her status and I signed a buttload of docs saying she'd finished high school in Dec. and would be a college student in the spring. They told me we were good. Priority deadline for the transfer application is March 1st, so dd made an appt with the transfer counselor to make sure she knew all she needed to do SO... it turns out even though we received a packet saying she'd been accepted as a full-time college student and we paid the bill we received for her with college student status (2x the $$ as for DE), someone there forgot she was a homeschooled student, marked some box that they hadn't received a letter from the state saying she'd graduated (which of course is not a thing for homeschoolers), reassigned her back to DE and refunded half what we paid ... and never sent us (or me, the 'principal/superintendent/guidance counselor') any communication that there was anything missing from her file or that they were doing this! Fortunately, we now know this, they have acknowledged it's their error, have put her back in the system as a college student, and I have till Monday to bring them 'proof' of her graduation. And of course we have to re-pay the money they refunded. Idiots. They asked for a diploma, which I could figure out how to print up, but IME usually colleges want a transcript, which I already have at the ready, with her Dec graduation date. Going to bring that down in person tomorrow, methinks, and if that isn't enough, go buy some diploma paper at Staples and get printing by Monday... Need a primal scream emoticon... In much better news, she did such an awesome job finishing some problems in her Accounting class today that her prof told her about a $5000 transfer scholarship for Accounting majors (which is what she's planning on for her 4-year). She has to apply and who knows if she'd get it, but we wouldn't have known it existed otherwise, so yay. The Flagship U has $0 in transfer scholarships other than the general $1700 for all AA/Ss with a minimum GPA I mentioned above, so this would be coming from somewhere else... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Good reminder that I need to push my younger one to get her transfer application in. She's graduating from the CC with a 3.9 and is all lined up for guaranteed admission to the same school her brother goes to, but we need get 'er dun. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 19 hours ago, G5052 said: Good reminder that I need to push my younger one to get her transfer application in. She's graduating from the CC with a 3.9 and is all lined up for guaranteed admission to the same school her brother goes to, but we need get 'er dun. Yes... apparently even with 'guaranteed' admission', it seems one should not wait till the last minute - if that hadn't gotten fixed, she couldn't even have applied for this at a later time, as part of the criteria for the program is that you go right from the CC to the StateU. So, she could still have transferred, but without the guaranteed admission or the $$ - and at least one missed semester to boot. Fortunately, they have now reinstated her college status and I printed and brought both a transcript and a diploma (FYI: Microsoft Word has a High School Diploma template!) and got written confirmation that she is now all set. Yeesh. Now to get the actual application turned in! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 12, 2019 Author Share Posted February 12, 2019 If anyone is still interested.....he has decided to stay and change his major. He likes the school and has made friends, and honestly, I think this new major is a better fit for him anyway. Yesterday he signed up for a roommate for next year. They had to fill out the paperwork in person, which surprised me, but he and his roommate were in. line at 6am in hopes to get their first choice of dorms for next year. He has applied for an RA position and so has the roommate, so if either of them gets that, they won't share, but it is a single room each, shared bath situation, so even if one of them ends up with someone else, it shouldn't be too bad. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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