I'm transferring: School suggestions?

[Hartzy]

I just finished my first year at Hofstra University on Long Island. Not to offend anyone here, but after a year I've come to realize that the people and the area aren't for me. Before college, I lived in a very small town in Pennsylvania and consequently, I think my mentality simply doesn't match up well with the school. I don't like that you can't simply walk down the street to the store or that I can't just take the bus to the park etc. In short, I'm finding the burbs of LI to be suffocating at this time in my life. I'm 20 and I have no desire to own a car any time soon and I just want the freedom to go where I want when I want in the community.

I think I'm on pretty good ground to get into most schools that I would apply for. I had a 3.7 high school GPA, 1280 SATs, and I also got a 3.7 my first year at Hofstra. As of now, I'm an international business major with a minor in Russian. I also have a C2 certificate in German.

So, here comes the big question. Does anyone know an affordable school (I'm also taking private schools with good aid into account) that actually has a real sense of community? I'm currently thinking about Pitt and Temple. Both of those where safety schools for my first choice, American, which I opted out on last minute due to the cost.

Any suggestion would be appreciated greatly.

 

[WillAlwaysLoveYouTennis]

The Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. With your minor in Russian, and certificate in German one could improve and expand knowledge of, while there, but also complete your major degree. You certainly don't need a car there Lots of things to do, and very many other students coming from a variety of countries to study there, so lots of friends to be made.

 

[goober]

You say you are looking at private schools but aren't Pitt and Temple both public?

Temple is in pretty bad part of town from what I remember.

 

[Hartzy]

You say you are looking at private schools but aren't Pitt and Temple both public?

Temple is in pretty bad part of town from what I remember.

No, I meant that I won't turn down a private school because many of them offer good scholarships.

 

[Hartzy]

The Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. With your minor in Russian, and certificate in German one could improve and expand knowledge of, while there, but also complete your major degree. You certainly don't need a car there Lots of things to do, and very many other students coming from a variety of countries to study there, so lots of friends to be made.

Unfortunately I don't have any money of my own I'm paying for school completely on loans that I'm taking out on my own. If I were to go to Europe, I'd be interested in Uni St. Gallen as I lived about 20 minutes from there at one point. But alas, I'm lower middle class

 

[Vermillion]

Come onn down to Waco, TX!!

 

[WillAlwaysLoveYouTennis]

Unfortunately I don't have any money of my own I'm paying for school completely on loans that I'm taking out on my own. If I were to go to Europe, I'd be interested in Uni St. Gallen as I lived about 20 minutes from there at one point. But alas, I'm lower middle class

No problem, and I can understand some of the difference between American universities and social level. No kidding I came from Russia to Germany as a kid alone, with the equivalent of $300 dollars in my pocket. But I finished university there.

I do wish you good luck in finding what you are looking for

 

[ollinger]

I have some friends who got very good educations at Pitt, and the city is quite livable -- a fringe benefit of the death of the steel industry was that the city became cleaner and less densely populated, losing nearly a third of its population at one point.

 

[paulmaben]

I went to Pitt undergrad and graduated from Chatham College in 2004 ( physician assistant studies). I'm from a small town outside of Philly and loved the "burg". I'd chose it over Temple any day. Public transport is good and a car is not necessary. Lots of nice parks within walking distance and some fairly good tennis. I was part of the men's team that was eventually cut in '91. My fraternity brother was a german major and spoke highly of the program. He did a study abroad in Friberg (sp?). Email me if you need any other info. pmaben@charter.net

Paul

 

[Hartzy]

Where are you from Paul? I'm from Honey Brook in Chester County. I think I'm going to send an application out to Pitt in the next few weeks I guess.

 

[MTChong]

It's a pretty competitive school to get into, but you might like Middlebury college in Vermont. I'm not sure what the transfer statistics are, but I'd expect it to be pretty hard to gain transfer admittance. It's worth a shot.

 

[yodudedudeyo]

Harvard, Yale

 

[Phil]

I just finished my first year at Hofstra University on Long Island. Not to offend anyone here, but after a year I've come to realize that the people and the area aren't for me. Before college, I lived in a very small town in Pennsylvania and consequently, I think my mentality simply doesn't match up well with the school. I don't like that you can't simply walk down the street to the store or that I can't just take the bus to the park etc. In short, I'm finding the burbs of LI to be suffocating at this time in my life. I'm 20 and I have no desire to own a car any time soon and I just want the freedom to go where I want when I want in the community.

I think I'm on pretty good ground to get into most schools that I would apply for. I had a 3.7 high school GPA, 1280 SATs, and I also got a 3.7 my first year at Hofstra. As of now, I'm an international business major with a minor in Russian. I also have a C2 certificate in German.

So, here comes the big question. Does anyone know an affordable school (I'm also taking private schools with good aid into account) that actually has a real sense of community? I'm currently thinking about Pitt and Temple. Both of those where safety schools for my first choice, American, which I opted out on last minute due to the cost.

Any suggestion would be appreciated greatly.

Hartzy - Ultimately this is really your call to make, but given the criteria you mentioned, Pitt would not be a bad choice at all for you. I AM an alumni, but I have nothing to gain by "selling" Pitt to anyone (and have never, until now at least, done so).

Pitt has a good Russian program and is strong in business and social sciences, to mention a few departments. And, according to the glossy alumni magazine they send me every month, the school is putting hundreds of millions into new and upgraded facilities. The city has a "small town" feel to it and Pitt's Oakland campus has, or at least HAD quite a lot of character. Not sure about that now-a lot of chains have replaced shops that had been there for generations.

Pgh was recently rated the cheapest city to live in the USA and the outlying neigborhoods are quaint and haven't been spoiled by development or urban blight (that is, unless you go towards the downtown area). You won't need a car-in fact, having one would be a burden because parking around campus is a hair-pulling experience (despite the addition of several hundred parking spaces in recent years).

If you take a serious look at the school, take a close look at its Honors Program, which I think is the "jewel-in-the-crown feature of the undergrad school.

As for cost, as a PA resident you can't do much better for an diverse, international, research-oriented school. Finally, in addition to the school courts, there are　13 absolutely pristine hard courts sitting in the middle of Schenley Park (the park/golf course adjacent to the campus), which are never, ever full. Sometimes they are completely empty. But I'm not sure if anyone even PLAYS tennis in that city;-)

 

[MTChong]

I'd also add... that I don't know much about Pitt or Temple. Scratch that. I don't know anything about Pitt or Temple. That said, it might be worth a visit to the library or the bookstore to look at the college guidebooks in order to see if there's anyway to look at the colleges according to the type of town they're located in.

 

[zidane339]

If you come to Pitt, come to Carnegie Mellon down the street and we can hit around!

 

[ewmetz]

I'm not sure how far west you're looking at going but I'm currently a student at Purdue University. I could not ask for a better school to attend. I grew up in a small northern Indiana town and the lifestyle at Purdue fits exactly what I was looking for: decently close to home, good social life, great academics, good town/neighborhood, affordable, and of course Big Ten sports. I have a friend from New Jersey who attends Purdue and absolutely loves it. He calls Indiana home instead of Jersey now. Purdue's Krannert School of Management (business school) is now well in the top 25 in ungrad studies and it's MBA program is #8 I believe. Not sure about the Russian or German programs but Purdue does offer a wide variety of foreign language classes that cover cultural backgrounds as well. Obviously it's quite a large public school, 35,000+ undergrands and 6,000-8,000 grad students, but it's definitely a school you could take a look at.

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

Romp & Circumstance

[size=+1]Miami-Dade Community College:[/size] the college that thinks it's a high school.

Like a nice "campus?" Take a look at Pepperdine.

 

[hollywood9826]

I would most def say Pitt over Temple. The campus itself at Temple is safe, but right outside the campus is some pretty rough neighborhoods, i wouldnt recommend walking around. Some of my co-workers attend Temple and say the same about the neighborhood. Public trans would be an adventure at Temple.

If you are sold on Philly you could possibly try Villanova. Way better part of town, but costs more.

Around the Baltimore area there is Towson U. Alot of NYers attend because of the value. And UMBC, one of the most diverse colleges in the US. although UMBC is more known for it engineering (mainly IT) programs. Both of those schools are very affordable(even out-of-state) and public trans is readily available.

 

[rommil]

I just finished my first year at Hofstra University on Long Island. Not to offend anyone here, but after a year I've come to realize that the people and the area aren't for me. Before college, I lived in a very small town in Pennsylvania and consequently, I think my mentality simply doesn't match up well with the school. I don't like that you can't simply walk down the street to the store or that I can't just take the bus to the park etc. In short, I'm finding the burbs of LI to be suffocating at this time in my life. I'm 20 and I have no desire to own a car any time soon and I just want the freedom to go where I want when I want in the community.

I think I'm on pretty good ground to get into most schools that I would apply for. I had a 3.7 high school GPA, 1280 SATs, and I also got a 3.7 my first year at Hofstra. As of now, I'm an international business major with a minor in Russian. I also have a C2 certificate in German.

So, here comes the big question. Does anyone know an affordable school (I'm also taking private schools with good aid into account) that actually has a real sense of community? I'm currently thinking about Pitt and Temple. Both of those where safety schools for my first choice, American, which I opted out on last minute due to the cost.

Any suggestion would be appreciated greatly.

I think the bigger question for you to answer is "are you going to see Sigur Ros in NYC in September?".