Have Student Debt, Will Transfer

October 28, 2014 5:47 PM

I applied to transfer out of George Washington University for the Spring 2015 semester, and I've no idea where to go from here.

I've applied to Temple and NYU for Journalism, and I just got accepted to Temple University's Journalism program for the Spring 2015 semester. NYU should let me know by mid-November.

Because of lower costs and a lot more academic security at Temple, though, I'm about 85% "Temple Made."

The problem is, I have NO idea what to expect.

Classes are filling up, I need to secure housing, but I don't even know what my financial aid award even is yet.

What do I do? What do I expect from Philly? Is North Philly as unsafe as everybody darkly jokes about?

I need lots of advice and such, obviously.

posted by ourt to Education (7 answers total)

I feel like there is a person out there whose job is holding hands with people like you. I am not that person but I think if you call around, you will find that person. I'd start with whoever approved your transfer.

Also, I'd expect next semester that things will be confusing and weird. That doesn't necessarily mean that you made the wrong decision but that change is hard. Good luck.
posted by kat518 at 6:03 PM on October 28, 2014

Philly is pretty great and as cheap or expensive for living as you might expect after the romance that is Foggy Bottom student housing. I know very little about Temple's journalism program but know from experience that GW's was not great. I suggest you dive in to the part of the media you want to be in by putting your name out there and going to lots of meetups, and look for restaurant work as there is a lot of it.
posted by parmanparman at 6:16 PM on October 28, 2014

If you can afford it, go to NYU. You can probably get a PA job with ESPN and get a restaurant job until you figure out what journalism you plan to focus on.
posted by parmanparman at 6:18 PM on October 28, 2014

Concerning financial aid, you sent your 2014-2015 FAFSA to Temple and NYU, correct? If not, do that ASAP. In my experience, it takes about a week for your FAFSA and financial aid information to show up in a school's system after you've been admitted. It sounds like you were just admitted to Temple, so it may take another couple of weeks for your financial aid to be processed and for you to receive an award letter from them. ISIRs fail to load from time to time for a variety of reasons, so I would call Temple's financial aid office at the end of the week to see if it has loaded and ask about the timeline for receiving your offer letter. It is not a particularly busy time for financial aid, but that will change in January.

Congratulations and good luck (my DC based friends who went to Temple loved it and miss it and Philly quite a bit)!
posted by vakker at 6:27 PM on October 28, 2014

I agree with going to lots of meetups.

Congrats on leaving GW behind!!!
posted by jgirl at 6:31 PM on October 28, 2014

Most colleges have great departments to help transfers and commuter students find safe, reasonable housing as well as events to help people meet others and get settled in. Look for info on the website.
posted by maxg94 at 6:39 AM on October 29, 2014

I would call and talk to someone in Temple's transfer department. Many schools will hold some spots in classes for transfer/entering students so that it's not impossible to get classes. Even if Temple doesn't do that, it will just mean one semester of taking sub-optimal classes, so not the end of the world. If there are classes where you're on the waiting list, you can also go talk to the professor on the first day of class and explain your situation, which can definitely help.

Also, I don't know if your finances allow it, but you might consider living in a dorm at least for that first semester. It's one less thing to think about/worry about, and then once you're actually in the area, you'll have time to check out different neighborhoods, visit apartments, line up roommates, etc. for the next semester. Depending on the school, they might have certain floors/dorms set aside for transfers...one of my friends transfered colleges, and she ended up in that situation and said it was great -- since it can be a little awkward socially to enter in a later year than all of your peers, she said it was great to have sort of this pre-made community of other people in the same boat.
posted by rainbowbrite at 7:32 AM on October 29, 2014