Here's an idea: why not directly contact all of these schools and ask them what their policies are? All that awesome information is a few phone-calls away.

It's only 2nd week of September,yet you have (as a 1st year student) already concluded that your current school is 'not great'. That's some amazing analytical skillz you got! That's easily worth a few transfer credits. This, of course, is with assumption that you'll even make it to the end of the first year's 'not great' program curriculum and have any transferable credits to begin with.

I appreciate people who always strive for self betterment, but geez, give it a few more months before you start digging the escape tunnel...

i dont think you can transfer, especially to those other schools you're interested in, but if you really dont like it, get out while you can, but then you will have nothing to do for the rest of the year...

Why did you attend if you don't want to be in the school?

Generally it is very frowned upon when grad students do that but it is not impossible.

If you are not sure about the school, get out immediately, because there is a time limit for a full tuition refund! That is of course if you are 100% sure you don't want to stay!

We have transfers at Berkeley. Not a big deal for us.

However, you make the point that you did not get in last time and seem to be wondering if a year at your current school will help. That seems more iffy, frankly. You'd have to do amazingly well in your *first* semester and add the new materials and accomplishments to an application.

But here is the deal: it is mid-September and pretty early in the game. Students sometimes second-guess themselves at that point.

Instead, why not make where you are work for you? Most schools have at least a few strong faculty doing exciting work. Find a mentor where you are who can help you develop what you are interested in; become a teaching or research assistant. Talk to the folks on campus about what needs to be done to snag a Fulbright or NSF Summer Institute fellowship. Go to one of the wonderful summer institutes or other programs out in the world, using your financial aid to cover the costs.

Thank you so much for your advices. I did read through all of them and they all made me think about it a lot last few days.

I notice that I should have been clearer in explaining why I'm second-guessing about schools this soon.

As I mentioned above, I didn't get into schools that I wished to attend. However, I did make it to the school where I did my undergrad program, and I simply thought that it could be beneficial for me if I stay at a school/area that I am already used to, where I am very familiar with. When I talked to professors and classmates about grad schools, they said that even if I end up not liking their program, I could always transfer, telling me as if transferring was not a problem/big deal at all.

So my decision was, let's do a year at the same school, and re-apply as a transfer to the schools that I didn't get in. I was scared to take a year off and thought it wouldn't even be necessary to do if transferring was feasibly possible ..

So that's how I came this far. I was too naive and dependent on only what people tell me, putting aside doing serious research on my own prior to making the decision.

But again, I might just fall in love with the program here, and forget about transferring. But in case I do become unhappy, I'm talking to schools directly about their transfer policies. And I still want to know and hear more from you about transferring and, if you've actually done it, about your stories like what you had to prepare, what was challenging in the process, etc.


fade to blackhoe, med., poop876, thank you for giving me ideas and possibilities of what I can do.

BerkeleyProf, I really appreciate your time to reply to my post with a lot of sincere advices.

steelstuds, think the sarcasm thread is going on somewhere. But not here.

Not to be Debbie Downer, but practically speaking, I would assume that your current school costs less in tuition than all of the schools you mentioned above, as they are all top notch schools. And, sadly, at this point in time, getting an MArch does not offer much bang for the buck. Conceptually those schools might offer you a better chance of getting a job - although I know UCLA will not, and has not the past couple of years - but if I were you, I would evaluate my grad school choices on the following criteria:

1) Which schools have the best job placement rate in a down economy
2) Which schools offer a dual Master's degree, so that you can get something besides architecture (like an MBA or something else)
3) Which school offers the best value proposition, aka, how astronomical will your loans be when you get out on the other end?

Also, with regards to #2, a second Master's offers you the chance to stay in school longer, which looks like a good idea for young people at this time. Trust me when I say that if you don't graduate in the next couple of years with the right combination of work experience and graduate course work, your job prospects will be bleak, and recent graduates only have their savings.

Good luck.

if its because the girls in the architecture program that youre in arent hot, they probably wont be any hotter at any other school. I suggest transferring into interior design or nursing to solve this problem