Advice for transfer of universities

[Zach]

Hi,
I hope this is the right place to put this.
I am seeking some advice for a possible transfer of universities. Here is the situation.

I am currently a junior in OU's meteorology program in Norman. I have always wanted to become a meteorologist and perhaps while I was growing up, I was a little naive about how challenging it is to get a degree. I am currently doing "okay" in meteorology classes passing them and perhaps getting a B or A in some classes. I do however struggle very much with math and we were required to take a class containing PDE's, ODE's Laplace series, ect. I really struggled with that and it didn't help that we had a horrible professor. So now I am concerned that I may not graduate in 3 semesters because of how challenging classes are. I understand that here at OU, classes may be a little more vigorous because of it's reputation than other smaller programs. This is not to say that other programs have easier classes, however it seems like at OU that every class is a weed out class. The other thing is that the classes are very large. My classes are 50 students easily and I know other smaller programs have class sizes of 20 or less. Faculty here are very smart here but I get the feeling that faculty really care about their graduate and PhD students rather than undergraduate students. The School of Meteorology makes a big effort in their undergraduate program and try to help however I am beginning to feel such a huge program isn't my type of thing and maybe a smaller program might suit me better. I kind of get the feeling that sometimes faculty think of teaching undergraduates is busy work that they have to do.

So here are my options.

I can continue to stay at OU and graduate in 3 semester *hopefully* without any problems however I do struggle in classes here. This would be because of name recognition when applying for jobs and other opportunities down the road.

or

I can transfer to a smaller university in the spring. I have gotten some preliminary feedback from a couple of places like St. Cloud State in Minnesota which has a class size of 15 and it only has a undergraduate program. I can also look into other smaller programs like SUNY oswego, or Western Illinois.

Do you think I should suck it up and stay at OU despite possibly being held back (I have already been in college for 5 years) or should I transfer to a lesser known university and get my degree in a better environment for me. Either option, currently I have 3 semesters to do unless I fail a class. I just really want to graduate in 3 semesters. Either way, I will get a degree in meteorology.

Thank you

 

[Brandon Jenkins]

Most colleges only accept core class transfers and credit hours ~50 hours. Most will not accept credits from major related studies (although I cannot speak specifically to what those colleges allow). If that is the case you should certainly do your best to stay in the program so that you aren't out any more time/money when all is said and done.

 

[IAN GIAMMANCO]

Brandon is correct for your major courses... I took the route of taking some of the Math (namely Calc II and DE) in the summer as my only course. Focusing on just one course may help other than it is pretty intensive given the short timeline the summer semester offers.

 

[Zach]

Thank you both for responding. I have made contact to the couple of schools and they said I could potentially finish in 3 semesters just like at OU. I think I have decided to stay at OU. I should probably just suck it up and finish at OU despite what I feel about class size and a few other things. Would you agree? A undergrad BS degree at OU would be better than St. Cloud State, Western Illinois, SUNY Oswego...?
Thanks

 

[Robert Edmonds]

Undergrad classes are usually suppose to weed out people. No matter what the subject matter or school, undergrad classes are generally not the focus of the professors. Don't get tricked by admissions, the school just wants your money. Profs first concern is usually research. If you do end up doing any research in atmospheres, you need to get used to dealing with PDEs. Heck, even if you don't, to really understand what's going on with atmospheres you should get used to PDEs. You can't explain/model the atmosphere without the Navier-Stokes equations, or some modification of them.

 

[Chris Nuttall]

Don't feel bad. I struggled big time when I was in the OU met. program. Based on your original post, Zach, it sounds like you're having a similar struggle like I did. Since you're talking about your Junior year, otherwise known as the "Year of Hell," I assume you're having difficulty with the Dynamics courses. IMO, those are the most difficult courses in the entire program. I promise you that if you can make it through Dynamics 2, Dynamics 3 is still tough, but it matches up well with Synoptic. Synoptic Lab finally applies the theory to actual weather data. Things will suddenly make sense.

My best advice: don't be afraid to seek help. Go to your professors. Go to your adviser. Ask your classmates for help. Use every available resource. If you have to repeat a class, it's not the end of the world. I know plenty of people that had to repeat a class on their way to a degree. Every person is different. Some people take longer to grasp and understand the concepts than others. Break it down. Take it one homework assignment and one test at a time.

It sounds like you're struggling and stressing, but you're still making it. You can do it. Something that might help you out would be to watch the video of "The Last Lecture." Whenever I have struggled with something in my life, I watch that. It never fails to change my outlook and renew my determination to reach my goal.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me, Zach. Like I said, I was there and on the cusp of burning out my Junior year, but I pushed through and made it. I just decided that I wouldn't let anything stop me from reaching my dream.