Current Issues in Journalism

I don't know if it's a growing trend but I've noticed it too. I'm not sure what it was like before so I can't really compare how things are now to how they were back in the day. But I have two friends who dropped out at the semester break and moved to Colorado so they could legally smoke and carry pot. People screw up sometimes but hopefully they'll bounce back and realize how important an education really is.

Yeah, I don't know if it is a trend either but I definitely know over 5 people who have transfered within the last year or who are transfering. One girl I know I guess doesn't like KU so she is transfering back to a school in Texas where she is from. Maybe people who go far away from their hometown get homesick or maybe it's just not what they thought it would be like.

I agree with Ali. It's hard for students who go to an out of state university to be away from their family and old friends. My paretns moved from Olathe to California about a year ago so it almost feels like I'm an out of stater as well. I've had the luxury of my parents living no more than 30 minutes away, but I also know what it's like to have to fly home for breaks. It was nice having my parents so close, but everytime I go to California, it's like I'm on vacation!

I can see that. I am from Chicago, and my brother and I both feel like outcasts a lot of the time, and we have thought about transferring. However, I know people who go to schools in their homestates that have ended up dropping out, so I'm not entirely convinced that the reason people leave is because they aren't native to the state the school is in. College is supposed to be a place where people from all over meet and mix.

I have noticed a lot of people dropping out too. But I have seen more students drop out because of grades than because of being homesick. I think it might be because KU is not that hard to get into but it is hard to stay in. I could see how it is very hard to keep up with KU classes and the KU lifestyle. Some students just don't understand that the reason we are here is to get an education.

I think another reason is with the career field being more competitive than ever, people want to graduate from a prestigous school. For example, I knew someone during my senior year of high school was a pretty good student and applied to Carlton School of Business (a tough and elite business school back from where i'm from in Minneapolis, Minnesota) but didn't end up getting in.

As a result, he ended up going to his backup school, the University of Arizona, during his freshman year. He wasn't really homesick and he said he loved the campus and school there, but decided to transfer because he was looking at college from the longterm perspective of will a degree from a certain school look better than a degree from another?

There obviously is not just one reason why people are transferring schools. Some might be unhappy, some might be homesick and some might not be able to get the grades to stay enrolled. But I also definetly think that members of youth culture are searching for that "leg up" like never before when it comes to their resume and members of our generation want to show they graduated from the best.

I also have noticed it. A good friend of mine has transferred three times and he is only a junior. He says that he wants to find the perfect blend of academics and social networking. I don't know I am happy at KU, so I feel gratified.