Should I stay at this college or transfer?

[claire]

I can't stop thinking about if I should stay at San Diego State University or transfer. I just finished my first year at SDSU and I really enjoyed it so I do not have many complaints, however I've been considering transfering for a while now becuase I think it would be better to graduate from a school with a better reputation. My high school GPA was around 3.65 which i worked very hard for and I went to high school in a good area with very good schools. I think it sucks that I worked so hard for my 3.65 while someone who went to school in san diego easily got a 3.8 and we both ended up at the same school. (This guy who had the 3.8 ended up with a 0.2 gpa his first year while i got a 3.75) I just find that whole thing to be quite unfair. I know if I were to transfer i would probably go to a UC my junior year but I also want to study abroad.
CHOICES:
1Stay at SDSU and study abroad jr. year and graduate hopefully with a high GPA
2Transfer and go somewhere with a better reputation

[ncsweetdiva]

I would say stay where you are, if it's that easy then graduate top of your class. But if you only have the option of studying abroad where you are, then stay were you are.

That talk about better school, better job is not true.If a job is hiring, trust me...all they care about is that you have a degree, and can do the work.

I feel that you may be better than the others at that other school because you will be studying abroad.

Most of the time, these days you need a masters degree to really get a good job. So don't forget about grad school.

[neniaf]

SDSU's reputation is probably better than that of some of the lesser UCs, certainly at the undergraduate level, and it isn't clear you could get into Berkeley or UCLA. The other problem you would face would be that you may lose credits, since the requirements will differ, which may make it harder for you to graduate on time, especially if you want to study abroad. Since you liked your first year at SDSU, I would stay there and do as well as you possibly can.

As to your comments about it being unfair that some guy got a better GPA than you did in high school without having to work for it, there are so many possible factors that you don't know about that this is completely meaningless, and not necessarily unfair. Yes, some high schools are more competitive than are others, and college admissions people generally know this. Also, college admissions are not based upon GPA alone, so other factors either validate the GPA or suggest that it was unrepresentative of your ability, and that tends to balance things out.