Should I transfer colleges?
Dear Babs,
I’m a freshman at a large school in the Midwest, a double major in business and international studies with straight A’s my first semester. I write for the school paper, and I’m a part of the Outdoors Club. Even though I’m involved and like my studies, I’m miserable - it’s a party school and I have a hard time meeting people who aren’t completely wasted. I would like to be in a school with like minded people who are there because they want to learn and like to try new things besides go to Frats and keggers. I went here because they offered be a 50% scholarship and I don’t know if I want to go into huge amounts of debt. I don’t want to call it quits, but I feel so lonely and isolated. What should I do?
-Unhappy in Urbana
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Dear Unhappy in Urbana,
I know right now you feel alone, but you are in good company. Over 2,000,000 students each year transfer because the college they thought was their dream school turned out to be their nightmare. But don’t give up just yet-there may be a way for you to find your niche just yet.
It sounds like you are really involved with your campus-and that’s great. The fact that you have managed to find places on campus where you feel welcome bode well for your chances at making it at your college long-term. However, that does not mean that you should just “stick it out” and continue to deal with an unacceptable situation. College should fun, exciting, and challenging! If you’re not experiencing all of these things, than you’re missing out on your college education.
Search for college programs that allow you to narrow down the student body to a smaller group of more like-minded students. Does your school have an honors college? It sounds like you are a studious and thoughtful student, you may enjoy the close-knit academic environment of an honors college. Does it have affinity housing? Affinity housing is when dorms are assigned based on common interest. Minority students, Spanish Language speakers, vegetarians, and arts and crafts enthusiasts group together to live in small, tight-knit communities. Often this kind of housing is only available after freshman year-if you can hold out for one more semester, you may just meet the group of friends you’ve been missing.
If those two options aren’t available to you, and the prospect of meeting new people next semester is looking grim, perhaps it is time to transfer colleges. Find colleges with honors programs, affinity housing, or reputations for being scholarly and fostering community through activities, not parties. You might feel more at home at a small college than a large university. Whatever you decide, know that you are not a “quitter.” Even though you have a scholarship, you are still spending thousands of dollars on an education that is leaving you less-than satisfied. Better to find a school that motivates you to take-on more challenges, and spend a bit more money, than waste your money on a college that leaves you feeling cold.
Good Luck!
Babs
This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 4:49 pm and is filed under Admissions, Dear Babs, fraternity and sorority. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
