<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>As of right now I am a freshmen, in my college career. I started off the semester at Penn State University University Parks, but as odd as it may sound it was not my school of choice. I originally had planned to attend Rutgers University in New Jersey, I guess one can say it was and still is my dream school. Coming from an asian family and being the first generation to grow up in a American society, it is very hard to persuade my parents into letting me attend Rutgers. All they saw was that Penn State had a better reputation in academics so I had to go there. We fought for months, but I finally gave in. I decided to give Penn State a try I might end up loving it, but I did not. I was very depressed for months and it affected my school work tremendously. I applied for a transfer to Rutgers for next semester. I was admitted, but two days my admission got rescinded due to my poor first semester grades. I spoke to an admission counselor and she told me I can just go to a community college for 2 - 3 semesters, accumulate 30 credits, and bring my grades back up to my potentials, As and Bs. I still can return to Penn State, but i really do not want to be there anymore, so I decided to go to my local community college for a while and transfer to Rutgeres. Of course when I told my parents, they flipped out on me and started yelling. But I have already made up my mind. Am i doing the wrong thing here? Should I just go back to PSU? Please any advice would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>What would you get at Rutgers that you are currently not getting at Penn State.
I think both schools are on par. So if you are unhappy and not getting the grades at Penn State, what makes you think Rutgers will be a fit for you? Also if you are in PA, made sense for your parents to choose Penn State.</p>
<p>No I’m sorry I did not clarify, I live in New Jersey. When my parents sent me to Penn State I was very unhappy, thus made it very hard for me to focus on the school work.</p>
<p>honestly, if you are very depressed (to the point that you just cannot study) about attending Penn State, you might be better off going to CC in NJ. There is no point staying at Penn State, if it is going to further put you and your family in debt and if you can’t make the grades there. Again, I would encourage you to seek counseling/advisor at Penn State before making any decision. I would also see if they can involve your parents so that they feel that you are making the decision that is right for you.</p>
<p>As for the reputation and academics, first year is always tough because of the large class sizes. I think rankings are fine but at the end of the day, right fit is what is important.</p>
<p>Yes, I think it’s a mistake to leave Penn State for your community college in the hopes of transferring to Rutgers. There is no guarantee that your grades at community college will be better than those at Penn State - especially if you are living at home and are fighting with your parents about that decision, and are already having trouble coping with academics due to depression. If depression is preventing you from functioning effectively at school, you need to get that addressed ASAP at your student counseling center.</p>
<p>It was wrong of your parents to force you to attend a school you didn’t want to attend, but I’m American and my view is not the view of many immigrant parents. From their perspective, they were giving you the oppportunity to obtain an excellent education and they did not consider the choice of where to be yours. Under those constraints, you were right to give Penn State a try. Going with the hope that you would love it may have been setting yourself up. Many people don’t love their college, but they enough to like to be successful there. </p>
<p>What you do next is something you need to discuss with a counselor. It’s important that you find a way to talk to your parents about what is happening to you that they can hear, and for you to hear them as well. A counselor can help you do that, and help you think through your next steps academically - like a reduced academic load while you figure this out.</p>
<p>The reputation of a CC versus Penn State are incredibly different. First, the general population and quality of students at Penn State is more competitive than at a community college. 2nd, every freshman struggles … you are with kids like yourself for the first time. All of your GPAs from high school were likely 3.5 or higher, so the competition for you compared to HS is much tougher. The counseling facilities available to you at Penn State are much better … utilize them to help yourself sort through your first year. Unless you are depressed to an extent that cannot be easily recovered, you should stay at Penn State. You’ve lived away from your parents for a semester, so living back at home while going to CC will be more torturous. I hope you find a good solution; you were obviously bright enough to get into Penn State main campus, so I hope you’re bright enough to realize that the rest of the country does respect an education from Penn State. Rutgers is fine, too, but Penn State actually carries as much weight, regardless of any rankings. Good luck to you … many of us mom’s and dad’s have all been through freshman year and it can be tough.</p>
<p>You were depressed at Penn State. You ought to think about why that was, but more immediately relevant is that there’s no reason to expect that feeling to magically lift if you go back. So from that point of view, going somewhere else makes sense. Your only option seems to be the CC.</p>
<p>Looks like two bad choices.</p>
<p>a. Go back to Penn State and be unhappy there because your parents forced you to go there, and take the risk of flunking out, which would really make your parents livid.</p>
<p>b. Go home and attend community college, while being yelled at by your parents that you are a failure and a disgrace every night at the dinner table.</p>
<p>^ I would say “word” to the above post, but then I would have to put “10char” after it and look silly. So yeah, “word”, lol</p>