Apathetic about my college - should I transfer?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I'm currently a freshman attending a small, private liberal arts college. It was not my top choice but I ended up coming due to financial reasons. Although I thought the school would be too easy for me, I ended up liking my classes for the most part first semester. </p>

<p>The problem is that I don't think it's that great of a fit socially. I knew this going in, but the school is too preppy for me. I'm very artsy and I'll admit, quite nerdy ;) It seems to me that the majority of the people at my school are very athletic and preppy - the guys are all jocks, the girls are all sorority-type girls, and it seems like all everyone ever does is party. I can hardly ever get to sleep at night because the people on my floor are so loud, and when you ask them to quiet down, they don't listen. </p>

<p>I'm the kind of person who rather have a chat over a cup of coffee or spend the weekend watching movies and attending campus events than getting hammered. I've had a lot of trouble finding people who share my interests. I want to meet genuine, intellectual people who actually care about their studies and forming solid relationships. Based on the classes, I feel like the school is a good fit academically, but as for the student body, I feel so much more mature than them. </p>

<p>So basically what I'm saying is that I don't HATE my school. I've had some good times here and I've made friends (although not best friends.) However I do think there's probably another college out there that is a better fit for me. That being said, I've only been here for one semester. So what do you guys think - do you think I should forget about transferring for now and see if things change (perhaps I just haven't found my group of friends yet) OR do you think I should start looking into transferring? It's a difficult situation because while I don't love my school, I don't hate it, so I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble of transferring - not to mention the risk that I'll be unhappy at the school I transfer to.</p>

<p>Thoughts?</p>

2

<p>Hate to be annoying and bump, but some thoughts would be really appreciated.</p>

3

<p>First, I think you can both work at fitting into your school and looking at transfers. You could send out a few apps now and wait until spring when results come in to make a decision on if you want to stay or leave, that gives you a full year to see if your school works.</p>

<p>Second, since this wasn’t your first choice school and you are attending due to financial reasons, it sounds like the schools you could transfer to might be limited. FA is sometimes less for transfers than fr admits, and there are definitely fewer merit scholarships. Admission rates are lower for transfers at many selective schools, but there are others that are more transfer friendly.</p>

<p>As far as the risk of the new school, yes, that is always a possibility. There are pros and cons to any school and it’s really hard to know what they are until you actually attend. Wish I could give you a solid yes or no, but it is a difficult decision, particularly since there are considerable positive things about your current school.</p>

4

<p>I know - it is a very difficult decision ahaha. I wish I could just absolutely love it or absolutely hate it. Being in the middle does not make for simple transferring decisions.</p>

<p>I fear that I won’t have enough time to both find and apply to schools before the deadlines, especially when I’ll be consumed with second semester classwork. It wouldn’t be as hard if I knew where I wanted to try to get into but I honestly have no idea. And you’re right, the financial part of it all is probably going to be an issue. I would definitely have to visit a bunch of schools to get a feel for them - especially since there is nothing distinctly wrong with my school that is making me want to transfer, so it’s not like I can just look for a school that doesn’t have that issue and make the move.</p>

<p>Well, I appreciate the feedback :slight_smile: I have a feeling that if I decide to transfer it might not be for fall semester of next year, just because I won’t be able to visit/apply to schools by then. I do wish I had taken transferring into consideration earlier so I could have researched over this break, but like I said, I don’t hate my school so I haven’t even seriously considered it until recently.</p>