<p>wow... ok, first of all, i am not a pre-med student though i do agree with what many others have said about the pre-med program here... like at other schools, it is very stressful (obviously), and i have heard many complain about the classes/professors. when we entered in august, my class was half pre-med, and i highly doubt that that will be the same at the beginning of next year.</p>
<p>To clarify: believe me, i did NOT go into brandeis thinking i would transfer! I was very upset upon making the decision to go to brandeis, but in all honesty i never thought i would transfer. When I chose brandeis, everyone around me told me to try it for a year and then transfer - to which i thought, "yeah, right." The thought of going through that application process again was not appealing! Besides which, I did not think that I would like to transfer... at the beginning of freshman year, everyone is new to everyone else so everyone's on equal footing. The thought of transferring as a sophomore - when everyone knows each other and groups of friends have already formed - did not sound too good to me... basically, when i came here in august, i thought i would be here for four years. </p>
<p>What don't i like about brandeis? To begin with, the notion of an open curriculum (which the school that I'm applying to essentially has, and the school that I had my heart set on last year definitely has) very much appeals to me. It is true that Brandeis does not have a TON of requirements; however, the fact of the matter is that it does have several, and in order to fulfill them i will most definitely have to take classes i wouldn't want to take otherwise. I'm taking a variety of courses right now, and I did last semester as well... however, I'm still not fulfilling many of the requirements.</p>
<p>I've realized here that I actually want to go to a slightly smaller school, preferably a liberal arts college... now, this is a totally personal decision, i know many people who think brandeis is far too small. </p>
<p>I am one of those strange people that does not like being so close to Boston! The weekends here are often fairly dead, since many go into boston and many others observe Shabbat. (religion has also become somewhat of an issue for me...) The thought of going to a school at which most stay on campus on the weekends really appeals to me. I have started going into boston more frequently; though my friends and I have fun when we're in boston, i would much rather be able to stay on-campus. Again, this is just my opinion, i know of many who love being so near boston. To me, part of the college experience is the campus experience, especially on the weekends. While there is stuff going on during the weekends, it's often hit-or-miss, especially because of our proximity to boston.</p>
<p>Like deispremed and I both alluded to before, there are few people at brandeis who really wanted to be here in the first place. I have found that this often affects the overall atmosphere and many (though certainly not all) students' attitudes towards brandeis.... we are certainly very self-deprecating. I would love to be somewhere in which people are HAPPY to be there... of course, there are many who are happy to be here at brandeis, but a large number who are not. </p>
<p>That's the majority of it... again, much of this is personal and why it is not a good fit for me; what makes it a bad fit for me might make it a good fit for someone else. In general, though, yes, you will find students at any school who are not happy there... but there definitely seems to be more of these students at brandeis than at many other places. None of my friends from home know nearly as many people at their schools who are trying to transfer... I feel like this says something. Again - i do think everyone should visit, brandeis is a great school and there are certainly people here that feel differently about it than i do. Current brandeis students who like brandeis - I am really not trying to put brandeis down, just putting my feelings/experience out there!</p>