Big and Small Colleges

Hi everyone. To start out I didn’t work so hard my senior year of high school to apply to colleges, and I really am regretting the opportunities I had.

My junior year of High School I had my heart set on one school, SUNY Oneonta. I thought it would be a great school to go to. I even remember going to the SUNY College fair and it was beyond amazing.

One thing is that both of my brothers had gone to big SUNY schools which is New Paltz and Cortland. I wanted so badly to go to a school like that, then I saw Oneonta and I chose it. Long story short, I messed up the college process and on top of that I didn’t have the grades to even get in.

Later on I had gotten an acceptance from one SUNY that was a small school, and I never heard the name before. And I ended up going there because that was my only chance to be independent, even though it wasn’t the school I chose.

I’m near the end of my semester and I realized this isn’t the school for me, though I was lucky to find a program the school overall is an associates school, basically a community college that you can dorm at. I just want to make it clear that the programs they have here are not in my interest, and they are overall two year programs, I wanted bachelors. I wanted to go to a four year school, and a larger one as well.

Also I am an introvert, and I’m a little shy towards meeting new people, and quiet sometimes. But my first week of coming to the college I didn’t chose, I did make a few friends which helped me overcome homesickness quite quickly. The thing is though it’s still a small school, and most of the people here are very different from me. I just feel that I didn’t work hard enough to go to this college, and it doesn’t even have any programs I like except the one I’m gonna be in in my Spring semester. And there is no town whatsoever, I came from NYC and I love the city, so coming here I felt was a mistake because I wanted to have the college feel and the city feel as well. On top of that, a larger student body because I am starting to see the same faces and most people think introverts are better in small colleges. I however, think that’s not the case in my opinion.

So overall I wanted to go to a four year school, larger school, and have a city feel to it. Where I’m at doesn’t cut close and it’s not that I don’t like anyone here, it’s just that I did not have my heart set on this school, but on the bright side I will be able to transfer to Oneonta by next fall so I have a little hope things will get better.

I would just like to hear from anyone that has gone through this, or just a little encouragement as I finish my fall semester going into Spring because I really had my heart set on Oneonta, and I don’t want to ruin by failing a course or anything like that. Now don’t get me wrong I have two advisors I talk about my problems to so I know I’m not alone.

Are you in a Community College?

You didn’t get the grades for Oneonta in HS, but if you stay where you are and get good grades you can transfer to Oneonta. Talk to your advisors about the classes you need to take to transfer, and the grades you need to get.

Yup, get good grades where you are and you can transfer.

@collegemom3717 I meant it like a joke ha, it has the college dorms but the programs are mostly two-year like community colleges, and it’s about 3 hrs from my hometown. Yes I’ve talked to my advisors, and I’ve got my classes down.

Great! It seems like you are self-reflective and self-aware. You are figuring out what works for you. You have a plan. Maybe you didn’t before, so didn’t do as well as was necessary to get you where you want to go. But now you do. And that makes all the difference.

Keep working hard. Stay focused. Hopefully Oneonta will work out at the first opportunity. If not, keeping working at. Things usually work out in the end. Things will fall into play. Researchers are finding one of the greatest predictors of success is resilience. So keep at it. Take advantages of the opportunities you have. Keeping working on having positive interactions with those around you.

Typing this is reminding me to keep at a huge, unpleasant job I’m working on. Nervous how it will turn out, and the demands are pretty unpleasant for me. But I’m working through it the best that I can, and you are offering me a great reminder that that is what is important. Thank you for that.

Good luck!