<p>I have suddenly found my self in a place where I don’t want to be.
I have spent so long making important decisions, and at this moment I feel I have made all the wrong choices.
Next week I leave for Rollins College, and I do not think it is the right school for me. It is small, without school spirit as it has no football or decent basketball team, and it is in Florida.
Yes, Florida. I assumed I wanted to live there. I was wrong.
I guess I convinced myself that a small school is good because I would get an even better education, even though I knew I was a little uncomfortable with it from the beginning, and now I am having second thoughts.
It seems to be full of rich kids. Kids that may or may not be snobby.
It is so expensive, and I don’t even know why it needs to be that way.
I’m scared because I keep thinking about wanting to go to Notre Dame...has anyone else had regret like this? I am so incredibly enraged at myself for not applying last fall. Because I thought I couldn’t get in. Because I was busy with other applications and homework.
Notre Dame has a ton of spirit. A ton of pride. A decent amount of students. It is beautiful. It has fall. It is highly ranked. It’s Notre Dame – even the name carries meaning. Rollins is just Rollins, and only rich people in Florida know what it is.
I feel like my future is going to be dull. I want to transfer now and I haven’t even begun Rollins classes. Where will I go to enjoy a football game? To sing the fight song? UCF? I want to be a part of something though. An actual part. I want to belong in the stands.
Plus, I grew up as an ND fan. </p>
<p>Am I just getting cold feet, like people get at weddings?
I hope I am just freaking out for nothing. Any helpful or relating comments would be appreciated :) </p>
<p>sounds like a classic case of cold feet. One, you cannot even mention why you wanted to go to Rollins just a few months ago, and, two, you now feel there is a single school that would be the solution–even tho you know (and knew back when you were applying) that you cannot get into that school. </p>
<p>take a deep breath. thousands of students are having this same panic attack this week. try to remember why you wanted to go to Rollins. In your mind, revisit your trip to the beautiful campus and to lush and tropical Winter Park. There are rich and snobby kids on every campus. there are also kids that you will make lasting friendships with (even tho one or two of them might be a little too rich and snobby for your tastes). Keep breathing. It’s going to be alright. </p>
<p>Agreed. You made a decision for a reason and now that some doubts have emerged, the (idealized) alternative sounds like the only right answer. My advice is to give it a shot… and if you really hate it, you won’t be the first student to ever transfer… Try it out, be open to the experience and get good grades - because if you do end up wanting to transfer, those will be important!</p>
<p>^^^yes, OP, don’t let your doubts about the school you’re attending have an impact on how hard you’re working and the grades that you get. </p>
<p>This is really difficult for freshmen to do, in my experience, and requires a great deal of maturity at the very time they’re feeling sucky about their situation. I’m saying this not to you but to your friends at school (and to their parents) who find themselves hating their choice of schools. If you find they’re not going to classes, their grades are suffering, one option is to see their school counselor about doing a complete withdrawal before they’re so far into the semester that their final grades show a lot of Ds and Fs. A withdrawal might result in no grades, instead, and make transferring a lot easier.</p>
<p>All true points. Thanks so much. It’s just one of those things I think you just have to get “right”, you know what I mean? These are some of the best years of your life. I guess I just regret not trying to get into ND in the first place - if I was turned away, at least I would my status and it would be easier to put not going there behind me.
Either way it works out, I’ll make the best of it and see where I end up at the end of the year.
Thanks again! It’s good to have logical, outside points to calm down the crazy internal thoughts. </p>
<p>“It’s just one of those things I think you just have to get “right”, you know what I mean?” </p>
<p>Actually, it’s not. There are very few things in life that are truly irreversible. Where you go to college is not one of them. If you truly give it a shot, and you don’t like it, you can try to transfer. (Of course, you may actually end up loving it!)</p>
<p>“These are some of the best years of your life.” </p>
<p>Stop thinking like that. They can be, but they are not the be all and end all of your life. You’ve likely got a long one ahead of you. Thinking that these are the “best” almost always leads to disappointment, because your expectations are too high. Stop looking for what the college experience “should be” and focus on how it “is”, and then make how it “is” the best you can make it.</p>