I’m trying to decide between going to FSU which is 5 hours away and USF st pete which is 45 mins away from my home. I’m very close to my family and have never spent more than one week away from them and on that week away i felt so homesick i couldn’t eat and cried every morning. I think I like FSU more because it’s a more traditional college and I like the nature and weather in Tallahassee. USF st pete is in a nicer town however and is right near the waterfront and downtown. I would also have my own bedroom and kitchen there while at FSU i would share a room with another roommate and have no kitchen. If FSU was closer I would definitely go there but with how homesick i know that i’ll be im not sure it’s worth it. I also like alone time and having to share a bedroom at FSU is a pretty large downside. I really have no idea what to do and go back and forth in my head everyday. My dad really wants me to go to St Pete and my mom is as unsure as I am. I feel like i’ll regret going to USF in the long run but at FSU i will be very anxious and uncomfortable for a long time which i’m not sure i can mentally handle due to past circumstances.
EDIT: At FSU I have also found and been talking to a few potential roommates who I have a lot in common with and can see being really good friends with which is a main thing that makes me want to go there. USF st pete doesn’t have a fb page for me to find roommates so that’s another major thing that’s making me unsure about the school is simply because i can’t find anyone else who’s going so i’m afraid i won’t make friends or like the people there. I don’t want to not go there though just because of the lack of communication beforehand because i’m sure i’ll make friends once i get there and the roommate thing isn’t as big of a deal since i’ll have my own bedroom anyway and all we’d be sharing is a bathroom and a kitchen
You like FSU more and. you think in the long run you’d regret it if you didn’t go there. I think that says it all. It’s college. Everyone there will be in the same boat – away from their families, living with a roommate. Don’t forfeit what you know will be a better opportunity just because of fear. It’s ONLY 5 hours. It’s not in Siberia. And with technology, you can facetime them as much as you want. It feels like you can’t do it, but you actually can. It’s hard to conceptualize this now, but you grow and change. You will not spend the rest of your life crying if you are away from your family.
5 hours is a half day away. Really if you feel too homesick, you can always return for the weekend.
The reason youre not finding much about USF St Pete’s roommate situation is because it’s a branch campus. Almost no one lives on campus at people live with their parents or spouses&kids. It’s a bit like a large high school for grown ups. You definitely wouldn’t have a traditional college experience. Not to mention, think of your 20-year old self “Geez I let FSU go because I was afraid of living a few hours from home!” Because at 19-20 you’ll really wonder what that was about.
Now, what you need to do:
- get The naked roommate and read it cover to cover
- think of the things you like about home and what among those things you can transport with you. A good way to deal with homesickness is to make where you live similar to the best of home.
EDIT: I also generally liked smaller liberal arts schools like Wesleyan and Connecticut college but they didn’t give me enough money and i also decided i want to be in state anyway. But since usf st pete only has 4,000 i thought it might be more similar to the atmosphere of those northeast liberal arts colleges where there’s only a couple thousand students rather than FSU where there’s 40,000.
Is any small school affordable?
Did you get into FSU’s honors college?
USF St Pete’s is non residential so it’s completely different from a LAC.
Did you apply to any LAC in Florida? NCF? Wilkes? Eckerd? Rollins? (There might still be time due to recently relaxed rules about deposits)
You got into Wesleyan? You are a scholar. You are doing yourself no favors by going to USF St. Pete. Are you a first-generation student, by any chance?
One more thing I’d add in addition to the helpful comments you’ve already received is that looking to the past can be an unreliable guide to the future at your age. There were things you could do at 14 that you wouldn’t have done at 12, thoughts and preferences you had at 16 that aren’t the same as you had at 14, and so on. With age comes growth and maturity, so you may be less homesick than you expect.
I got into NCF but i’m not sure I liked it because it only has 780 people which is too small for me
Did you get into FSU’s honors college?
Is Wesleyan really unaffordable? Have you tried asking them for a review of your financial aid offer?