Hi! I’m really considering transferring but I need advice.
I’m at a small private liberal arts school about 2 and a half hours from home. I’m a freshman and just started my spring semester. I had a pretty good first semester academically (3.37 GPA) but socially I feel pretty miserable. I don’t really have any friends, other than some people I chat with in class or people I occasionally go to meals with. I know the main way to fix that is through clubs and groups, so I recently tried to rush (deferred rush at my school), and after initially getting called back to my three top picks, but on the last night they all cut me, inexplicably. Even my Gamma Chis were surprised. Either way, I wasn’t too upset by it, but it did feel kind of like a summation of all my efforts to reach out here, if that makes sense.
Now I’m a week into my new classes, and I feel hopeless. I don’t feel overwhelmed by work, per se, but I don’t have any motivation to do the work, which I started to feel towards the end of last semester. I’ve never really felt like this about my studies before, but I just feel sad all the time.
So, I’ve tentatively talked to my parents about the possibility of transferring, and they’re supportive as long as the money works out (I have a decent scholarship here, but I still feel like they’re paying too much for me to be somewhere I hate) and I’m still miserable at the end of the semester. I’m considering a college that’s in my home town, one about thirty minutes away, and one that’s about three hours away, but is still in my home state, unlike the one I’m attending now. I would definitely be more inclined to attend the third school, because it’s my state’s flagship school and it has a journalism program I’m interested in, and my current school offers nothing like that. Also, one of my good friends goes there, and I’m hoping to visit again this month (I went for the first time last summer) to get a better feel for the campus.
However, I still want advice on if I’m acting too fast. Is it silly to leave a good school just for social reasons? I just continue to feel isolated here, and I’m starting to see it affect my ability to do work. Any advice is appreciated.