Deciding whether/where to transfer

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello folks.</p>

<p>I am a freshman in a first tier university who has decent HS stats (29 ACT, 3.6 GPA, plenty of extracurrics, etc.) and a 4.0 college GPA with plenty of involvement. I am an engineering major who also loves music as a hobby. Long story short, I hated my first semester on the whole. I don't like the environment I'm in, our choir isn't that great (downgrade from HS), they don't offer voice lessons at the university, and I haven't found the academic environment stimulating.</p>

<p>So, over winter beak, I applied to NU and JHU with the hopes of transferring. I had previously been wait-listed at JHU, so I was hopeful. I am now a little over a month into my second semester, and now I can't decide what I want to do. Things have gotten better. I am in a local community chorus that is very talented, and I take voice lessons at a neighboring school. My bonds with my friends have grown stronger, and I have been quite bipolar about feeling adamant about leaving. I used to have no doubt, now I'm questioning it.</p>

<p>When the play the "what if" game with my schools I applied to, I don't know which one I would choose. I have a really good friend at both, so that would help me assimilate, but as things have slowly improved here, I am entertaining the possibility of staying occasionally. But then I'll have an awful day that exemplifies my reasons for wanting to transfer, and tell myself there's no way I'll ever come back here. Other times, I'll hang out with my friends on the weekend, and get back loving things and not feeling like it's so bad.</p>

<p>Is this relatively common? How do I end up deciding what I want to do? I am afraid of falling victim to the platitude that "the grass is always greener on the other side." I have visited the other two schools, and I love their campus and the people my friends have introduced me to. But I cannot differentiate whether that is due to my unhappiness with my current school, or a genuine enjoyment. Would things truly be better?</p>

<p>Any comments or advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Many transfers face this situation, it’s a hard one, and you just have to go with your gut and not look back.</p>

<p>My D1, who graduated from college last year, transferred as a soph and was very happy with her decision. However, she also recognized in hindsight that there were pros and cons to both her schools, and that if she would have stayed at her first school, she likely could have done things that would have made it work for her. </p>

<p>Like most important questions in life, transferring is not black, white, or even greener, it’s a shade of gray.</p>