Does anyone else feel like not going to college?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>First off, is anyone else looking at LAC's sick of seeing these bland, boring, preppy kids walking around campus? Get some flavor and stop burning your money on those ridiculous khakis and incredibly expensive polo shirts. Go take a trip to Marshall's and/or Value City.</p>

<p>Anyway..I'm STILL trying to figure out where to go to college (how much time's left, 11 days?). I've taken 6 AP classes, a ton of honors courses, I have a 4.5 GPA, I play varsity sports (tennis and cross country.. I know, bad combo), I study hours every night, and I have a few amazing friends that I hang out with almost every weekend.</p>

<p>But in retrospect high school has been a miserable experience. I'm afraid in college I'll get 0 privacy time and I'm going to go insane being around people all of the time and studying so much. What if I hate the majority of the kids at school? Most of the places I'm looking at now are small LAC's so it's kind of important that most of the kids are at least tolerable.</p>

<p>I don't even know if I have the motivation to study anymore after how bad high school was. I worked so hard, and for what?? I got into 7/8 colleges, including Furman and Pepperdine; I received anywhere from respectable to enormous scholarships at 6 of my schools (Wofford Scholar for instance); I was recruited to play tennis at a D1 school and D3 schools are onto me like a cheap hooker trying to get me to play for them.</p>

<p>Now I have no idea where to go, I feel like I'm going to go nuts being surrounded by people 24/7 and never having a moment to myself, and I'll get burned out of studying. I don't enjoy it at all. Like, I hate it, but I'm really good at it. And I love people - I love hanging out with friends, I can't keep myself away from girls.. but seriously I feel like I won't have any privacy living in a tiny dorm room. Ever. I've had a room to myself for the last 18 years of my life and it's just going to be weird. I guess I'll get over it, but it's "one of those things" that I'm thinking about every day.</p>

<p>I'm seriously considering taking a gap year to do volunteer work, but 1.) A year is such a LONG TIME! and b.) I feel like after a year away from school, I won't want to go back.</p>

<p>And back to the people thing - whatever happened to just getting together, hanging out and watching a movie? I'm not Mr. Moneybags; I can't go out every weekend, let alone every night. But no one seems to be about that at the schools I'm looking at. I guess that's what I get for applying to these liberal arts schools - spoiled kids with mom & dad's money to burn! (Anyone else sense the cynicism I have towards these plain, bland preppy kids I've seen every time I've toured a campus?)</p>

<p>Does anyone else share any of the same concerns as me? Or did anyone else have some and get over them after going to school for a year?</p>

2

<p>You don't have required attendance in college and you generally don't have significant required homework/busywork (depends on the major/school), so that saves a lot of time. Not that you should emulate me, but I spent only a few hours a week on school in college, compared to at leas5 35+ in high school (attending class).</p>

<p>Most dorms probably have singles available, at a premium, if you value privacy (as I do). I lived in a co-op and got seniority for a single after only one semester. You don't have to live in a dorm, anyway, plenty of people live off-campus in apartments. </p>

<p>I am not sure exactly what you are talking about with the "Mr. Moneybags". Most college students spend very little money on entertainment, besides pitching in for a beer bong maybe.</p>

<p>Edit: All this was posted before your edits to restrict this to LACs. With that said, only the part with regard to expenditures might change, and you can surely find like-minded people anywhere.</p>

3

<p>I guess I need to reemphasize how expensive the colleges I'm looking at.</p>

<p>Furman is over $40,000
Pepperdine is like $50,000</p>

<p>and the other colleges I've gotten into are like that, and the students are notorious for spending cash everywhere (see CollegePr0wler, CampusDirt, etc.). Because I have scholarships and a generous grandparent I can go to Furman for ~$12K. I just feel like I won't fit in. I keep bringing up Furman because it's the one I've visited the most.</p>

4

<p>Did you get accepted to any schools that you currently feel would be good fits for you but that you are avoiding mentioning in your thread because (they're not prestigious / they don't help your argument / whatever reason)?</p>

5

<p>Burnedout - from your other posts, it appears that you applied to Vandy + Furman, Rhodes, Rollins, Wofford and other Southern LACs. The behaviors, fashions, and attitudes that you're bemoaning are those of the Southern country club culture, yet that's precisely the type of schools to which you've applied. If you're seeking more anonymity and a more egalitarian climate, why not some larger public universities or schools with greater diversity? I personally have a lot of positive things to say about Furman. The academics are outstanding, campus is breathtaking, students are generally happy, the performing arts are great, D-I athletics are strong, the school's a nice hybrid size between a typical LAC and a small university - but yes, it's an academic version of a country club and I wouldn't doubt that you'd find a lot of preppy kids and Southern superficialities there.</p>

6

<p>Back in the stone age, I went to a terribly selective, terribly expensive private college in the mid-Atlantic region. I was a bit concerned that I'd be the only one on financial aid who was earning all her spending money with a work-study job. Lo and behold, half of my class was in that very same condition. We came up with all kinds of fun things to do that did not cost a cent for the very simple reason that we didn't have any cents to spare. In fact, I have fond(?) memories of trading the week's pennies for a quarter to put into the Coke machine. Yup, one Coke (roomie prefered Tab) and that was Saturday night.</p>

<p>You won't be the only student on financial aid. You will find plenty of students whose budgets are even tighter than yours. One advantage of a tight budget is that it will help you quickly sort out the true friends who are willing to socialize within your budget from the false ones who won't.</p>

<p>As to not being sure about college for the fall, you aren't the only person who has ever wondered that either. Would any of your schools allow you to defer by one semester rather than a whole year? What are your summer plans? Maybe after working some horrible summer job to make money for your college expenses, you will be ready to go off to college anywhere just to escape that job.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

7

<p>I think you are in the grip of massive senioritis.<br>
Three factors to consider:
1) What can you do to make the last few weeks of high school more tolerable?
2) Are you doing something this summer that is meaningful to you?
3) Whatever college you choose, research and contact the student groups that sound interesting to you.
I think you will find that college is what you make of it. You will feel more inspired after you make your final decision and start planning what your life is going to be like for the next four years...it's up to you.</p>

8

<p>Quite a few people today say that college is easier than high school. Just do not sign up for a lot of really hard classes, especially at the beginning. You need to chill. You will be fine. Also try to have a relaxing summer. Don't work too hard.</p>

9

<p>I've read every post that everyone has written, and thank you so much for the responses. The personal stories and questions you all have had me ask myself have quelled my nerves for the moment. I can't address every post, but I really appreciate everyone taking a moment to write - I got something out of every post :)</p>

<p>But, I do want to address this one:</p>

<p>


</p>

<p>My goal is/was to get into the best university I can that I won't go insane at due to a high workload. For instance, I was going to apply to Davidson until I learned that most kids never get their nose out of their books because they have so much work. I love being around people, and I love to have fun. While I'm going to college to work, I also want to get some life skills out of it, start networking, and have some fun while doing so.</p>

<p>I learn best in small class sizes, and you're absolutely right gadad - all of the schools I've applied to have the "Southern country club culture" I've seen most of my life and am starting to grow sick of. However, I applied to these colleges without visiting but 2 of them, and back at the time I was simply researching how nice the kids were, what the drinking/drug scene was like, and most importantly, what the academics were like. And I now find myself in the position that in order to get the best education for me - not necessarily what is best for other people that are able to learn in a large lecture hall - these schools are the ones for me. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if the social aspect is alluring to me. They students are nice.. but they may not be the kinds of people I'd normally be friends with.</p>

<p>Maybe I'll do an overnight at Furman in the next couple of weeks and give it one more chance. I still have to go visit Pepperdine and Stetson. At the moment, Furman is the closest school to me that I would consider going to (from the schools I've applied to), and it's also the third most financially reasonable.</p>

<p>Thanks again for the replies thus far.</p>

10

<p>I'm usually not a fan of a gap year but if you're sincerely not happy with so many of the schools that accepted you, that sounds like a viable possibility. All six of the schools I applied to were schools I would be thrilled to attend I can't imagine having options that I couldn't feel comfortable with.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, if the preppiness/rich kid attitudes of these schools is your main concern, I think that's something you can transcend IF there are other aspects of the college that you like (and I'd assume there'd have to be something that you like at each of these schools that accepted to..you applied to them, afterall). </p>

<p>You and I are on the same page about spoiled rich brats who just run around all week burning mom and dad's money. Those aren't my type of people, either. But, one of the most important things I've learned in my college search process is that if you want to avoid a college with an unavoidable presence of wealthier students, you gotta go to a larger state school. As someone who would get lost at a college with 10,000+ undergrads, that doesn't leave me with many options that have a socio-economically diverse student body. Everything you're worried about is unavoidable at any expensive private school so I'm not sure I'd be too worried.</p>