Does anyone else feel like not going to college?

Applying to College
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>

<hr>

<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>

2

<p>Yes, I understand your dilemmna. I applied to LACS, but in the end I decided to attend my cheap tier 1 state u, because it has so much more diversity and one can find people anywhere, but also, there are many places to be alone. I grew up in a small town where everyone knew everyone's business, so college was a way for me to see everything else. </p>

<p>Right now, I suggest you go to Furman, and then if you feel closed in or surrounded by people you dislike, you can transfer to a state u where almost everyone is guaranteed to fit in. But try Furman for at least a year, based on your stats it seems like a good fit. I think you're just having pre-college jitters thats all.</p>

3

<p>Read this, it might help:</p>

<p>Hopping</a> Off the School Track: Should You Take Some Time Off?
Should</a> Your Child Take a Year Off?</p>

4

<p>Burned-- My D is also an only child, and living with someone else 24/7 does get intense for her at times. She is at a school which is relatively close to home, so she did come home once for a breather. Would that be a possibility for you? That one short visit was all she needed to get a bit of distance, and it did the trick. However, she has also been able to find places for solitude on campus. In the nice weather, she finds a spot under a tree and camps out there for a couple of hours. In cold or other worse weather, she goes to a comfortable spot in one of the libraries. </p>

<p>I think these concerns are the same at any size school. </p>

<p>She was also like you in that she was totally burned out by the end of her senior year in HS. But college work is different. She feels that the work really means something now, and is not just assigned to be kept busy. She finds it hard, and yet very invigorating. She said recently that even though she is hardly sleeping, when she finishes a paper or a project, it really feels great to be accomplishing so much. She says it is totally different than HS. I think many HS seniors feel the way that you do about being ready to move on. </p>

<p>It's a very exciting, yet stressful, time in your life. You are not alone, and it sounds like you have very good choices to make. Trust yourself! As far as the finances go, you need to have a good long (but fast and soon!) talk with your family, and sort out these issues.</p>

5

<p>Um, not to sound mean, because it seems like you're upset about this... But you should have done more research before applying to schools. </p>

<p>Congratulations on being accepted to Pepperdine and Furman, which are great schools. But from what you describe about what you dislike about colleges, they sound like the WORST ones you could have picked. Of course students there are going to be conservative, preppy, rich.</p>

6

<p>...posted articles were great.</p>

<p>If you fall into some of the types of students mentioned, then by all means do take a year of - IMO.</p>

<p>I particularly like the one article that mentions that, paraphrasing, a student goes from 16 years of schooling to 4 years of college and after that a career and then...etc etc. Stop and take a breath for a year - chance are that it can do you good and NOT harm. If you have shown the perseverance to do well in HS and have a tough college study plan ahead of you - GO FOR THE YEAR OFF!!! Come back and use the same hard-nosed approach to HS that gave you all the succes you had in HS, to college and you will be fine. IMO</p>

7

<p>I've always been rather curious about admissions and taking a year off -- I take it if you've been accepted, a wish to postpone admission is impossible so you'll have to do the bloody admissions process all over again ...</p>

<p>Is taking a year off also something you will need to explain on apps? </p>

<p>I'm probably not taking a year off (though it seems tempting) -- I'm just curious.</p>

8

<p>No, you usually don't need to go through the admissions process again. You just contact the college and ask them to defer your entrance to the school for a year. If you do take a gap year because you didn't get into schools, you will obviously need to go through the process gain, and you will need to explain the year on your apps.</p>

9

<p>Do most top-ranked schools do this? I'm just considering it a way out if my financial aid package (that was submitted late) isn't what I want (I'm still hoping it will be good) and hoping that an on-time application next time might get a better one. </p>

<p>Or is delaying school a year not worth the opportunity cost (especially if career growth can be seen as exponential) just so I would have a shot at affording a more rigourous school next year?</p>

<p>
[quote]
and you will need to explain the year on your apps.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Curious, how exactly is this done? It seems that with limited essays and limited word limits, it might hurt your chance to present yourself in other areas.</p>