I am currently a freshman at Washington and Lee University. A disclaimer, before I talk about anything: W&L is a fantastic school and this should not discourage anyone from applying or attending. This is just something with my personal experience.
I am from the Northeast and I kinda had a rough senior year of high school - my grandpa passed away around Thanksgiving and there were some other serious issues within my family and overall there just wasn’t a lot of time to see schools. It seemed like a fair amount of the schools I saw I didn’t even like. With everything that was going on, I feel like my focus wasn’t geared to the college application process as much as it should’ve been. I play guitar and I’m a really big music guy, so one of my top choices was Vanderbilt but I didn’t get in regular decision and I was too indecisive to go anywhere Early Decision. Out of the schools I ended up getting into, Lafayette was the one I was most likely to attend until I got in off the waitlist at Washington and Lee. I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up and I submitted my deposit soon after.
I had an alright fall semester here, and I even managed to make Dean’s List. I enjoyed most of my professors. However, I just didn’t feel like i was enjoying as much as all my other friends were enjoying their schools. I made friends with people on my hall but we don’t really hang out that much outside of the hall. I made a few other friends too but no one really close - I know it’s too soon to say that but all my other high school friends seem to have made great friends already. I joined the Jazz Ensemble and that has been fun, and I made connections with another cool music professor.
I just never really realized what I wanted in a school until after I got here. For example, it would have been awesome to have D1 athletics to cheer on, but no one really seems to care about the D3 teams here even though they did great this year. School spirit would be awesome. Also, it’s in the middle of nowhere. There are some fine restaurants in town, but besides that it is just so isolated and to take a 45 minute flight home I need to take a cab to the airport that is sometimes over and hour away. I don’t mind partying and I partake but it seems that’s all there really is to do after a while. The size is also something - with just under 2,000 undergrads, I feel like the amount of people involved in certain things as well as the amount of options is a bit underwhelming
The Greek scene is the main thing that is depressing me now. I think I would’ve joined a fraternity at any school I went to even though I’m not the stereotypical “frat boy” - it just appeals to me. At first I liked the idea that 80% of the student body is Greek - it really is inclusive! I started hanging out at a few fraternities throughout the fall, in particular one that really rushed me well and they all said they liked me and I liked them. I was probably drawn to them at first because of their anti-hazing policy, but I really grew to like them over time and honestly didn’t care about hazing as time went on. I ended up pledging this frat. However, I still can’t tell whether I enjoy it or not. Their stereotype is the “nerdy fraternity”, which I didn’t care about all fall. However, some of the guys are definitely kinda nerdy and weird, including some guys in my small pledge class that is just over 10 people. I feel like I have pigeonholed myself into a stereotype based on my fraternity. I feel like it’s a lot of guys who would’ve never gone Greek at any other school but this fraternity is “different”. There’s a few international kids in my Pledge Class and I’m worried they’re just going to try and bring in a bunch of internationals in the future years who I’ll never be able to bond with. I am not saying I am “above” or better than any of the brothers or the pledge class, I just don’t know if I’d fit there and I regret not rushing another fraternity harder that would have made me feel less uncomfortable. My Dad was in a “cool” fraternity in college and my Mom wasn’t in a bad sorority either. I just feel like I have established myself as someone who can’t be looked at in any other way besides the guy who is in “that” fraternity. I’m just feeling like I won’t have nearly as good of a college experience as any of my friends or my parents.
Right now, I just don’t know. I might want to transfer, and if I did I would probably try for Vanderbilt again, or maybe a place like Northwestern. Wake Forest is also a possibility although it’s also kinda in the middle of nowhere too I have heard. I like W&L’s great academics, small (although sometimes too small) class sizes, social/party scene, great alumni network and things like that. It is such a great school and reputation-wise I feel like I am passing up a great opportunity but I just don’t know if I will thrive here or not. I am such an indecisive person and I’m always second-guessing myself that a fear I have is transferring and then being unhappy at that place as well. Should I just stick it out at this fine institution?