<p>You know what, OP? I think you are doing exactly the right thing. Your initial post was a little screwy, but your later posts are thoughtful and logical. (Editing: It’s a great thing.)</p>
<p>You are clearly smart enough to succeed in any college, and you are plenty self-reflective enough to be a “life of the mind” type if you wanted to be. But, as lots of people say, the University of Chicago isn’t for everyone, and the type of person it’s really not so much for is pretty much one type of person who is strongly attracted to engineering. There are plenty of proto-engineers at Chicago, doing physics or math, and building things as a hobby. They get their freak on doing large projects during Scav. But if what you really want to do is learn how to build stuff 24-7 (and building stuff, too), and to live in a place where being an engineer is normative, not some kind of alternative lifestyle, then there are lots of places where you will be happier than Chicago, and UIUC is probably one of them.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean I think you should transfer. But investigating the possibility systematically is probably the right response to what you are feeling. (It’s a good Chicago response, and a good engineering response, too: start with your gut, but then go gather some data.) As you implicitly acknowledge, it may well work out that having an open door to leave helps you come to terms with things at Chicago. You could decide to stay, and if that’s how things work out you will feel vastly better if it’s a real decision based on options and analysis rather than something that happened out of inertia and confusion. If you don’t stay, you will have a much more realistic understanding of why you are leaving and what you hope to get out of that. And either way, doing something is the right way to deal with the anxiety that clearly has the potential to scrabble your mind once in awhile.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I predict that when you get back to college, things will seem a lot easier than they did last year. First year is hard. The academic part of college gets easier, not harder, as the classes (and you) get more focused.</p>
<p>Thank you. I admit that first post could have been a lot better. But I knew if I just didn’t start writing and KEEP writing everything that comes to mind at that moment, I would have missed something. And I wanted to make sure I got everything down, and then later explained whatever it was that was confusing.
Next time I’ll edit Promise!</p>
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<p>Now that it’s been a few days, and that rush of anxiety has passed (along with no longer getting texts about my friends being super pumped to be back at UIUC :p) I think I can definitely settle down and remove the gut feeling part of my decision, and move on to collecting the data.
How is engineering, really? Financial aid? Life at UIUC vs. UChicago.
I’ll visit parties at both schools too. Are they any different, and if so, does that difference matter to me? Will I even be a part of that party scene?</p>
<p>And I’m really in a good position now. I’ll have the app done even before I start packing for school, so I’ll be able to come into school relaxed and without the weight of transferring on my shoulders and I can go from there.</p>
<p>Who knows? Maybe UIUC will simply seal my fate by rejecting me? :D</p>
<p>Thank you for all the help.</p>
<p>I’m actually going to see an old teacher from school (how it pays to keep in touch with old contacts!) who went to both UIUC and UChicago. I think her input on the situation will be invaluable!</p>
<p>Sounds to me that you do like math and physics at U of C and that you are looking for more engineering orientation and make your career as an engineer. Your readiness to continue your studies at U of C is not even a question. You appear to be well capable of it. U of C is going to offer a masters in Molecular Engineering and is already offering a PhD in the same. Continuing on this path will make you one of the first few engineer in this area. </p>
<p>Now that you’ve explained your plan and your thinking more, I second JHS that your thinking is sound and your data gathering plan is a good one. You are also giving yourself options which puts you in a position of control. I think UIUC and U of C would both be lucky to have you.</p>
<p>The app does seem like a good option. I have a son who was trying to decide between physics and engineering. After and intro engineering course through the high school he realized engineering just wasn’t for him and now he is set on physics. You may have had the opposite occur.
But, I also hope you will speak to someone in student health, a counselor or a doctor about the anxiety. You may find treating your anxiety helps in many ways.</p>
<p>I went and visited U of I. I stayed for 3 days (Thursday-Saturday) to get a feel for the school, and I really enjoyed it (In a different way than I expected though)</p>
<p>This quote is just random thoughts I put down while writing, below the quote is basically my summary</p>
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<p>Moving past just rambling random thoughts, I think this trip did a few extremely important things for me that will help my decision.
It made me stop believing UIUC was a utopia.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, the frat houses are HUGE, and plentiful, but their parties consisted of the same thing as UChicago’s… so that’s good. I now know I’m not missing out on anything. I think that was what was causing huge amounts of anxiety for me: the believe that UChicago was taking some huge part away from me, but now I know that it isn’t. </p>
<p>The students seem to be struggling there just as much. The feel during the day and class-time is the same. It, in fact, is NOT at all like in the movies where kids are playing 2K half the day and having a good time all night. They seem to be doing what UChicago kids are doing. Once again, a good thing.</p>
<p>The living situation at UIUC kinda sucks. The dorms are pretty bad compared to UChicago, I can’t lie. I will never again complain about UChicago, for I now know I am living a life of luxury!</p>
<p>The PEOPLE. This is a big one. UChicago is definitely a LOT more serious. U of I is very serious during school-time but seems to kick back after classes. UChicago likes to stay serious through the night. I haven’t decided which one is better yet. Although I gotta admit I did enjoy just being able to relax and not have this intellectual atmosphere around me 24/7. The people at both schools are very nice. Very chill at U of I.</p>
<p>2) Helped me see the difference between engineering there and physics here.</p>
<p>Their classes seem to move a lot slower, but the material is definitely interesting. More interesting than physics? I don’t know yet. It reminded me a lot of first year physics. I’m hoping that now since my physics classes are moving more into the realm of modern and particle physics, I’ll be able to see which path I enjoy more. As I feel now is when the branches will begin to separate.
Running from class to class kinda sucked, but it’s doable. Doesn’t really concern me.</p>
<p>Here is the big shocker though: I may get a lot of hate for this… But judging from those three classes I took (I know, very small sample) The teaching did seem to be of higher quality (on average) than I’ve had so far.</p>
<p>It was a combination of slower pace, meaning I could absorb material during class, and the fact that I had 2 terrible math teachers at UChicago, along with a terrible comp-sci teacher. (and by terrible I mean 80-90% disapproval rate on the review site) But then again, I know this is a small sample so I won’t judge on this. Because I also had some FANTASTIC teachers at UChicago.</p>
<p>3) My last point really is job outlook anxiety. This is another source of my anxiety.</p>
<p>I’m seeing all my engineering friends picking up internships left and right and I’m just worried I’ll be stuck in research these next few years. I really want to pick up an engineering internship also, I just don’t know where to begin looking. I need some help in this.
And of course I’m worried about post-graduation job prospects.</p>
<p>But other than that, I think i covered what I felt on my trip.</p>
<p>Sorry that I keep bringing back this dead thread, but I never finished the app to transfer. I’m loving my physics classes and have really enjoyed this quarter (so far but it’s just 3rd week ;P) so I didn’t bother doing the app.</p>
Promise!</p>