Here’s the situation: I attend a school that has high praise from the majority of the student body. Nearly every forum I’ve read has always had something good to say about UW-Madison and it’s generally rare to hear discontent. I feel at odds with a majority of the school population in the sense that I am truly unhappy here. This school was a back-up choice for me and I’ve had trouble coming to terms with it ever since I enrolled.
I was very optimistic about first semester, but ultimately picked classes that weren’t suited for me and had a terrible learning experience. This semester, I picked classes more relevant to my interests (as I’m still undeclared), and the material is far more engaging, but I’m not sure if this learning environment is right for me. The lecture halls have 200-300 people—which I understand is the case with a lot of universities—but I think this impersonal atmosphere has been detrimental to my learning. I’ve had a couple great professors, but far more subpar ones. Don’t get me wrong though, the courses strive to be challenging and are pretty rigorous. I feel academically challenged here, which is what I want from my college education. This school also has the majors I’m considering (environmental studies, geography) and minors/certificates in areas that I’m also interested in (computer science). I have the opportunity to double or even triple major and still add a certificate on top of it. There are a lot of academic opportunities here.
I’m thinking of transferring because I want a smaller school size and different school culture, more affordable tuition (my tuition here, as an out-of-state resident, increased for the next school year), and a chance at actually enjoying my education and college experience (as I said before, I’m not really happy here). That being said, by leaving this school I would lose the academic opportunities I have here (the wide selection of majors, the possibility of double or even triple majoring, a huge class variety—especially important since I’m still undecided) and I would lose my spot in the Honors program. The downside of looking at smaller schools to transfer to means that I will also lose the wide selection of majors and classes offered by state/public schools. The schools I’m looking to transfer to (Reed, Northeastern, a couple of other small schools) are far more selective than UW-Madison and I know my chances of being accepted are slim.
Do I suck it up and stay at the school I’m miserable at (and will eventually have a ton of student debt at) because it has the academic opportunities I’m looking for or do I transfer for hopes of being accepted to a school that has the environment I’m looking for?
If anyone has ever been in a situation like this or has any insight/advice to offer, it would be greatly appreciated.
I think you should apply to those schools and see if you get accepted. However, if you don’t, there are ways you can improve your college experience. You are right it is a great school. If this is only your second semester, perhaps you’re still adjusting and finding your rhythm. It’s okay not to be in love with your school right away.
If you are so unhappy about the cost, why are you at Madison instrad of your own home-state flagship? Surely that place has a wide selection of courses and majors, and it may well have an honors program too. If saving money is important to you, take another long, hard look at your home-state publics.
As for the smaller places on your list, go ahead and apply. If you get in and they are affordable, then you can decide whether to stay or leave.
How bad are your grades? If your GPA is like a 2.8, then yeah, it’s probably not likely that you can transfer to a selective university. But I agree with happymomof1; if you don’t like Wisconsin and find it too expensive, you can always go back to your own state school. You will probably have smaller classes once you are in the upper levels, anyway.
Having a ton of debt is not a good idea when you’re starting a new career. If there is a cheaper in-state option, then absolutely you should transfer. The big thing is cost. Believe me, you’ll be much happier in the long run with less debt than have your income sucked away into loan payments. If you’re paying for your own school, a private school might be a good option for need based aid.
If you do transfer, then IMHO you need to be pretty confident that you are transferring to either a school that you will like more, or a school that you will like just as much that will be much more affordable. You don’t want to transfer multiple times. However, it also seems to me that you should avoid debt even for a school that you love, and if you are running up debt at a school that you don’t like then you should think hard about finding a more affordable option.
I don’t see why trying to get into a more selective school would solve anything. UW-Madison is plenty selective already, and the problems that you are having with it don’t seem to be ones what would be improved by going to a more selective school. I went to very selective well known schools and even as a graduate student at a very highly ranked school had some large classes (200+ students).
I agree with a couple of comments above that you should take a close look at your in-state public universities.
There are tradeoffs between a large school (more choices in terms of majors, many resources and many things going on) versus a smaller school (smaller class sizes, easier to find you way around, easier to get to know professors and classmates). UW-Madison is indeed quite large.
Finding a smaller school that is affordable can be a challenge. My youngest wanted an affordable small school, and we had trouble finding one that seemed appropriate in the US. We were also concerned that some of the more selective small schools in the US (she is so far a straight A student) might have a sort of “elite” social vibe, which is not her style (nor mine). She is very happy at a small, very good, and very affordable school in eastern Canada, but the small Canadian schools are not well known in the US.
“and will eventually have a ton of student debt at”
This is the part of your post that concerns me the most.
A well-resourced smaller college may offer you over 750 courses from which to choose, so academic flexibility per se may not be your overriding concern. However, based on your current interests, you may want to favor colleges with geosciences/geology programs (a field which can form a strong support for environmental studies, etc.)