I am a commuter student at Boston College. I have no friends. I want to transfer.

Transfer Students
1

<p>I know it's a little early to even think about transferring, but I am pondering on the subject nonetheless. So, I hope all of you take some time to read about my background and why I want to transfer out of Boston College. (Yeah, I know it's quite a prestigious school, and all of you may be slightly surprised at why I want to transfer out.)</p>

<p>BACKGROUND: I didn't take the "applying to colleges" thing so seriously last year. I turned in many of my applications very close to the deadline, and basically, thanks to my lack of research, I simply applied to all of the local schools. (I am a Boston native, by the way, so I applied to schools like Northeastern, BU, BC (my current school), and UMass Amherst.)</p>

<p>I was accepted to most of the schools I had applied to, and I ended up paying the $500 deposit for BC. Furthermore, being a local (the BC campus is only 2.5 miles away from my home), I was awarded a tuition-only scholarship. The tuition covered all of my fees and tuition, but it did not cover the cost of room and board. After some consideration, my parents decided that instead of spending the $12,000 per year, I should commute to school instead and save a little money.</p>

<p>In June, I called BC to inform them that I was going to be a long-term commuter student. BC promptly removed my name off of the housing lottery and adjusted my bill to reflect this. Before doing this, however, BC did warn me that I would have little to no chance of getting my name back into the housing lottery.</p>

<p>All of my high school friends warned me that I was going to have a very second-rate college experience because of this decision. At the time, I shrugged this criticism off, believing that commuting to school wasn’t going to be that bad.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, after three days of commuting back and forth, I discovered that my college experience was going to be second-rate after all, just as my high school friends had predicted. I feel like a nobody on campus. Very few people know who I am, and although I have tried to make friends with the people in my lectures and classes, I discovered that these settings did not offer very many opportunities for socializing. </p>

<p>Additionally, BC has no support system for its long-term commuter students at all. (They do have one for the students living off campus during their junior year.) From my impression, it feels like I am the only freshman commuter on campus. Besides going to class and doing schoolwork, I seemingly do nothing else. Everyone else is having a good time, and due to my lack of a dorm, I feel as though I am missing out, socially. My parents’ curfew over my head (I need to get back home by 8:00PM) has further dampened the prospect of me attending any late-night parties.</p>

<p>So, any advice? I had a 3.81 weighted GPA in high school and an 1890 (670CR, 630M, 590W) on my SAT. I plan to do my very best here at BC and perhaps engage in two or three extracurricular activities. As for schools, I am looking at institutions like Northwestern or UVA.</p>

<p>Thank you for reading, and to my fellow compatriots thinking about transferring as well, I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor.</p>

2

<p>It doesn’t sound strange at all to me that you want to transfer and it’s not particular to Boston College, you are at a school that isn’t a good fit for you. When I was in high school one of my friends was accepted to schools left and right and chose to go to Brown. She hated it and only stayed a year, it just wasn’t the right place for her.</p>

<p>Even if you don’t love college you should really like it. You’re right too, by the way, you are missing out by not being able to live on campus. If things don’t improve I hope you will try to transfer. Good luck.</p>

3

<p>I really don’t hate BC at all, honestly. The professors are great and I do enjoy my classes so far. If I was given a chance to dorm, I don’t think I would have even written this post.</p>

<p>I am going to see how the next few weeks turn out. If they are still sour, I will consider transferring elsewhere for the Fall 2010 semester.</p>

4

<p>pea, if you read the OPs post, he loves the college. what he doesn’t like is the fact he’s a commuter. </p>

<p>XX5XX, let’s swap ;)</p>

5

<p>Yeah, you got it right, BMWdude. </p>

<p>You want to swap? What university do you go to?</p>

6

<p>Drop by Housing and see if there is a sign up/wait list for you to move in after the fall semester. I’m sure frosh drop out and rooms my be available later.</p>

7

<p>There are dozens of clubs at every school, including BC. Join one or two and your problem will be solved.</p>

8

<p>Call housing ASAP. This is the time that they often find themselves with an open room. With the economy, there may have been 1-2 total no shows for fall. And there are an occasional student who drops out at midterm, or who does not return even after Thanksgiving. Let them know that you are interested in moving on campus, and could take a room at the last minute…that is, if your folks will foot the bill. Obviously if you are planning on transferring, they would ultimately pay for room and board. So explain to the folks that you will save them the tuition money by staying put with tuition scholarship, if they will pay for you to live on campus. And if there is no room now, I agree by spring they are looking to fill rooms from students who are abroad for a semester, or did not return for the term. </p>

<p>Sure housing was discouraging, but call them. I suspect they will not let an empty room go unfilled if they can collect rent/room fees.</p>

9

<p>schmaltz, clubs won’t solve a commuter student’s dissatisfaction. </p>

<p>In college, most student “bonding” occurs LONG AFTER classes are out. (think 10pm-3am). XX55XX would be at home, and probably miss out.</p>

<p>XX55XX, come to Penn State (where I go, and we can swap :wink: ) Otherwise, find housing or transfer. </p>

<p>I shall be transferring out soon as well, and schools in Boston are pretty high on my list :)</p>

10

<p>My advice would be as sunnyflorida suggested: call housing. But, the odds are really slim since BC has forced triples and their priority is to unforce a triple when any openings occur. Perhaps they could squeeze you in next semester? Join some clubs/activties – an activity fair is coming up.</p>

<p>But, yeah, the 8:00 pm curfew won’t cut it for college life. Sign up for an evening lab course so you’ll have an excuse to stay out.</p>

<p>But more importantly, it’s not BC per se, but the fact that you are commuting while all the new Frosh bond in the late night dorm sessions. Heck, practically every organized Frosh activity over the past week started after 9:00 pm. Thus, you might find BC to your liking next year if you live on campus.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

11

<p>I like everyone else’s advice better than mine. I agree, try to move onto campus.</p>

12

<p>I have just discussed this with my parents. They said that if things do not improve within the next month, they would allow me to have a dorm, starting in the spring semester.</p>

<p>They did dissuade me from thinking about transferring however, as they considered it uneconomical to do so.</p>

13

<p>I would definitely talk to housing. Are you willing to give up the tuition scholarship? That would be hard to impossible to get anywhere as a transfer.</p>

14

<p>XX55XX, I remember you from the BU boards. Im sorry things aren’t working out for you =(. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest transferring. You have a nice amount of money from the school and I think you may want to consider getting into a dorm - i am sure they will have them available at some point as others have pointed out. </p>

<p>In the meanwhile, try your best to make friends in class and in clubs. Try not to go back home early. Commuting is never easy - especially for a freshman with no roots in the school. With luck, you can find housing in the school and be able to bond with your roommates and floormates and feel part of the community.</p>

15

<p>So when you do move in you’re just going to have to be more open to making friends with people already in cliques. Sometimes it’s harder but participating in intramurals, dorm activities, blah,blah,blah really does help you meet people.</p>

16

<p>I commute to my current school and I felt the same in the beginning but later realized that there’s tons of ways to get involved even if you don’t live on campus. The best thing to do is to make friends. Whether that be through your classes or by going to events, get yourself out there and introduce yourself to people. When you start making more friends you’ll find yourself hanging out around campus more. I commute but during breaks and after classes, I’ll usually go by one of my friends who stay on campus and chill out in their dorms. If for some reason you can’t get housing, don’t take it as such a bad thing. You can also wait until next year and get an apartment with some friends. College students are always looking for roommates and that’s also a great way to get a “college experience”.</p>

17

<p>If I were you, I would look into off campus housing. Freshmen at BC typically live on the Newton campus anyway several miles from main campus and have to take a bus to main campus and juniors are required to live off campus because of the shortage of housing at BC. I would simply try to live off campus but try to be as near the campus as you can. Look for people looking for a rommate. Dorm life is overrated. Rooms are small and cramped.</p>

18

<p>don’t worry, it’s not JUST you. it’s the city. Boston is just a terrible place to live in and everyone that lives in that city is a TERRIBLE person. My advice is come to LA and transfer to USC or UCLA. The patriots cheated all those years and pau pierce is a pu$$y. GO LAKERS!</p>

19

<p>I definitely agree it’s tough to make friends in class. Joining clubs/going to all the random welcoming activities also really helps. There are plenty of things you can do to get yourself out there. </p>

<p>buttt…</p>

<p>I go to Boston College. We could be friends. haha. :D</p>