<p>To the OP, it seems you are in the same position I am in. Don't worry, I'm in my second semester of college and I'm still trying to find good genuine friends -- hopefully that's where my pledging for APO comes in. I'm also thinking of transferring. I attend a regional state school planning on transferring to my state's flagship.</p>
<p>It kind of makes me angry when people attend a flagship state school and complain that the atmosphere isn't "intellectual" enough. OK, welcome to the real world, buddy. 80% of people are dumbasses...but there is a 20%, so don't be a lazy bum and go and find them. Get off of your high horse about how "everyone" is a partier. You are obviously looking in the wrong places...if you go to a state school, I am sure there are plenty of seminars and lectures...challenging classes...and probably an honors program or an honors dorm. Also, plenty of clubs will have interested and involved members, like Campus Democrats/Repubs, debate, etc. Your floormates may be a drag...but expand your horizons. In life, not everything is going to fall into your lap, especially the people who matter. Sometimes you have to work to get them and all the time you have to work hard to keep them. </p>
<p>But I guess some people need more coddling, which is why Big State U isn't for everyone.</p>
<p>I agree with the honors program suggestions. Also, look around for clubs that are more like you. </p>
<p>I understand the part about having hallmates who aren't the greatest, but that doesn't mean that everyone at your school is like that. In fact, if you go to a large state school, I guarantee you there are a ton more people like you than you think.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The era of intellectual exploration is over. College, save for the elite institutions, is no longer a time reserved to discover one's self...it is a time to sit through boring lectures to get a BA in business or something to make a ton of money, while in the meantime getting drunk, getting laid, gettin rowdy and for all intents and purposes being a total zombie.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Woah, what an exaggeration! I think you'll find this partially applies to every school, even the elite ones, but that it doesn't completely apply to any school. </p>
<p>Also, out of curiosity, what kind of high school did you go to? I found my non-honors classes in high school to be, for the most part (though there were exceptions) boring and extremely slow, full of people who didn't want to be there. My non-honors classes here in college are MUCH better. As for friends who drink, etc., well, you choose your friends. I don't hang out with most of my hallmates, but have found other friends who fit me better.</p>
<p>It may sound cliche, but in a lot of ways, you do choose what your college experience is going to be like by your choices and attitudes.</p>
<p>I agree with groovinhard in a way. Going to the state U is bound to put you in company with the same people, or the same types of people, that you had to deal with in high school. Even if you went to a state school in another region, well, that's something, right?</p>
<p>I don't think your situation warrants taking on some Honors program except making you busier and even more detached from your social scene. I think transferring might do you good. It's best to diagnose the problem and do something about it rather than get so jaded and uninterested in your own life that you sleepwalk through it. If you see that transferring is a viable option, do it. </p>
<p>Oh yeah, trizkutt? I can buy your frustration with feeling like you don't click with your peers because I feel the same way a lot of the time. But just say that you don't click with them and it's making college suck. Don't go to the "well, they're just rude, loud, vulgar, homophobic, and misogynistic..." place because it makes you sound judgmental and self-aggrandizing. You don't click with them because they don't the same things that you value, and that's fine. But they're still your equals.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't think your situation warrants taking on some Honors program except making you busier and even more detached from your social scene.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Eh, it depends on the honors program. I LOVE mine. It's a ton of work, but the professors are amazing, we have some great discussions, and I've gotten to know quite a few of my friends through it. Then again, we're accused of being a cult sometimes...</p>
<p>Haha, that's never a good thing to be accused of in Waco!</p>
<p>Haha, yeah...</p>
<p>We do refer to ourselves as the bastard (or some other adjective that shows we're unloved) child of the honors college, though. There are three honors programs, and the one I'm in, called the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC), gets the least amount of respect. We even register for classes after the other two programs (though before the rest of our class). The thing is, I know people who are in all three programs, and say that the BIC is the only one that is really worth anything. In fact, the general honors program could be accurately described, IMO, as "making you busier and even more detached from your social scene." But then I'm biased.</p>
<p>But anyway, that was all off topic. Time to go back to work for my cult...</p>
<p>Good post, college can be frustrating socially. Im trying to find my niche as well.</p>
<p>To the OP, man, what I wouldn't GIVE to have one or two people at the college that I'm at that are "interesting, funny, smart, inquisitive and genuine." One or two people is all you really need. I remember always being told, oh, you'll find exactly where you're supposed to be socially once you go to college! What a lie. Most of the people where I go seem to be how you described. It sucks. </p>
<p>The guys next door who are playing Creed should be shot. That's just...wrong.</p>
<p>What is Creed?</p>
<p>PugFug, I belive Urbandictionary.com defines Creed best as:
[quote]
2) A "band" made of ****ty musicians who think they're good. Lead singer Scott Stapp was thrown out of college for drug usage. Became famous only by pretending to be Pearl Jam. Their original bassist was fired because he wanted a fair share of their profit. They claim to be Christian only when it's convenient. Tied with Limp Bizkit in Guitar World's "Worst Band of 2003" contest. Unofficially broke up after a December 2002 show where Scott Stapp showed up wasted. Members currently making solo albums which I personally hope flop.
[/quote]
Hope that helps :)</p>
<p>As for the OP, many of the previous suggestions were very good. Try hanging out with the other two people, and see if they have any friends that are similar to them... Then maybe your circle of intelect will grow.</p>
<p>lookis like the op is going to UW-madison, I guess finding intellectual people there will be easier.Polka, which school do you go to?</p>
<p>Haha! I knew the band, but "playing" I thought meant like a video game:p</p>
<p>First off, look, people are not going to FLOCK to you. If you hang around enough around the right places, you'll sooner or later find people of the same interests as you. Make the effort to open YOURSELF up. College is a wide world (or at least wider than you think), and there are plenty of people out there that I bet would fit you. And in the extreme case, if you're really unhappy and haven't met good friends after trying hard, there is always the option of transferring.</p>
<p>And sure, drinking is stupid, but on the other hand, being antisocial simply because they're not "up to your standards" is stupid IMHO. I will admit that some people are just... the type you don't want to associate too much with, but most people, even if they're not philosophy-sprouting, physics-genius people, are still very interesting. I'm a biology major with a strong interest in the arts, but that doesn't mean anything. It's just what I study most. Likewise, even if I drink, it would be just one of the countless things I do. I love math, I design websites (in fact, I believe I start working for our school bookstore's website soon), I'm a big computer geek, I breed fish, and I'm always up for debates. I have full intentions to become a veterinarian, no matter the route, and I would love to travel many countries around the world before I'm 35.</p>
<p>There are certain people in my hallway who I think don't like me very well simply on the certain incriminating basis you speak of, but to be honest, I wish I can get closer to them because I tend to think that we do have a lot in common.</p>
<p>My point is, you should look at people at a less superficial level.</p>
<p>So you're transferring from U Iowa to U Wisconsin and expecting to find less partying and a more intellectual environment?</p>
<p>Boy you're in for a rude awakening.</p>
<p>This college sounds like high school revisited...
Good luck with U of Wisconsin!
Wisconsin may not be known for its highly intellectual student body, but I think Wisconsin overall has a more intelligent student body than Iowa, which means that the OP is more likely to find intellectual friends.</p>
<p>U Wisconsin is known for being a party school. The OP is not going to escape that atmosphere by transferring their, but rather he will be introduced to a bigger party scene.</p>
<p>UW has one of the highest rates of UGs going on to get PhD's of any state school. It is are the intellectual party school.</p>
<p>UW is a good school and should have a high number of people looking for the same intellectual setting as the OP.</p>
<p>Not all state schools are filled with drunken idiots, though. I've visited Ann Arbor a number times to check out the University of Michigan, and the people up there are extremely serious about their schooling. I'd assume other state schools like Berkeley, UCLA, and Virginia are also similar.</p>
<p>So, it's not like all state schools are bad.</p>
<p>My suggestion to you is to start drinking...heavily...you better listen to me, I'm in medical school (aside: my pharmacology prof yesterday called a BAC of .2-.3 "moderate drinking" - keep in mind the legal limit is .08 in most states).</p>
<p>Also, I'm totally kidding (except for the part about my pharm prof). Most people won't get it, but that's a take off from a line in "Animal House"</p>