Hi, this is my first time posting on college confidential. I came here because I am worried I chose the wrong university. My freshman year starts this August 27th but I’m having second thoughts after a terrible orientation. I chose this school over what I once considered my dream school. I chose against my dream school because I got a slightly better scholarship, I was accepted into the honors college, the school has a lower teacher to student ratio, the dorms are nicer and it’s in a friendly little town. However, since orientation, I’ve HATED my decision. Orientation sucked. Many of those appealing qualities that I chose this school for turned out not to be. The university advisors wouldn’t let me have more than two honors classes in my schedule (a cheesy introduction to Honors class and calculus-so it’s really only one honors class) so now I’m stuck with no honors classes related to my major (BioMed), I’m stuck with classes with high student to teacher ratios because of that (honors classes are capped at 25 students, now I have four 250 student classes), and besides that some of the advisors made rude comments about where I grew up and i found that the school isn’t really pushing for student success the way I would like. Also, the school has started having many issues between the students and administration over the past few months. I’ve come to find out that many students feel that the administration is cheating them and not prioritizing the quality of education. There’s been frequent protests against new policies that the administration has been rolling out. Even teachers are leaving due to the administrations lack of support.
Is it too late to change? Should I wait out freshman year and see if I’m just overthinking it?
Besides that, some things in my life have changed since accepting my offer. This school is about 4 hours away from home and my grandfather (the most important person in my life) was in the hospital for over a month and since that, I feel like I don’t want to leave my family behind…because what am I without them?
Be patient and ignore the whiners. You are a freshman. You will have some large introductory classes. If you are going to a selective school, then the advisers know who they are dealing with and generally steer you in the same direction as everyone else. If you are from a podunk location, that might be one reason you were accepted to that school so be proud of it and ignore geography snobs who exist everywhere.
The snarky advisor’s comments are the least of my concerns. It was more so that I didn’t walk away with the schedule that I felt I was promised during recruitment and that the honors college isn’t what was advertised. Also the thing with my family is the biggest factor in wanting to switch.
Also it’s not a very selective school. None of the Arizona schools are. I felt like the counselor didn’t know what they were doing. It wasn’t until I talked to several and found an Honors advisor that I began to actually have an informative discussion.
Join the club of dissatisfied freshmen everywhere. Most freshmen don’t get all the courses they want.
What can you do at this point? The other colleges you were accepted to are gone. You can take a gap year, or see if there is still time to register at the local CC.
I sense this is really just normal panic, magnified by your grandfather’s situation. Four hours is nothing. You can get home really quickly in four hours. Do you think it would make your grandpa happy to drop college because he’s been ill? No, it won’t.
All freshmen, even the ones who get into their top chocies, have doubts. You accpeted this college for very sound reasons. Those reasons are still there. My D attended a meet and greet for her college, about a month before classes began. Neither of us enjoyed it and didn’t meet anyone we thought was great. It was off-putting to her, and she began worrying she had made the wrong choice, though she kept that a secret. Unfortunately, that negative mindset carried over to the beginning of college. She had a rough time settling in and very much doubted her choice for a couple of months. But, she was sensible enough to focus on the good things. By Thanksgiving things had fallen into place and now she loves her school.
Start college as planned. Your grandpa will be proud of you. Things might not be ideal at first, but by second semester you will feel much more settled in if you stay focussed on why you are at college. You can share your college stories with your grandpa. Don’t allow these doubts to derail your plans.
You can defer enrollment for a semester or a year and take a gap year/semester while you re-think your options. Just find out if your scholarship will still exist if you take that time off.
Sit down with your family and review the money situation. You chose this place in part because of the better scholarship. Is that a big factor (you may need to bite the bullet and go to this university because of money) or is it not a big deal? Even with the scholarship, given the distance from family, is it truly affordable?
There’s a fine line between complaining (which we all do) and being genuinely unhappy. If you’re the latter, then I would go through with the semester or year and consider transfer options now so you can try for transfer after one year, or a gap year as happymomof1 indicated.
I recall complaining a lot with my fellow classmates - the 8AM tests, bad professors, the food, but don’t recall if I was unhappy enough to transfer.
Buyer’s remorse is normal. So is not getting classes as a freshman. I sat through many college briefs in the last year including possibly the one you are at and never heard anyone promise a schedule. Not sure which AZ school you are at. Two honor’s classes also sounds about right. This isn’t HS with APs. Freshman at Harvard will find themselves in classes with hundreds of students. Going to an LAC is probably the only way to avoid that and you would be further away from your grandfather if you chose that.
Four hours is not a hard drive. You can drive after class on Friday and back on Sunday if you want. At least Saturday morning and back Sunday.
I had buyer’s remorse my entire first semester of college. My schedule was awful, gen ed classes were boring, and it was a big campus which I wanted but can be harder to find your group. By my senior year, I couldnt’ walk across campus without stopping for five conversations, had a professor invite students to dinner at his house, and knew almost every student in my major and had a group of us who coordinated our class schedules to have a dependable work group.
Please give it a chance. You admitted that it was better when you talked to an honors advisor. The longer you are there, the better the advisors will know you.
Last thought, small classes mean more difficulty in scheduling because it can be hard to get in a class. Large classes aren’t always bad. Some of the best classes I’ve had were large lectures when the prof was great.