<p>My S is extremely happy at his chosen school, USC. He has made tons of friends & is actively engaged with many new friends (even more than in HS), gets along well with his dorm mate, play Ultimate Frisbee, raquetball & soccer, as well as working out at the gym, has been to all the football games & has found classes to be fine. He has gained a lot of poise & confidence in his semester of college. We're very happy for him! (Oh yea, he's happy school allows for "night owls," & his 1st class in the fall was 9 or 10am.)</p>
<p>In college, he's been healthier & had a LOT more energy. We're thrilled for him! So far, we haven't heard anything about any of his friends or peers wanting to transfer. All the kids who went to USC with him also seem quite happy there & all have transitioned well.</p>
<p>My DS is very happy at Furman - has done well academically (even with one extremely challenging math prof), and has found a good group of friends and activities. He loves the warm southern weather.</p>
<p>He's happy to be home for the holidays with family and home cooking, but I'm sure he's looking to returning to his "college home."</p>
<p>The Stanford-Boulder transfer is surprising, I agree. But the student is a Coloradan, has many friends at Boulder, father went to CU -- she's well aware of the 'party' reputation/scene. Funny thing is, when she was telling my daughter about not liking Stanford, she said that everyone she met there is very studious, competitive, over-achieving and ambitious. DD looked at her and said, "Oh, you mean just like you." Which is true. How this girl will like Boulder remains to be seen.</p>
<p>"any number of other more or less social and interpersonal factors that you just can't plan for or predict completely in making all those visits and perusing catalogues can have a decisive effect on the student's initial college experience."</p>
<p>My son is very happy at Oberlin. He was disappointed to get waitlisted at his first choice, but hubby and I both felt that Oberlin was a better fit anyway. He likes his classes, has bonded with other kids in his dorm, gets along well with his roommate, says the food is pretty OK, and has taken up a brand new activity. A very happy camper overall.</p>
<p>My daughter is extremely happy after her first semester at Beloit College. Like all freshmen, she did face some challenges this first semester, but they were more adjusting-to-life-on-my-own issues than anything to do with the college itself, and the minor stuff was far-outweighed by all of the positive experiences she had this semester. Like Farfel, I credit her happiness to her really putting a lot of thought and effort into her college search -- she stayed pretty true to herself in terms of what she was looking for, and it paid off with a wonderful fit. </p>
<p>As far as I know, all of her friends from high school are also very happy with their individual college choices. There ARE plenty of kids who go off to college and find they've made the right choice, so don't let "horror" stories convince you otherwise. If that were true, the transfer rate would be much higher than it is.</p>
<p>Could be that the unhappy ones are the "squeaky wheels" who grab the attention (they may seem more numerous because they're more vocally unhappy), rather than the many who are either settling into their schools or extremely happy with their choices.</p>
<p>S is very happy at UVA in the engineering school. Ironically, his favorite class was English (for engineers); this from an avowed English-phobe all his life. I guess the teacher really knew his audience and how to reach these kids. He studied much more than we expected, but didn't seem to mind and did well in all of his courses. All of his friends are reportedly happy with their choices too. We haven't heard of anyone considering a transfer.</p>
<p>DD is also happy with her college choice, Santa Clara. I agree with others...much better than high school. She will be a Student Ambassador beginning next semester (one of 8 freshmen chosen), and is thrilled to be able to "sell" her school to potential students. Interesting...all of her friends are VERY happy with their choices also...so far have only heard of one transfer but that was from one community college to another which offered a specific program. DD also applied EA to her college and it was her number 1 choice all through the selection process. We're glad she is as happy as she thought she was going to be.</p>
<p>D has heard of a transfer from Rhodes back home to UAlabama (she's betting BF or homesick) and since she's been home she learned a friend is transferring from a non-flagship state school with a big party rep to a small Christian college where she will be locked in a all girls-tower with a nice moat.:eek:</p>
<p>D loves BU. Unfortunately, her grades are not the best. Two of her four classes were tough science courses. She may be in danger of losing her merit scholarship after this year.</p>
<p>S likes UWash a lot. He is still adjusting to the city life( public transportation in particular) and is very happy not to be too far from us and from gf. He has many new friends and became even closer to one of his 2 best HS friends who attends the same U and is living a floor above S in the dorm . Academically things seem to be going quiet well( two As and still waiting fore the last grade to be posted) . So it seems the choice was a good one indeed.</p>
<p>My D is LOVING Dartmouth! Courses, profs, friends, she's in the jazz band and finished with a 3.9 GPA. Next term she starts a paid Women in Science internship with a math professor. Life is good!</p>
<p>My daughter loves University of Cincinnati. She was in marching band and met a lot of people. Between band and the honors dorm, she has a lot of friends. She also managed to get a 3.5+ first quarter, which made her fairly happy, though she expects to do better next quarter. </p>
<p>Overall, she is very satisfied with the academics, the kids and the things to do on campus. Her only complaint was the campus food ,which she hasn't complained much about as the quarter progressed.</p>
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DD is happy @ Yale! maybe too happy... will she pleeeeez come home already!?
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<p>Ain't that the truth. My D has her last exam tomorrow morning and will be hopping a train and getting home in the evening, at last! Her friends have all been home for ages, it seems.</p>
<p>My daughter is blissfully happy at the College of Wooster. She's too busy with academics, athletics, and a social life to be lonely or homesick. She was my shy, reserved girl who never wanted to go away to summer camp, so I must say I was surprised to see her adapt so quickly and so well to a school several hundred miles from home. However, a number of her seemingly more adventurous high school friends have already returned from their out-of-state colleges--two of them didn't make it past the first week. Go figure.</p>
<p>1ofea - the Dad & I love Dartmouth (he's an alum) & we were hoping DD would attend- oh well (hopefully grad school). Dartmouth is just unbelievably good to their undergrads!<br>
it does my heart good that our DD made the right choice for herself, BUT I have to admit it does me heart good to know others are taking advantage of all that the big Green has to offer! Yay! ;)</p>