<p>thf5017, since you posted today, let me offer some comments before this thread finally dies out. </p>
<p>I know that a lot people have a lot of expectations about college, but that doesn’t mean that they are all realistic - the same laws that bugged you in high school will bug you in college, perhaps even more so since busting college students is just so easy for cops to do.</p>
<p>I know that different schools better suit different people, but when you’ve only attended one university it is far too easy to think that its problems are unique and miss the fact that they are endemic. That the grass seems greener on the other side of the fence is an illusion of light and angles - it’s the same grass.</p>
<p>Lastly, there is an amazing amount of literature and media out there about the high school to college transition, and yet people still seem to miss that it is in many ways a very different world - whether you change or not is up to you, but it turns out that within a few years most people realize that they really weren’t that great in high school, and make changes for the better. One thing stays the same - people generally don’t like to hang around depressed whiners who think that they are much more interesting and entertaining than people give them credit for.</p>
<p>I will agree on the price tag issue, although again that is common to state schools. Many out-of-state students would be far better served in the long run by attending a cheaper in-state school. If that school does not get you where you want to be, you can always do a grad degree, probably for free. Assuming that you didn’t spend your entire undergrad partying.</p>