<p>Hey everyone,
I'm currently a freshman anthropology major at my local community college (I live in northern CA) and I have a dilemma. I have a non-existent social life here and it's driving me absolutely crazy. I was looking forward to moving away from home, living in a dorm, going greek, and enjoying the quintessential college experience, but after getting rejected from my top choice senior year, I decided to go the cc route. Although i do not completely regret my decision because now I realize my top choice wouldn't have been the best fit, I really want to get out of here as quickly as possible. I have enough credits to transfer out to some instate privates and oos schools (I really like UT Austin & I'm also looking at University of San Diego, University of Oregon and Chapman) or I could try to not completely lose my mind and stay here and do TAG with UCSB and apply to UCLA as well as some CSUs. I want to get out of here, but I don't want to look back in the future and regret not going the more economical route...I've asked my parents several times what their opinion is and they said they just want me to be happy. What would you do if you were in my situation? Should I suck it up so I can graduate debt free or make a run for it while I still have my sanity? I have wanted the college experience so badly, and I'm so bummed to be missing out on freshman year...I guess I'm thinking three years at a four year would be significantly better than just two, but is that not true? I just want to make the right decision but I'm so conflicted. Input and advice would be GREATLY appreciated, especially because I need to make a decision as soon as possible. Also, any suggestions for other schools to apply to, or insight about the ones I'm interested in is welcome. Sorry for the long post. Thank you so so much in advance!</p>
<p>This really is one of those questions that you have to answer for yourself. There is no one right answer. I’m thinking that graduating debt-free with an anthropology degree is probably a wise choice. No matter where or when you transfer, you’ll probably tell yourself that it would have been easier if only you’d done this earlier. (It’s <em>really</em> easy to torture yourself over decisions made in the past – do try to avoid that!) But getting a degree is the goal. And if you can transfer after this year to a 4-year school and still graduate debt-free, then it sounds like it fits what you want.</p>
<p>BTW, if you want advice from more parents, you might want to try one of the Parent forums. I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of parental action right here…</p>
<p>The decision to transfer needn’t necessarily be a decision to take on more debt. There are schools that have transfer scholarships if you are maintaining a high GPA. There are also Phi Theta Kappa scholarships at many schools, so if your CC has a PTK chapter you could make it your mission to get in. UT Austin and nearby Texas State have scholarships that can reduce your tuition to in-state levels if you qualify for them.</p>
<p>I agree with @dswinnh that if you are pursuing anthropology, graduating with minimal debt is a good idea. Transfer, but try to do it in a way that is not too much of a financial shift.</p>
<p>And post your stats…that will enable us to see if we can recommend some schools where you’d qualify for merit aid.</p>