<p>I know I need to decide for myself if I should pursue transferring or not, but I thought I might as well ask for some advice.</p>
<p>I'm at a prestigious research institution as a freshman. It's on the east coast (where else?) and I'm from a rural town in the west. I took a gap year, and through my senior year and the gap year found I really want to be a wildlife biologist/ecologist/forest ranger/etc. However, when applying to schools in the fall of my senior year, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. I applied to my current school because it's a cutting edge university with a lot of cool things going on, even if they're not what I now know I want to pursue a career in. I chose to attend my school because it's the only "good" school I was accepted to.</p>
<p>So academically I don't fit in. The humanities college (where I am) is the ugly duckling of the school, and even within the college it's an oddity to be undecided. It seems like most people are economics/statistics or public policy or international relations or something really... useful. At my high school I was one of the better math/science students, but here I'm struggling in comp sci and a little in physics (partially because my math is rusty from the gap year), and my humanities classes are so boring because no one is engaged.</p>
<p>Socially. I'm rather introverted and am not into partying or drinking or anything, so I think my social life will probably be about the same no matter where I go. My roommate here really grates on me, but that's just luck of the draw, and nothing against the school itself. Other than having to live with him, I've liked the people here a lot.</p>
<p>The rural to urban change is also a bit of a shock. I was realizing today that it's literally impossible to be alone here. I miss being able to go for a bike ride or a run down a road and be surrounded by fields within a few minutes. The quiet study floor on the library is pretty close, but it's still not "alone." I miss mountains in the distance, and being able to climb said mountains. The humidity is a bit of a bother as well, but that's not a legit reason to transfer.</p>
<p>Athletically, I'm on the cross country team and it's taking a lot out of me. Exercise is supposed to be a stress reliever, but honestly it's just another thing for me to worry about. It's a D3 school, but it's still a lot more than I was expecting. Practice is every day during the "activity" time, so I can't be actively involved in any other club or organization, because their meetings are during practice. If I transferred to somewhere that's D1, I would feel justified in not doing cross country but if I didn't do it here I would just feel like a wimp, and I don't like quitting... Like, it would be hard for me to tell the coach "I'm done," after we've been training for a month and already ran two meets. I enjoy being on a team, it's just that the workouts are hard and there's the constant fear of being overworked or injured or being too slow (about five of us freshmen got cut).</p>
<p>So I'm considering transferring to a land grant university out west. Basically. Or a rural liberal arts college that offers some sort of environmental science/geology/biology with a focus in ecology sort of major. I guess I feel conflicted because of the drop in prestige, and almost like paying the tuition here for the first year would have been wasted if I do end up transferring to a land grant. </p>
<p>Mostly I feel like this was for me to justify transferring to myself. But I have a really hard time telling people about it. My parents won't be upset, but I'm still unsure how to break the news that I'm even considering transferring, let alone to a "less-worthy" school. Any advice?</p>