<p>As I endure the long wait until April 1, I fill my time by reading everything I can find on the schools I've applied to. And inevitably, I run across negative comments. Things like:</p>
<p>"I'm miserable here and want to transfer"
"The dorms here are horrible!"
"Everyone here is elitist, spoiled and stuck up"
"Everyone here parties 24/7 and I can't study"
"Worst College Town in America"</p>
<p>These are things I hadn't seen before I applied; everything I'd read was so positive, which is why I applied to these schools. I realize that there are always people who don't like certain things, look for things to complain about, or just don't mesh with their school's atmosphere. But it's really getting me worried! What if those people are like me and I feel the same way when I get there? What if I hate the school I end up at and regret not listening to these warnings? </p>
<p>Is anyone else having "appliers remorse"? Am I being too paranoid?</p>
I’ve heard all of these about my university. I personally have the smallest dorm room on campus, and it’s about as small as dorm rooms go. I’m working class and so many people are wealthy, which leads to a big difference in experience and opinion. I don’t drink, but all of my friends do. South Bend, Indiana is the worst college town in America. Further, I’m sure there have been a few miserable students who transferred out.</p>
<p>That said, I absolutely love my school. It’s amazing, I’m having a great time, I’m really close with all of my friends, I love my dorm, I’m able to get along with the vast majority of students despite some big political/economic differences, classes are great, and I can’t imagine being nearly this happy with any of my other choices.</p>
<p>It’s natural to have doubts, but my guess is you’ll probably like where you end up. Most people do.</p>
<p>What you also have to take into consideration is that you might be reading posts that freshmen are writing this year. The most common reason why they’re writing these negative reviews? They’re having a hard time adjusting - which is FINE and NORMAL! My first semester was miserable for me because I had a terrible roommate, and all I did was bash my university and constantly talk about how I wanted to transfer. Then, I got a new roommate, joined some new clubs on campus, and tada! I can’t imagine myself at any other University.</p>
<p>You may be doing what I did as a senior in high school - reading student written reviews on google during any free time you have. My advice? Stop. You know why you chose the colleges that you toured and loved and applied to. So why are you letting other people influence what you think about the school? This is no one’s choice but your own. There is no one university that is a good fit for everyone on the planet - there are going to be people who attend a school that they end up absolutely hating, and why should you let them influence your opinion? Choose the school that is the best fit for YOU and YOU ALONE! Don’t let Negative Nancy influence your decision. :)</p>
<p>“Everyone?” Really? “The Worst?” Is this credible?</p>
<p>I would give more weight to balanced reviews by people who can describe the pros and cons (every environment has them) of their school, and why it might or might not be a good fit for someone with a particular set of goals and values.</p>
<p>Thank you, everyone! You’re all so right. I was happy and excited about my schools when I chose them, so I should just stop reading these things. I seriously need to find something else to do for the next couple months! It’s just hard not to obsess about college stuff after being consumed with it for so long!</p>
<p>From the list of schools that you’ve been accepted to already, and the one that I’m guessing you’re most likely to attend so far, the only complaint I think you’ll have are the cold winters.:)</p>
<p>Are you talking about **************(dot) com? I came across that site when doing research on schools, and couldn’t believe how negative most of the reviews were. As I read more, it seemed like a lot of the bad reviews were written by the same (disgruntled?) person.</p>
<p>(…apparently, I cannot say the name of site but it has reviews as the second word)</p>
<p>I looked up my alma mater on that site and found a spate of horrific reviews, all from within the span of one month a couple years ago. It looked to me like one person logging in again and again to vent. Anonymous online reviews should be considered about as reliable as anything written on a bathroom wall, especially when the writer clearly has an axe to grind.</p>