Second thoughts about transferring

Hello! I’m currently a sophomore at a small college and I am planning on transferring in the spring semester to a Big 10 university. I know transferring is probably the right decision for my career as I believe the school I’m going to will give me more opportunities in my field of interest, but I am having second thoughts about leaving. While there are some things I dislike about my school, overall I have it pretty good here and I’ve made some really incredible friends. I’m afraid if I leave I won’t make friends or I will loose touch with my current friends. Do you guys think I’m making the right choice in leaving or should I stay?

How thorough is the transfer orientation at the new U? Happykid did a CC to state U transfer and met scads of people at the transfer orientation and then in her classes. She had to live off campus too because there was no housing for fall transfers. She never had trouble making friends.

But to go back to your own situation: Why did you apply to transfer in the first place? Was it specifically for your career goal? Is it a major that is much stronger at the new U? Or, were you just sort of feeling miffed that your current C is lower in the rankings, or because of the “things I dislike”?

With Facebook, Twitter, etc. if you don’t stay in touch with your current friends it will be because you haven’t made any effort. Sheesh.

The friends you have right now might not be the ones you have in 5 or even 10 years. People change so much during high school, college, young adulthood. If they’re really your friends you guys will stay in touch and visit each other. With the limited information provided I think you should go for the transfer to the university that opens up way more opportunities.

Not a question that anybody here can really answer, @natureluvr, but we can offer some questions that might help you discern the answer. First one is: why did you apply to transfer in the first place? there are probably several reasons: the headline reason that you gave your parents, the responsible reason you gave the teacher you asked to write your recommendation, the socially acceptable reason(s) you gave your friends at home and at your current college, the ambitious student reasons you put in your application essay…

…but underneath all of those (which may all be at least partly true), what actually drove the ‘I don’t want to be here’ feeling to the point of doing the work of applying to transfer? Reasons that come up a lot on CC include emotional attachments to people in/near the new school; having made a mess of something at the beginning & being afraid that it’s not recoverable; finding the transition to college/life away from home/being new harder than expected; and so on.

Being as honest as you can be with yourself, identify what that push was. Is that original piece still true?

It is almost always true that a big university will have more opportunities in any given field than a small college, but it is also usually true that (assuming that you are in an academically competitive LAC) quantity is not the only metric: nobody can take advantage of all the opportunities out there, so what matters is if there enough opportunities or enough room for you to make your own opportunities. Most careers can be launched successfully from either a Big 10 or a top LAC.