<p>Hello, I am currently a freshman dual majoring in Computer Science and Game and Simulation Arts and Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. I am thinking of transferring to Stony Brook University because I believe I will be happier there. During spring break, I visited my friends at Stony Brook and was pretty glad that I got to hang out with them. After the visit, I realized how I never felt that happy at RPI. </p>
<p>I am not sure if transferring there is the best thing to do. The reason I chose RPI in the first place was because my high school guidance counselor suggested it to me. I went with it because I liked how it had a good name/reputation/ranking. Ever since spring break, I have been asking myself if my happiness or the value of my college degree is more important.</p>
<p>I will list the advantages and disadvantages of transferring that I have thought of.</p>
<p>Advantages:</p>
<ul>
<li>lower cost</li>
<li>more friends -- to me, this means more happiness because here at RPI I find it hard to find/make new friends. I have joined the clubs I am interested in, but the people in them don't have the same interests as me. I have tried rushing fraternities, but most of the people in them love to drink or get high very often, and I am trying my best to avoid that now. I find it hard to find new people to talk to in class because the teacher is giving a lecture so everyone is trying to pay attention and take notes. Most of my current friends that I hangout with daily are graduating from RPI or transferring to a different school, so I really worry that I will become lonely again and start playing games excessively or something. I don't want to become addicted to games or become depressed again. I really want to experience everything in life, so I want to do as much as I can with other people, not just sit in my room watching movies/playing video games.</li>
<li>more diversity --> even more friends --> could probably find a good fraternity to join</li>
<li>could take korean classes there -- I have always wanted to learn Korean because I think Korea has a great culture and I love watching Korean dramas (maybe like once a week). I plan to visit Korea one day.</li>
</ul>
<p>Disadvantages:</p>
<ul>
<li>lose the high reputation of RPI's name (not sure how high up there RPI is compared to Stony)</li>
<li>lose the Game and Simulation Arts and Sciences major -- I am not too concerned about this because I want my main thing to be Computer Science. This major is basically game design. I was interested in it at first because I like programming. However, the courses here at RPI are more focused on the design aspect which I wasn't expecting. The reason I am still taking these courses is because I think having this major will get me a better chance at landing a programming job in the game industry. The reason I listed this as a disadvantage is that I will lose a lot of experience with programming games in software such as Unity since Stony doesn't offer this major/courses. </li>
<li>I would probably have to take an extra year at Stony since the game design classes I took at RPI would probably not transfer credits to Stony.</li>
</ul>
<p>These are the majors things I have been thinking about. My main concern is that transferring for the desire to be happier is a good reason. I also feel like transferring means I'm giving up. Right now I really lack in self confidence and it is killing me. I really feel that the friends I have at Stony would boost it a lot since they know me and have already accepted me for who I am. </p>
<p>Please leave me some advice or suggestions.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>