<p>I hope someone here can shed some light on my situation for me! I spent my entire freshman year at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. When I received my acceptance letter, I couldn't have been happier, but it soon took a turn for the worst when my dream school turned out to be not so great. During my time at Whitman, it was a difficult adjustment for me because I am a California girl, and the lack of sunshine really got to me. As for the friend scene, I found it difficult to relate to many students there because most were from the Pacific Northwest. As a result, I only made about 2-3 close friends, but even they flaked out on me at times. At a small school, once the student body sees you eating most of your meals alone, they do not really want to associate with "a loner." The school has a large drinking culture as well. While I chose to stay sober, most students there do not. In the year that I spent there, I found it hard to make friends because I was cooped up in my room doing loads of homework, and on the weekends I would go to parties, but not drink (I think many dismissed me as a potential friend due to this). I joined a variety of clubs to try and make friends, but most turned out to be large drinking groups, so I left. Along with friend-making troubles, it was very difficult to be separated from my family and boyfriend of two years. The professors there however were truly unlike any I have ever experienced, and I fell in love with the town of Walla Walla. While at Whitman, I also served as an assistant scoutmaster in a local boy scout troop which I absolutely loved, and I still miss them each and every day. Due to my first year difficulties, I decided to take a yearlong leave of absence and transfer to Scripps College in Claremont, CA to test out an option that was more close to home. Scripps has been great so far, but it lacks the close-knit atmosphere and the passionate professors of Whitman. The student diversity at Scripps is also far greater than that of Whitman, so making friends here has been a breeze. Being closer to home is also a big plus. However, since I have been at Scripps, I still find myself missing Whitman for some reason. Last weekend I decided to fly back and visit Whitman for a few days to try and make up my mind about which school to attend. After reflecting as I walked around campus (remembering most of the bad memories that I had experienced), I filled out a withdrawal form and turned it in. As soon as I handed it over, I felt overwhelmed with sorrow, and immediately regretted that decision. Thankfully I was able to have the school dispose of the form. So here I am, not knowing which school to attend at all after almost a year, and I have to decide in the next two weeks :( Has anyone else been in this situation, or just have any words of advice? I have lost months of sleep and sanity over this unfortunately!</p>
<p>wecandoit, I’m sorry that you’ve had such a struggle. My son attends Whitman and I’m sorry that it has been a less than wonderful social experience for you. Is there a chance that now that you’ve disconnected from the social scene there, you could return and end up with a new and different group of people to hang out with. Judging from several of the posts by current students on the Whitman forum, it sounds like there ARE students who aren’t into the drinking scene. Perhaps you could send one of them a private message and ask how they do it.</p>
<p>There is a decision making method that someone on CC suggested a while back. Try flipping a coin, heads Whitman, tails Scripps. If you find yourself wishing for a certain result as you flip, or you want to flip again once you get a result, then you have your answer. </p>
<p>Best wishes!</p>