Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Transfer Students
1

Hey all!

I need advice on whether or not to transfer schools - a decision I have been thinking about since I arrived at school. Sorry if this is boring and long, I just want to give as much information as I possibly can.

I am currently a Freshman at a small liberal arts college in Indiana. I am originally from California and I am having a really tough time dealing with the cold and isolation of the mid-west. I am depressed and feel not completely myself since I have arrived here, and I find myself counting the days till I can get out of here and back to a big city or to somewhere warm. I didn’t think that the weather/location would be such a big deal and effect my happiness this much, but it really is making me feel like a different person. However, I have so much going for me at this school. I have friends who I love, and there is a great queer community here, which is important to me as I am Lesbian. Although the surrounding area is pretty close minded, the gay community on campus is great.

I have recently started to be involved in the Computer Science department on campus and have a great campus job that I love. I have a mentor and teacher who supports me and I feel secure and like I know what I am doing with my major and that I have support to get where I want. Overall the academics here are great and if it were just dependent on that I would stay for sure. However, the school is small and I feel isolated and a bit lonely. There are not many people who I feel I fit in with, and the few that are my close friends are pretty clingy. I just wish there were more diversity and more people to get to know. I also recently had a pretty bad breakup and the small size of the community was made particularly apparent.

Basically the social dynamic and location are the negatives, and the academics and relationships with professors are the positives. They are both really important to me, and I just need some advice. Is transferring due to the weather a bad idea? Or is staying and just dealing with being constantly depressed just torturing myself needlessly? Have any of you recently transferred? Is it worth it, or should I stick it out? I know I won’t get a solid answer just from asking online. I need to figure it out myself- which I have been struggling to do this entire year. I just need some outside advice and a fresh look on the situation because I am becoming frustrated with myself and my indecisive tendencies.

Thanks!

2

if you love your academics and have close friends, I would hold out a semester, then decide about transferring.

3

The good thing about applications is that you can always apply and make a call once the decisions are out. Here is my advice: apply for transfer to schools that will likely have the “positives” you listed (good professors and computer science program, etc.) and not the “negatives” (cold weather, community problems, etc.)

Make a list of about 5 schools. Just after writing this I’m thinking about wonderful colleges like UC Berkeley, which has a great computer science program, wonderful weather, and is known for a diverse and large student population. Make sure your list has schools that are also less selective than Berkeley.

Create a genuine application, lay out your concerns honestly in your essays, and then don’t worry about the outcome. Cross that bridge when it comes.

Once you get your decisions, talk to your friends and parents. By this time, you should have also spent more time at your current college to make a more informed decision. If you feel like you’ve been accepted to a school that promises to maximise all of your positives and minimise all of your negatives, then I would suggest you transfer to that school (assuming your depression and loneliness do not go away).

I know my advice is almost too systematic, but I hope that provides clarity rather than more confusion.

Edit: wanting to transfer due to weather and your other problems is not a bad thing. After all, they are true reasons! I believe that no reason that is genuine is a bad reason. If you show in your essays that weather and loneliness are getting in the way of your academic and professional goals, then colleges will admire your honesty. Just don’t make it THE ONLY reason you want to transfer. Describe that everything collectively (weather, social dynamic, etc.) is hindering your personal growth, and that switching to a school like (insert college name) would really solve your problems.