I am currently enrolled in Boulder colorado. I came in as a freshman and this is my second semester here and I am not loving it. There is not really nightlife in Boulder besides house parties and that’s really boring to me. I haven’t had any luck making any friends even though I have joined clubs, gotten a job, talked to people in classes, gone to events, etc. I don’t really know what to do at this point. And it seems like all anyone here likes to do is ski and i’ve never gone, i’m from a place with a lot of beaches so we didn’t get that much snow. All I can think about all the time is how I don’t like it here and want to transfer. Nothing is necessarily wrong with Boulder there is hiking and alot of outdoors stuff to do and the campus is beautiful but I just don’t feel like its a good fit for me. I was thinking about transferring to a California school to save money and be closer to my boyfriend but i dont know if that decision will make things any better for me. Any suggestions?
In my opinion, if all you’re thinking about is that you don’t like it and you want to leave, it’s time to transfer. Finish out this semester and then go somewhere else. Life is much too short to spend the next three years unhappy.
Well, I think in order to make the decision you have to separate things that are likely to change vs. things that aren’t likely to change. The question isn’t really should you transfer to a California school but WHICH California school you might transfer to. And instead of thinking about what you dislike about CU-Boulder, you need to think about what you actually need to thrive in a college setting and what colleges you can apply to that will give you those things.
I’m assuming that California is where you’re from, since you mentioned saving money.
First of all, I’d take the boyfriend out of the equation. While it would be nice to be closer to him, that shouldn’t be a primary driver for you now.
You say that there’s no nightlife in Boulder, but you need to define what you mean by “nightlife.” Do you need access to lots of college bars? Do you want nightclubs that you and friends can go to? Do you want nightlife that’s not dominated by the college student population but has lots of “townies” in it to? House parties bore you; what kinds of parties do you really want to see?
When you say that you haven’t had luck making friends, what do you mean? Do you eat every meal alone? Do you never have anyone to hang out with? Or do you mean that you don’t have a Friends-type tribe yet?
Although I’m sure not everyone at CU-Boulder likes to ski and even the ones who do like to do other things too, skiing is likely to be a big draw for many students who go there given the setting. Even if you’ve never gone skiing, are you interested in skiing? You may find people willing to teach you. But if that doesn’t appeal to you, what DO you like to do? How do you envision spending your free time in college? At the beach? In the city, going to museums and art shows? Hanging out at clubs? Playing sports on the green?
Before you can answer the question of whether or not you want to transfer, you have to think about what you are running to, not only what you think is not a good fit. Only that will help you make the decision if it’s better for you to transfer or stay put - there needs to be an environment to transfer TO that feels good for you.