Hi all,
I posted on here a while back about transferring to a different uni, but now, I’m not so sure anymore.
In some ways, I do want to transfer. I don’t really like the people here, and many are so against my own political views I find that I’m cast off as an outsider because they see my views as stupid and immoral, and I, theirs. In addition to that, I’m a commuter (trying to save money), so it’s more difficult to meet people and feel like I’m a part of the community. I do feel like I’m missing out on the “college experience”, which is one of my main regrets. I’m tired of having to drive to school every day and making the 1/2 hour commute, and on top of that, I don’t really like Southern California which makes me want to move away even more. The major I am currently studying (environmental science) doesn’t have many people in the program, though its overall ranking is not too bad (~#30 in the West). There aren’t that many ES classes, but the ones they do have are interesting. The university isn’t that highly ranked, either.
On the pro side, I absolutely LOVE all of my professors. They are some of the smartest, most caring people I have ever met. Within a week, all of them knew my name and would greet me when they saw me. In the few clubs I am involved in, I love going to meetings and getting involved, and the few friends I have found I truly enjoy spending time with. My GPA is respectable (3.82) and I’m probably going to get a 3.7 or 3.8 again this semester. Also, I’m only spending about 11k in tuition and books at a private university, which is definitely a plus. I like the small class sizes (the biggest class I’ve had has been 40 people in my gen bio lecture), and this is a plus for me as I don’t like huge classes. I’ve been able to get a pretty good job where I work with some of the most important people on campus, and I’ll have some more possible opportunities in the future (I’m running for the board in one of my clubs, and I may be having an integral part in the on campus garden).
So, basically my main beef is with the students and my commute, though I love my profs and classes. I just don’t know if I should waste all this money on applying to other schools if I won’t be able to find one as inexpensive as the one I’m currently at (money is a huge factor for me) and risk all the opportunities I’ve had over the past few months and will have in the future. At the same time, I don’t want to regret never applying in the first place.
I’m really at a crossroads here and would love some input from the community!
