Should I transfer?

I’m currently a student at the University of Washington and I kind of hate it. The competitiveness/capacity constrained major system irks me the most-- I don’t believe that students should be turned away from their majors after paying tens of thousands of dollars and working tirelessly for hours on what they are interested in. I hate that there are weed-out classes, and that in the end I could be left with a completely different major than what I wanted in the first place. It’s huge: big enough to feel like there’s nothing that pulls everyone together–they’re all just doing their own thing. I don’t like how urban it is. And I don’t think the school spirit is as prominent as I thought it would be with a big football school like this.
I do enjoy being in the Pacific Northwest, and through a friend’s experience at the University of Oregon I started looking into that school more. It’s hard to beat the UW’s ranking/prestige and its beautiful campus, but I’m seriously doubting if that is worth it if I’m going to be hating the environment I’m in. Oregon does not have the competitiveness that exists here, I love the smaller college town setting, and the students have been so friendly when I’ve visited. Also, their school spirit is huge. If I went there, majors that would be competitive here like CS or business would be open to my exploration, which is exciting. By contrast, at UW, it’s easy to feel like one class can ruin my chances at one particular path and that I shouldn’t even try branching out.

What advice would you give when considering two schools of different reputation? Does it even matter in the long run? Any advice about these two schools/transferring in particular would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I wouldn’t worry about the rankings. UW is slightly more highly ranked, but both are excellent schools. The difference won’t make much difference. There are outstanding students, professors, and staff at both. It is really HOW you go to school, not WHERE, that’s most important.

In terms of transferring, I’d just recommend working hard and doing as well as you can. Also, you might want to be able to demonstrate some participation in activities beyond the classroom. Good luck!