I just wanted to ask about this particular situation that I am sure a lot of people have been in to some degree. I am having an issue between picking my dream school versus my state school. I feel like the choice is clear but I want a second opinion.
My situation is somewhat unique as I am not an incoming freshman. I have been in college for two years so I know what college is like. The issue was that I was introduced to this private “dream school” the summer that I was going to settle to my local state school (both four-year colleges). I attended a program at the private school the week before they had classes begin and I loved the experience I had. Unfortunately, I had only $300 saved up and that was not enough to suffice for the remaining cost. My mother could not help me pay for school and my father refused to because he liked the state school for the cost, the fact that it was close to home (I was accepted into a few other state schools that a couple hours from home and he discouraged everyone of them), my major which does not exactly ensure that I will make a lot of money off of (I am a music major), and the fact that he went to a private school and has not paid his loans off for whatever personal reason he can come up with. So taking all this into consideration, I chose to leave the school and save up then come back. Two years later I am standing at a stand-still and now have to choose my path.
My experience at this state school hasn't been the best. I could count my blessings, however, as I am fortunate that I don't have to take out any loans, I get free meals and housing and have a lot of wonderful opportunities that include singing at my local church where my professor is a music minister and getting scholarship money for it, having a professor invite me to take his composition seminar which is something close to a dream of mine and having professors who have renewed faith in me after I showed them what I was capable of (especially after they thought I wasn't making adequate progress in the program). With these new opportunities that have appeared the quarter before I anticipated my transfer move, I am wondering if transferring to a new school is the right move with these turn of events.
The bad side to this school is that I feel like I don’t fit in. I have tried to get involved in different things but I always feel like everyone in my major has friends and get along great while I just watch everyone be happy. I would also love to meet people from different majors but I only do when they are in GenEd classes or programs with me and after the quarter is over, we part ways. As a commuter, campus life is also dead and I am not getting he college experience I so desire. I have felt lonely at this school for two years but is this experience justifiable to move?
On the other hand, my first choice school has been waiting to accept me with open arms. They really help me financially (with academic scholarships and grants in addition to the FASFA) so that I can attend and I always find students that I click with instantly there. The school shares my morals, values and it has the college environment that I have always dreamed about. The faculty also remember me from two years ago and are very kind and supportive of me. Once I step on campus I always feel welcomed, wanted and appreciated. I also feel like it's the right fit. It's near the beach, the music program is much bigger, more active, and their choirs actually go on tours, the facilities are much more updated and they more degrees/courses offered than my present school. The thing is that I don't want to start over and miss the opportunities I have acquired at my current school...but I do want to make memories. The downside is that the school feeds me a ton of student loans to cover the remaining cost. In one year alone I will have taken out about $12,000 in loans. Pretty much all of my courses have transferred to this school but I will need to take the remaining core classes. I will probably also graduate on time, if not I will be a semester late at most. Despite this, I don't feel comfortable taking out that many loans and I don't want to owe $20k-$30k at graduation because I know that I will most likely have trouble paying that money back. This is especially justified when I think that, the extra cash I am paying for is merely for the experience and the joy that I will undoubtedly feel while there as the academics are generally matched between schools.
I have everything set up to transfer at this point I just need to inform one of the schools that I am not going to attend.So I am leaning on staying but I guess I want some second opinions as I flip-flop between decisions. I would love to hear your opinions and if you have faced similar instances or have found someone in a similar circumstance that could be referred to here. Thank you in advanced for your input.
I apologize for the rambling and long paragraphs in this question. I just wanted to give an accurate picture of what I am dealing at.