<p>NU = Northwestern = best school ever.</p>
<p>When I was choosing a college last year one of my top priorities was for it to be in or near a city. I knew I couldn't handle living in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do but go to frat parties. The city experience is awesome. Right now I am a freshman at a college right near Boston. Boston is a fantastic college town because there are 260,000 other students in the area in the same boat. It is also not as scary as NYC, and for a major city it is quite small. The problem is, you kinda have to have disposable income. I love dining out in Cambridge and Boston and shopping but it is not the cheapest place to live. This month I'm trying to limit my Boston visits to save money.<br>
The schools you were looking to transfer to are quite expensive. Is it worth it to pay off loans till you're forty just to 'have a good experience' when you're 18? I don't know. You could do work-study. I'm at Brandeis and they are pretty good with merit/need-based aid, so maybe you could check that out. GWU is very generous with aid...about half of this year's freshman class is receiving some form of financial assistance whether in scholarship or loans. Rice is in Houston and is fairly cheap for a private university. I don't know about BU but it is quite expensive to be a student there. In addition to the 40 thou you also need money to get by in Boston.</p>
<p>I'm definitely going to check out Northwestern...thanks!</p>
<p>and yeah, the money will definitely be an issue I'm sure. However, my thinking is that the massive amount of loans will be worth going to a better college than miami and with more opportunities. I understand that the city will be difficult financially, but is it worth it? How can you decide if it is?</p>
<p>Hi SMan41,
Sound like you're at peace with your decision, but back in the deep dark ancient ages ... in 1976 ... my sister went to Miami of Ohio from a large public HS in Ohio, and found the preppy, homogeneous small-town frat/sorority scene a little stiffling. She sucked it up for her freshman year, but transferred to Univ of Colorado Boulder for her sophomore and subsequent years. She loved it there, never looked back, and lives in Colorado to this day. (Caveat - just one person's experience, obviously may not be everybody's)</p>
<p>thanks justaparent...it really makes me feel better that someone went through it before...if you don't mind, what did your daughter go through at miami and how did she handle it?</p>
<p>It was my sister (not my daughter) that I was referring to - and she was 19 yo back in 1976. The Miami of Ohio of 1976 probably bears little resemblance to the Miami of Ohio of 2005. (Having said that, sometime the more things change, the more they stay the same). But the main reason I posted the anecdote was to just reassure you that deep-down-in-your-heart if you are not happy at Miami then maybe you should consider transferring. I was just giving the example that my sister did it thirty years ago and never regreted it. She was more the out-doorsy type and Boulder CO (U of C) better suited her temperment and interests.</p>
<p>to the OP, I'm feeling the same way, man. There are times when I love this college, and other times when I really don't like it. Basically there is nothing to do in my college town, and no good parties to go to, so it's hard to find stuff to do on the weekend. The atmosphere is very intellectual at my school, and the grading is SUPER tough, but I don't know if my school's name is recognized nationally (I'm an out-of-stater at a small prestigious public university). I'm not sure if what I'm feeling is homesickness (I have a girlfriend back home) or if it's that I just don't like the school.</p>
<p>I've joined a few clubs, one of them I LOVE. The students here are all really nice and non-preppy, but very homogenous.</p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
<p>It just seems like next year is so far away...the first semester isn't even over yet. The problem of time really gets to me along with being here at Miami every day...I don't know...it's just really tough, thanks for the help though everyone</p>
<p>SMan...I completely feel your pain! My deal is that I'm a freshman at Colby College in Maine (welcome to the epitome of the middle of nowhere) and I really feel like I'm wasting a year of my life. I realized this summer that I was pretty sure that I wanted to be a teacher, and to do that, it would be much more economical to go to a school in-state. I'm probably going to transfer to The College of New Jersey for next fall. In the meantime, I feel like I'm wasting 42,000 bucks on a school I don't really like. I go through highs and lows...some days, like today for example, was pretty good, but for the most part, I just wonder how I'm going to make it through this semester, a January semester, and the whole spring semester. I talk to my mom a lot on the phone, and like someone mentioned before, she reminds me that "nothing is forever." Right now, things I'm sure seem super bleak. I'm just trying to break time up into pieces and focusing on getting through smaller fractions of time. Like right now, for example, I'm focused on Thanksgiving break. So, in the meantime, I don't know what you (or I) am to do. I guess we've just got to do anything that will take our minds off it all. Good luck!</p>
<p>I feel the same way. I go to W&M, and I have high points and low points, days when I love it and days when I get super-depressed. I dunno maybe it's jus tthe first-semester jitters...thought they'd be over by now though :-/</p>
<p>Northwestern people: You guys do know that Evanston is considered "the ghetto" by the surrounding communities, right? I'm not saying that it actually is, but I wouldn't label it "a very nice suburb"--especially when you look at Winnetka and Kenilworth right next door.
That being said, it is a great location. And you really don't need to deal with the crap parts of Etown anyway.</p>
<p>Oh, and the school rocks.</p>
<p>Most of Evanston is very nice--as nice as Wilmette and Winnetka except for the southwest part of town. The average house in the good parts of Evanston is well over $500K. It also has much more shopping and restaurants in a real downtown.</p>
<p>oooooooooooooooooook</p>