Thinking about transferring... Don't know where.

Transfer Students
1

Hi!
I am currently an undergraduate student at the University of Oklahoma on my winter break. The past semester was pretty rough for me, and I am thinking about transferring.
A lot of factors played into my college decision, but in the end, I think I mainly decided to go there because I didn’t know where else I wanted to go. I didn’t do a lot of college tours my senior year of high school or anything, and I was just so overwhelmed with all the college options that I didn’t even know where to start, really. My high school advisors didn’t help much either.

I went into the semester optimistic and hopeful. I had a couple of friends attending there, and was friends with my roommate. I was expecting things to go way differently than they did the past semester, and it’s just been pretty bad for me. My dad went to OU, and I grew up going to football games, so I expected it to feel like home. I doesn’t. I’m in multiple clubs, volunteer through the university, am in a sorority, and I still haven’t made any friends. I ask people to hang out, and really have made an effort over this semester, but it’s gotten to the point where it’s exhausting and I’m sick of trying at all when I feel like I don’t fit in anywhere. All my friends from home love their respective schools, and are all missing people from their college. I feel like I have nothing to miss, and don’t really care to go back at all. I live about two hours away from OU, and I spend a lot of weekends going home because I have nothing to do. I enjoyed going to the football games, but now that it’s spring semester, I feel like I’ll be even more miserable.

My grades didn’t suffer at all, I poured all my focus into schoolwork, and I finished the first semester with a high GPA. I had a 3.86 unweighted GPA after high school, but my senior year grades suffered a bit (I took 6 AP classes, and my high school was pretty competitive), but I don’t know how much any of that affects Transfer students.

Anyways, I’m not really sure what to do. I’m going back for the spring semester to try and tough it out, but I just don’t know if it’s going to get any better. It’s tolerable because I’m close to home, but even my best friend is shocked at how unhappy I am there. I am close with my family, but I’ve always been pretty independent, so it makes me wonder if homesickness is the only factor here, or if it’s because I feel like OU isn’t really where I’m supposed to be.

I’m not really sure what the process is for transfer students. Not to mention I don’t have any idea where I’d want to transfer to. I just feel like I need to start looking into it as applications will be due in a couple months if I want to attend somewhere else in the fall. I don’t really want to take a semester off, either. I just feel like I’m in limbo, and I’m very confused. So, essentially, I don’t really know what to do, but I don’t want to be unhappy for the next four years because I decided to stay at OU. Any advice or thoughts or anything?

2

If the sorority you joined is a national one, looking at the list of schools that have chapters could be a good starting point. Maybe you’d find someplace that would be a better fit in terms of the school overall, but also have a Greek “family” that would welcome you.

Kudos for keeping your grades up even in the midst of a tough adjustment. That will help with having as many options as possible.

You may be surprised to find that things end up falling into place in the spring. Sometimes it just takes time. But given how you’re feeling, it certainly does make sense to explore alternatives and file some applications, so that you have options; then you can see how you feel at the end of the year.

What’s important to you in terms of academic offerings? What’s your budget, if you were to go out of state? Would you be eligible for need-based aid (or able to afford full-pay) at a full-need-met school?

3

Hi, thank you for your reply!!

Yes, my sorority is a national one! That is a great idea, I hadn’t thought of that before! I will definitely look into that.

I have been hearing that things will get better in the spring semester, which is the main reason I’ve decided to go back and give it another chance this semester.

In terms of what I’m looking for, I would like the school to in a bigger city, or at least close to one; I don’t really like small towns. I’m a business major, so looking for university with a good school of business, and I intend to go to law school, so any opportunities there. I don’t think I would receive any financial aid, but I would be able to afford full-pay if I went out of state. I want to go to a bigger school, and I think I’d like one that’s similar to the one I am attending now, but that’s a better fit.