<p>I am a rising sophomore at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. I had a pretty awful time my freshman year- I was put in a single room, which was very lonely. I tried to get involved by joining clubs and attending the meetings. I even went on a spring break trip to volunteer. Throughout all of this, I had a hard time connecting with people. It felt a little bit like high school because it was awfully cliquey. I had a very close but also fairly large group of friends in high school and they helped break me out of my shell, but when I am put on my own I tend to be very shy,making it hard to break into the cliques at college. I did fairly well in classes, and was nominated for a few awards as well as chosen to be a TA for the bio department. The strong programs and small school academics, as well as the few good friends I made at school, are making me want to stay at SLU. However, I had applied to UMass Amherst because I think I want a big school atmosphere in a better location (SLU is in upstate New York in the middle of nowhere). I don't want to go back to SLU because I am afraid I will have another terrible experience, but I am also afraid to give up the great opportunities (nice roommate, bio TA, good programs) at SLU. I have to decide where to go by June 1st and I am just so lost. Does anyone have any advice or comments? I also had the idea of taking a semester off to travel and volunteer, because I don't feel like either of my school options will really make me that happy. </p>
<p>If you don’t particularly like either of your options, ask about taking a leave of absence.</p>
<p>Since you have a good roommate for the fall, and a good TA position, you also should think about returning for the fall semester, but start planning now for a spring semester off or away somewhere else.</p>