<p>I'm a freshman and am pretty unhappy here to be honest. From the first time I visited I knew I didn't like the school at all, but since it was MIT and I thought I would be giving up a great opportunity, I ended up going. Also the obvious family and social pressure played a role. I also thought that I would get use to it. But after a semester, I still really don't like the school. I'm from socal and I hate the weather(surprisingly its actually making me depressed), the campus seems really strange and ugly to me, its really far from home, the school atmosphere feels completely off to me and I'm not into the MIT culture at all. I know this isn't the case for everyone, but atleast to me, a lot of people seem generally depressed/stressed/burnt out. It's so different from what I'm use to. I've joined a fraternity which helps and I've made a good amount of friends but I still feel really out of place. I also feel like the work/life balance is really bad here from what I've seen. Some sophomores have spent consecutive all nighters finishing up projects and thats not something I want to do. Although I do have some good memories from fun fraternity events so it hasn't all been bad. However, since the day I got here, I counted down the days until I could go back home and I feel like thats a clear sign that something is wrong(not sure if its just homesickness). I came to MIT mainly due to the prestige and the job opportunities and the great education even though its a bad fit. I applied to USC(univeristy of southern california), which is a school I've visited a few times and really like. It's also a 1 hour drive from home which is great for me. I want to major in computer science and my parents and brother are telling me that I would regret transferring out of MIT since it's such a good school and USC is quite the demotion. This does seem to be somewhat the case, but I don't know if I should end up transferring. I'm a bit worried of the "grass is always greener on the other side" scenario and want to make sure I'm making the right choice. I'm also unsure if USC would be challenging enough for me. In conclusion, I would say the main reasons I don't like MIT is because I want to be closer to home, which is pretty important to me, I hate Boston(Sorry Boston fans),the weather makes me not want to leave my room, and the culture/atmosphere doesn't feel right at all. Any advice would be awesome. thanks</p>
<p>Go for it. If you’re on the verge of depression after 1 semester, you won’t last 7 more. USC is a very good school, albeit not on MIT levels, but it definitely will be challenging. What about Stanford?</p>
<p>Didn’t you post exactly the same thing a few days ago?</p>
<p>The things you don’t like about MIT are very real and won’t change. Four years are a long time to be unhappy or worse. If you have another good option (USC) then go for it. </p>
<p>This is a good example of why college fit is so important… and people always think I’m crazy when I suggest seriously considering weather and location when choosing a college.</p>
<p>That being said, it’s pretty typical to become homesick the first semester or two. </p>
<p>consider caltech </p>
<p>I don’t think you’ll find many people on CC who will urge you to stay at MIT. I wouldn’t, but transferring takes time and is expensive. You might be debating now about whether you want to go back for spring semester, which starts next week. So let me say this.</p>
<p>If you’re going to leave MIT, do it with the highest GPA you can. If there’s any chance you could last the long spring at MIT AND earn a higher GPA than the fall semester you should do so. Unhappiness might have done a number on your fall GPA. If you stay, approach the spring with all the gusto you can manage and with the certainty that this is the last semester you’ll spend in the gulag. Get those transfer apps started before you fly back and finish them while you’re there. Focus on a better future. USC and many other transfer schools (you’ll have to do your homework) would like to see you come with a high GPA and at least 24-30 credit hours, esp. if you hope to get some merit. USC does have a quarter-tuition merit scholarship but it’s real competitive and plenty of the awardees will have gone to community college not MIT.</p>
<p>Since proximity to home is your #1 reason for leaving MIT, and since California is blessed with good engineering schools it seems it should not be hard to find one that will receive a prodigal son. USC and CalTech might take some personal contact to get in if your GPA suffered, so start the schmoozing now. USC is a lot better school than people give it credit for. It isn’t MIT or CalTech but it is damn hard to get into and produces some excellent graduates in STEM. You could do a lot worse, but you have plenty of other schools from which to choose. Transfer students often get little support compared to freshman applicants, but you have all those good public schools if USC proves prohibitive.</p>
<p>
you mean this? talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/1608106-transferring-out-of-mit.html </p>
<p>I guess 20 replies weren’t enough…</p>
<p>D is in same position as you except change the name from MIT to Yale and change career from computer science to film producer. We are from SoCal also, and the east coast has been quite a social shock and weather shock. Probably about 10% of D’s class that heads off to the east coast ends up coming back to SoCal in their soph or jr yrs. That being said, MIT is probably amazing for CS. D got a much heavier coat and heavier boots this year, so it seems to be going better, so I would suggest that first. Also, it takes about a year to get used to the east coast sensibilities and personalities. You also can buy a blue “go lite”(?) that shines blue light on your face and might relieve the seasonal affective disorder. Most people on these boards say that there are many unhappy freshmen and if you hang in there until the end of the year, it gets much better. Should you still want transfer, consider applying to Cal Tech or Harvey Mudd in addition to USC. Maybe you could also consider UCLA and Berkeley as well. (Stanford would be too competitive, but you could try. UC may not accept soph transfers except in rare cases, but you could try). Lastly, check with MIT. Most times, if you leave with good academic standing, you could always transfer back fairly easily if it turned out to be a case of the grass is always greener.</p>
<p>You could apply to Caltech. It is a very rigorous school academically and similar to MIT (although much smaller with less than 1000 undergrads). The weather might be more suitable for you, as well. </p>
<p>If you don’t like the MIT culture then you probably won’t like CalTech, even if the weather is better. On the Caltech tour I went on they kept bringing up how their school and their pranks are better than MIT. And Caltech is very small – only 1000 undergraduates</p>
<p>I would add Stanford to your list, however unlikely.</p>