Two Years Off Before College?

<p>So here's my situation:</p>

<p>I was a freshman at a top LAC this past year, but ended up leaving before my first semester was over. I had a miserable social and academic experience for a variety of reasons (bad classes, a hall that I didn't mesh with very well, an uncomfortable roommate situation, getting sick all of the time as a result of sleep deprivation and the new-for-me East Coast weather), and when I left, I never thought I would go back. But after a couple of days home, I began to think that I just hadn't put enough into my social and academic life, and decided that I would regret it if I didn't go back and try again.</p>

<p>Basically, in these past couple of months, I've been feeling completely horrible and apprehensive about returning. I've literally had both nightmares and panic attacks about going back to my school, and I'm beginning to think that it really isn't worth it. </p>

<p>From the start of the admissions process, I have been very indecisive. I applied to way too many schools (13, to be specific) and felt that I would be happy attending any of them. </p>

<p>After making my decision, I read all sorts of horrible online reviews for my school (stupid s t ud ent s rev iew .com...I really need to consider my sources more carefully before forming such strong impressions) and went in with the preconception that I would have a horrible time. Upon arriving, I was okay for a little while, but ended up meeting a whole lot of jaded upperclassmen who really made me worried about my next few years. My own experiences were very unpleasant, but I'm not sure if it was just because it was my first semester or because of the general environment. In short, I'll say that I wanted to have a relatively relaxed and enjoyable college experience while still being pushed academically, but I worried that my school would push me too hard and leave me with many of the stress-related health problems (depression, insomnia, anxiety) I had in high school and wanted to avoid in college.</p>

<p>Basically, I don't know what step to take next. I'm on track to return to my school, but I'm honestly terrified about it. I could go to a community college and try to transfer out, but I don't want to go to a UC (I'm in California), and I know that the transfer acceptance rates for most of the schools I'm considering (Pomona, Wesleyan, Vassar for the most part) are rather low. I could also go back to my old school and try to transfer out, but I'm seriously worried about how my grades will fare. OR, I could take more time off (it would be two years total before college) and reapply as freshman again, but this sounds potentially foolish to me.</p>

<p>As a first-year applicant, I was fairly strong (8 APs in HS, all A's save for a B or two, 2170 SATs, very strong personal essays, captain of a varsity team, vice president of one club and founder of another, relatively intersting work and life experience, strong recs) and got into most of the schools I was considering (Wesleyan, Vassar, Oberlin, Carleton, Swarthmore, Haverford, UChicago, Berkeley among others). I didn't apply to Pomona, but I've seriously been considering ED this time around because of its reputation for being a balanced, healthy place and its location in California (sun and warm temperatures do wonders for my health, and being able to drive home would be great).</p>

<p>I just don't know how it would look to take an additional year off before applying as a freshman again, or how this would affect my college experience. I spent this last year working two jobs (both had relevance to my professional/extracurricular interests that I discussed on my Common App) and would imagine that I would do something similar next year, assuming I wasn't at a JC. I have plenty of travel and internship aspirations that would fill my time, but I really don't want to fall behind academically/enter college with my verbal and quantitative reasoning capacities seriously stunted.</p>

<p>Any thoughts? Anyone take two years off before college or know anyone who reapplied to colleges after being out of school for a year? Personal experiences, stories and advice would all be appreciated :D.</p>

<p>The most important thing is that you get help with the anxiety causing nightmares, panic attacks and which may have caused your initial experience to fail before you decide what to do.</p>

<p>Since you lack confidence in your ability to cope with the place you were at last fall, I would suggest that you not return there. Give yourself another year, take classes part time at your closest community college if you want to, and think about what you want to do with your life. It is perfectly fine to take as much time off as you want to. Don’t worry about that.</p>

<p>I agree with redroses. I think you need to sort yourself out emotionally before you decide what to do next. You very well may do better in a familiar environment, at least for the time being. Since you have plenty of rewarding ways to occupy your time next year, it seems best to defer college for now.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your replies.</p>

<p>I don’t always lack confidence in my ability to deal with this school, and I’m not always dreading going back (I do have a few good friends there), but I do feel both of these things (lack of confidence, dread) most of the time. I’ll be returning to some awkward and uncomfortable situations (an ex, for one), and I’m really worried that the school’s just too small for me to avoid them.</p>

<p>But I’m also worried that I’ll keep imagining life at other schools and keep wishing that I was elsewhere no matter where I am, so maybe it would be best for me to return and really try to stick things out?</p>

<p>I’m not totally against another year off…it just scares me a little bit, as I’ve heard that it gets harder and harder to return to school the longer and longer you stay out of it. I just love learning–and school itself–too much to not go to college.</p>

<p>bump…






…</p>

<p>Awh, I am sorry :frowning:
It honestly depends immensely upon what you fill that extra year with. If you are using the time productively and growing as a person then that definitely increases your value to your uni of choice.</p>

<p>I’m very interested in food policy and food access issues, and I’d either be interning at a an organization that deals with these issues on a local level (teaches nutrition classes to kids, promotes community gardening, provides produce to low-income families), or I’d be interning on a farm and basically learning sustainable, organic farming practices. I’d also be doing some editing for an online mental health program.</p>

<p>If I didn’t do something involving farming/food access, I’d work and then travel. In terms of traveling, I’d try to do some sort of service trip in one of my areas of interest (food issues, mental health, environmental stuff).</p>

<p>If getting a job didn’t work out, I’d volunteer at a camp for kids and adults with developmental disabilities (something I did in high school, wrote about in my college essays, and actually care about).</p>

<p>If all of this failed, I’d consider going into the Buddhist monkhood for a while (I’m a practicing Buddhist).</p>

<p>I just really don’t want to lose my academic edge…</p>

<p>And just to add, all of these things I might pursue in my year off fit well with the Common Application essay I wrote, the activities I did in high school, the subjects I’d like to study, the extracurriculars I’d consider pursuing while in college, and my honest interests.</p>

<p>I don’t think that your reasons for taking time off now are things that are going to make it harder when you go back to college. Most people who never go back are people who get jobs they don’t want to leave, or start families that they have to support. You don’t seem to be in either of those categories.</p>

<p>it’s more like…losing my academic abilities that i’m worried about.</p>

<p>not to mention the social implications of not being around a whole lot of people my age for a fairly long time.</p>

<p>: /</p>