Two Years Off Before College?

Applying to College
1

So here’s my situation:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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 .

2

I think you need to find a fit not so much academically as much as the overall feel the campus --an academic environment that literally doesn’t care if you get straight As or straight Cs so that you get to decide when and where and in what topics and classes you turn on the afterburners and which classes you just do to just get done.

With that said, MOST elite colleges are a TERRIBLE match for you. Truly. If you can get that elite-bug that is stuck in your ear and driving you toward misery for the sake of looking extra smart because of the color of your college tshirt, you’ll be able to actually make a clear-headed decision.

I have no clue your major or career goals, but reading between the lines I would be suggesting schools like U of Oregon, where <em>you</em> make something of yourself rather than just being there for the name brand. Not too big, not too small, dedicated teachers, and yet both slackers and high achievers co-exist. Those who do well at UO go onto grad schools with the best of them. It is west coast, if a bit rainy, but you are still close to CA. If UO doesn’t intrigue you, that is fine - but I encourage you to do that kind of out of the box thinking. Toss those name-brand schools off your list! You are getting excited by the shiny names and the excessive competitiveness and that is likely not what you really want or need.

Taking 2 years off probably won’t matter much at this point. I am more concerned that when you start applying that you toss your original list out the window because those school do not appear to me to be a true match for you.

3

but what about applying as a freshman?

i’m in a similar situation, except i’m not as high of caliber academically; i’m an A>B student as well, but my SAT was an 1850, and i applied to some unique (so it seemed) liberal arts colleges in Mass and california.

i am in my first semester of community college… my second WEEK, actually ha. anyway, i never wanted to be here…but some inconveniences happened-- some pretty major ones, causing me to have to stay in-state at the least. (i really wanted to go out of state.) when i was a senior in HS (which i graduated June '10), i applied to Boston University, Hampshire College, Pitzer College, and I started to apply to Bennington College. I was accepted in to Hampshire and BU.

p.s. i’m in texas

p.p.s. not trying to take over thread, but i feel like my situation kind of complements yours.

<b>My main interest is in whether or not it would be a good/bad idea from an Admissions POV to apply as a freshman even though I am currently enrolled in college.</b>

oh yeah, i forgot to say that i have a general mood disorder as well,which is another reason i relate to the initial post on this thread-- also, another reason i thought i should add on to this instead of start a new thread. i’m also looking to avoid those problems in college, except insomnia.