<p>Thanks for all the school suggestions! It looks like I'll be doing lots of research over the next couple of weeks.</p>
<p>Northstarmom - <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/604381-what-should-i-do.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/604381-what-should-i-do.html</a></p>
<p>A more clearcut list:</p>
<p>What I like about my school:
1) I really like my professors--they are interesting and helpful (most even give out their personal cell phone numbers to their students and tell them to call anytime).
2) I like the small class sizes that allow for lots of discussion.
3) I like the opportunities I've had to get involved and lead. I enjoy being an influential member of my campus community.
4) My fairly substantial merit scholarship (which I understand that I would lose going elsewhere. I'm aware of the implications, and it seems worth it to me, after a great deal of thought).</p>
<p>What I dislike:
1) The Greek life. It dominates the campus. There is a clear divide between Greek and non-Greek students. If you are Greek, you do not talk to people who are not. Actually, you don't talk to people outside your fraternity/sorority, unless they're the opposite gender, and then only if they're in a fraternity/sorority as well. On the weekends (Thursday-Sunday definitely, and it's not unusual on other days. And not just at night either--all day Saturday on football days), the only thing everyone ever does is go out to the Fraternity Court and get completely wasted, then hook up with some random person. For some odd reason, this just doesn't appeal to me.
2) I have not made any close friends. This is not for lack of trying, as you will see if you read my other post. I tried making friends with people on my hall and joining organizations. Unfortunately, literally everyone on my hall last year went Greek. This year I live in a small dorm (30ish students) and almost all of them are the evangelical Christian type. Not that I have anything against that; I would really like to get to know them and more about their own personal beliefs, their reasoning, etc., but it's just that they tend to just inform me that I am probably going to hell, very discretely/kindly though, I'll give them that. I have made a few acquaintances through my involvement in my EC's, but, as I mentioned in my other post, it has been extremely difficult to get to know them better, as they are all juniors and live on the other side of campus. (No, I cannot move into one of their dorms. I am in a contract to stay in my current dorm all year.) Plus all of them will live in senior housing next year, and I cannot. Hence my roommate situation and my extreme loneliness. I don't think that this is my fault, although I've wondered about it sometimes when I felt bad about it. I've done everything I can do, and I think I am a very nice person when people get to know me. It's just that my views tend to turn people off, and it's not like I can hide it when they ask me where I go to church or what clubs I'm involved in. I don't want to hide it either; that's who I am and people should like me for that. (Sorry for the rant)
3) I feel like the classes here, while interesting, are very easy. I barely study at all; sometimes I look over things for about an hour the night before a test, sometimes I don't study at all. I would like more of a challenge. Also, few people here care about learning. Sure, they care about grades, not losing scholarships, not making their parents mad, not flunking out, etc., but I would love a place where I could discuss the material I'm learning about with other students, or discuss world issues and dream up solutions together. Unfortunately, everyone here is very apathetic, or extremely narrow-minded.
4) The town my school is in is awful. Very rundown: Most shops are closed and boarded up; all that's left are a few fast food places, an antique shop (which is actually cute but fairly expensive), the college bookstore, and a few gas stations. I could be happy in a rural area if I had stuff to do on campus or people to hang out with, but I don't, so I mind.<br>
5) There is no sense of community here. I feel like the dividing factor of Greek life is mostly to blame. But a lot of people here don't care about other people, just themselves. My personal motto is a quote from Plato: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Other people here don't care about each other's problems and challenges. When someone confides in someone else, they just go and spread it all over campus and then people get mad at each other. It's like middle school, part 2. There are very few organizations on campus that bring students together, and they are almost all chronically underfunded (though we have money to build a new Biology building and a pharmacy school, apparently). Few students are involved in even one organization, and many are very apathetic and don't want to participate in activities.<br>
6) The political attitudes of students on campus. I'm all for having your own opinion, but you should always listen to others too and consider what they have to say. A lot of students refuse to hear out anyone who says a word that differs from their view. For instance, in a discussion about president-elect Obama and his tax plan (in class, of course--no one would think about such things outside of class), you might typically hear, "I don't see the point in working anymore if the government is going to just give everyone money," and the like. Someone disagrees? Too bad, because no one will listen to them, even if they are very moderate in their statements. The professor will do his/her best to let everyone have their turn and have a fair chance to speak, but students are still very rude and cut others off with mean comments.</p>