<p>I'm in my sophomore year at community college and I'm planning on graduating this spring. My problem is that I have no idea where I'd like to transfer. I've basically sent away for information from every state school in my state and looked over everything, but I'm still just as lost as I was before.</p>
<p>I spent my freshman year at a state school and I hated it. I spent the majority of Spring semester counting down the days until I could leave school for good. I should have transferred out at the end of Fall semester, but I convinced myself that things would get better, but they didn't. I found out quickly I hated being away from home and I hated dorming. If possible I'd really like to live at home and just commute to school.</p>
<p>The problem is I live near mostly private colleges with big price tags. There is one state school near me that I could commute to, but I'm not very interested in it besides the fact that I could live at home and would only need to pay for tuition. I don't qualify for anything from fafsa, so a private school isn't very practical for me personally. I don't want to be in piles of debt when I graduate.</p>
<p>I'm not very sure what to do at this point. Choosing schools to apply to when I was a senior was difficult for me, and it's even more difficult the second time around. I'm considering applying to the state school near me because of the smaller price tag and being able to live at home, but I'm unsure if I'd be happy there or not. Any advice?</p>
<p>My major is English/Secondary Education, I have a 3.6 gpa, and I live in Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar situation in which my dream school is out of state but it’s just too expensive for me to go, so i’m staying instate instead and it’s alright, the price is really good for the education i’m getting. It’s very smart financially to stay instate (especially commuting) since that will cut costs a lot and I think it’ll be worth it not being in large amounts of debt in the future. Just because you didn’t like one state school doesn’t mean you won’t like another. Avoid schools in the future that share the same qualities that you hated at your previous school, and of course, you’ll only have about 2 more years of college to go, so don’t get too down if where you decide to go isn’t a perfect fit.</p>
<p>Academically my first school was fine. I’m just not one for dorming or being away from home. I live two and a half hours from where this school was and in the Spring I was literally coming home every weekend. </p>
<p>Also the atmosphere was getting to me. I’m not a big partier and I don’t drink, but that was mainly what people did for fun on the weekends. It was really hard to connect with anyone. People started assuming I thought I was better than them and stuck up because I turned down going to parties whenever I was asked. That really wasn’t the case. I have a family history of alcoholism plus I was and still am an education major. The police weren’t kind at my school and I knew several people with underages only two months into school. I told people this flat out and they weren’t accepting. Apparently I wasn’t any worth to them if I was uncomfortable going to parties and drinking, even though I passed no judgement on them.</p>
<p>I love my community college actually. I don’t see any difference in the quality and difficulty of my classes and I love that I can go home after my last class everyday. It’s much cheaper too, which is always a plus and I can keep a part-time job.</p>
<p>I have the same problem. I’m trying to get my general coursework done, but I have no idea where to transfer to next. I was planning to graduate this spring and I have no idea what to do. A lot of the other schools around the area are very expensive and I can’t live on a campus in an unfamiliar area. (I’m from a small town fairly close to the city) Obviously I’m staying in state and would like to remain close, but I don’t even know what to major in. </p>
<p>I’ve been thinking of taking a little time off from school so that I can think it over and decide, but what will I tell my parents? The only way they’ll allow me to stay is if I either have a job or if I’m going to college. They know I’ve been struggling to find local, part-time, entry-level work and I’m afraid they’ll kick me out if I told them. They can be very strict about the rules. </p>
<p>I’m so scared and I feel completely lost. I haven’t been able to even gather information about the schools, let alone visit them. Any ideas on how to handle this would be very helpful.</p>
<p>@writingmachine You mentioned that there is a state school within commuting distance, although it is not the most attractive school on the planet. Does it have an <em>acceptable</em> education major program? If so, I would just go ahead and spring for it. If you cannot get anything from the FAFSA, you go to the best college you can afford, with emphasis on “afford.” A degree is a degree.</p>
<p>@Mira55 Homework Assignment: Before you pick a transfer institution, you need to have a plan. Best thing is to sit down with a piece of paper and divide it into three sections: 1 year goals, 5 year goals, & 10 year goals. Hopefully you’ve discovered something during your college experience that you’re good at. If you pursue that field, where do you see your going with that field? You may need to dig around on the internet, looking for details on what you can do with particular majors, in order to make your plan realistic. Don’t be surprised if you have to modify it as you go along. Either way, put it down on paper, then talk to your parents about it.</p>