I currently would be in my freshman fall semester of college. However due to some personal circumstances I withdrew from school 3 weeks into the school year. Luckily, nothing on my transcript was effected.
I know/need/want to go back to school, but I was not sure whether I should go next semester(Spring 2017) OR wait a full year until (Fall 2017) semester to start school.
Either way I would be considered a freshman going into school, but I was not sure if going in second semester would be a disadvantage for meeting people, with classes, and just overall generally.
A lot of it should depend on if you are personally raring to go back, or if taking the rest of the year off and starting fresh next fall might help you. But in general starting in the fall and going through orientation again may be the easier route.
I think it depends on what the personal circumstances are that caused you to withdraw. You don’t have to tell us.
I urge you to think about whether everything has been resolved to the point that you can focus on school. The details matter. While it is true that it is harder to go back after a prolonged absence from school you want to avoid setting yourself up for failure.
I do not advise you to start in spring. It is a much more difficult transition. There are no events for spring admits, and it is really hard to break into new groups of students at that point in the school year. You are much better waiting until next fall. Besides, I think you missed Spring deadlines.
I have talked to a consoler about this, he feels it is ultimately my decision. I just don’t want to continue falling off the bandwagon and by the time next year comes around I feel even more lost.
I know if I start in the spring I miss out on EVERYTHING, which I definitely do NOT want to happen. I think I am going to wait in the meantime until next school year…
The thing is why I left is because I had bad panic attacks/depression the first two weeks, I made the wrong choice by leaving, but I know if I stayed just a little longer I would have been able to endure it.
I know now when I do go back to school, I must fight through the anxiety I experience the first couple weeks.
If you have panic attacks and depression I don’t think you can put a time limit on your return to school. You cannot fight through the anxiety on your own. You need to seek treatment and have your anxiety well controlled before you return to school.
I have had help from my parents, they have been very nice about everything. I went to a counselor and he figured that I can go back to school we were planning on spring but I was still very unsure on whether to go back or not.
I feel as if my anxiety is better now, but if I do not get enough social interaction with people before next school year then I will fall back into the same anxiety/depression as before.
My older son had 2 years of early college, took a year off, moved away, waited tables, and returned raring to get back to school because the alternative was much worse. Since you probably have the syllabus for the classes you are going to repeat, why not do all of the reading and work over the break to reduce your anxiety? If you anxiety was social, perhaps consider a different (non-dorm) housing arrangement. If you start off early you can arrange better accommodations too.
I really would suggest going back in the fall if that is possible…they have orientations and support for new students. It is more tough in Spring and you already have some hurdles.