Thank you all so much for the responses – you have no idea how much I appreciate it.
After constant deliberation today, I have concluded that my current school, though it works, is not “me.” However, I am torn because I have no way of knowing whether my transfer option is (more) “me.” (I honestly feel somewhere in between…go figure).
@“Erin’s Dad” I think you hit the nail on the head. I will admit, the grass seeming greener might just be my driving reason, but maybe because it actually is?
At this point, I feel like I will never be able to figure this out so I might as well just stay at my current school and not run the risk. But at the same time, I feel like I was accepted to this incredibly selective school for a reason. Sorry to put all you through this whining and deliberation, but gotta vent somewhere!
@wtfiscollege If you were dreadfully unhappy at your current college, the decision would certainly be much simpler. Presumably you have visited the ivy you wish to attend, but perhaps you can be referred to another student in your major to ask some more specific questions about the curriculum and environment on campus, since it is too late for another visit this spring semester.
Is taking a summer course at the ivy out of the question? That might give you more data to know you would be happy transferring.
The wrong reason for any decision on a question like this is what your current friends and family will think about it, and that seems a huge element in any calculation in favor of staying where you are. Make the right choice for you – it will stay with you, one way or another, for the rest of your life. Your family will get over it if you make the “wrong” decision from their point of view, and if your friends don’t . . . there will be other friends.
I understand a decision like this is really hard. One way or another, your life will be different depending on which you choose, but you have no way to foresee what the differences will be. At the same time, you know in your heart that transferring (or not) will not change who you are, or magically fix anything you wish were different about yourself. And you, not your college, are the primary determinant of your success and happiness in life. You will be the same person as a student and alumnus of either college. So, if you were thinking of transferring in the hope of changing yourself . . . that’s almost as bad a reason for doing something as worrying about being judged by your family and friends.
If your choice is, say, a decent undergraduate business program at a respected public university, vs. economics at an elite private research university, at the same cost . . . in my mind, that’s practically a no-brainer once you strip away the irrelevant personal stuff. But that’s my mind; I am definitely affected by the elite-university view that undergraduate business programs are inherently second-rate.
Another way to think about it is it better to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond? Staying where you are may be your way to get internships/research with professors.
