Am I making a big mistake....?

quyaoxian
Tue, 01 Sep 2015 01:07:43 +0000

This fall, I transferred from College of William and Mary to University of Notre Dame, in hope for a better Comp Sci/Math program and a school with a bigger name. Now the first week of school is over, and I realized I’m feeling absolutely miserable. I thought I could adjust to its religious atmosphere, but the catholic culture is just so strong that its way different than I imagined. As an international student, I feel lost and isolated in the predominantly white crowd. Also, south bend makes me feel unsafe and I am afraid that I could not adjust to its extreme weather. I am interested in double majoring in CS and Math. Notre Dame is ranked higher than William and Mary in Mathematics and computer science, and it has a well respected undergrad honors mathematics curriculum which sends a lot of its students to top graduate schools in mathematical sciences. But I am unable to double major in Computer science. William and Mary on the other hand, despite its math and CS programs’ lack in academic reputation, I feel comfortable with the campus and the people. And it has columbia combined engineering program which allows me to spend 3 years in WM to finish my math degree and go to columbia university for 2 years for a CS degree.

I have sent an email to WM admissions to ask if its possible for me to come back immediately and resume as a wm student for this semester. I have spent so much time and energy on the transferring process, but the first week of notre dame is just so much frustration for me. I am not confident that I would be happy here in the future. Do you guys think its worth it to set all my endeavor during the transfer season in vain and go back if WM allows me to? what would be your decision? Any suggestion is greatly appreciated!