While this can work out differently for different folks - and partially in response to another thread where someone else is also grappling with this – it’s worth noting that:
- Not every student on campus has an easy transition in September.
- There are, as noted, transitions for most students returning from abroad , even to the campus they left.
- Some students are quite happy to miss some of the madness associated with 500 students living away from home and exercising newfound freedoms in September. It may be easier to find groups whose fun better aligns with yours in January.
Some students may feel they’ve missed out on a critical part of the collegec experience. Others may feel like they dodged the worst part of the college experience.
Also, at many schools, the students starting in Jan end up with better housing as upper classmen have vacated rooms to go abroad. No guarantees on this, but not unheard of!