<p>I am a freshman and have been in college for the last 6 weeks. So far I like my classes and my professors but I honestly cannot stand the people I am surrounded by. So many of them are superficial, veign, frat boy wannabes. It’s so bad I have seriously considered going home and attending the JC after my first semester is finished.
The problem is, I know my parents would never go for that. I would be the disgrace of the family if I came home. They would all look at me as a failure.
I don’t know why I should be forced to put up with these immature people when I could just go home, be with my old friends, and go to community college for 1/19th of what I pay here. Am I really going to pay 19 times what I would at home just for the experience of being around these people?
How do I convince my parents to let me come home?</p>
<p>A former student of mine had the same problem. She spent a gap year in Argentina, then went to her first-choice school. However, she found that she just didn’t fit with the students. Despite that, she worked hard, impressed her professors and got good grades. Now she has transferred to another school that is a better fit for her. She got a nice aid package out of it, too. </p>
<p>A second student went to a prestigious university on the East Coast. She felt she didn’t fit in … she was a biracial student from the Mid West in a mostly white, mostly upper middle class student population. I recommended she stick it out a year. She did, made some good friends and decided to stay the four years. </p>
<p>In the Dark Ages, when I went to school, I felt the same … until I started meeting students with the same interests. I was a journalism student, but I was in a dorm with mostly business students. We just didn’t click. Once I met other j-students, I was much happier. I also got involved in two clubs, and that made a huge difference. </p>
<p>So … get involved. </p>
<p>In a nutshell, my suggestion is to stick it out a year. Keep an eye on other schools that you might like to attend as a back up plan, and keep your parents in the conversation. I am sure they don’t want you to suffer for four years, but you need to talk to them about your concerns. They can’t support your decision if they don’t know how you made it.</p>
<p>This time last year, three of Happykid’s friends were at colleges where they were miserable. Two transferred to to the community college at the end of the first semester - one of them had no choice because she’d managed to fail almost all of her classes and her parents refused to pay for a second semester at that place. The third one stayed at her original college. What made the difference in her happiness level there was that she had found a group of friends who shared a common interest in needlework (!!), and she had got to know her professors well enough to be offered a part-time job in her department. A year later all three of these young people are flourishing (even the one who flunked out at the first place).</p>
<p>Since there is such a big cost difference between your hometown JC and where you currently are studying, this is an issue you can legitimately address with your family. As in “Mom and Dad, I’m not particularly happy here, and when I think of the amount of money being spent on my education and where else it could go, I’d really rather be somewhere that I like better for this price, or where I am no more miserable for a lot less money.” Then let them take it from there. You may find friends and decide that you don’t want to transfer, but if you are still unhappy at the end of the semester, taking some time off from that college (or from college in general) might not be such a bad idea.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>
<p>I will chime in and agree with the posters above about trying to get involved in some clubs on your current campus. Surely not every single student there fits the frat boy stereotype. </p>
<p>At the risk of getting slammed on here, I will say that at the community college you run the risk for finding a very different crowd whose motivations are not always academically centered. That could be as or more frustrating than your current situation. If you are still unhappy next semester, then look at your options.</p>
<p>The posters above me offered great advice based on the information you gave us. I’m going to give you advice if you decide to go home and attend a community college which has its advantages and disadvantages.</p>
<p>I attended CSU Chico which is known for the party atmosphere. The main reason I went to Chico was because the cross country coach invited me to run for their team. CSU Chico isn’t known for their amazing science programs (And as a then biology major, I started to dread the school). I didn’t fit in with the fratboy atmosphere and was quite miserable there, so I took the first chance I got and transferred to a community college back home.</p>
<p>I failed my classes at CSU Chico and wasn’t so hot at the community college my first semester. However, I’m doing amazing this semester and things are looking great from here. </p>
<p>Transferring to a community college in hopes of transferring to a different college can be a great decision if you know what you’re doing. Make sure you talk with a counselor and do quite a bit of research on what you need to get done to transfer somewhere else.</p>
<p>There are lots of people on this forum who went to a community college and transfer to colleges like UCLA and UC Berkeley. Its possible if you get your head straight and have a plan. I definitely recommend it because its working out for me now.</p>
<p>Hey, Siroucity</p>
<p>Where did you end up transferring to? I’m thinking of reverse transferring to. I’m curious as to how did you family take it when you went back home? I don’t know how to convince my parents to let me go home…</p>
<p>OP: Stay at SDSU until you get your roommate situation resolved & switch majors.</p>