I’m one semester into my freshman year and I’m starting to wonder if I made a mistake when I chose my college. I enjoyed my time at this school and finished with an average GPA. Throughout the semester I always wondered “what if” about my state school. Now that I am home during break, this feeling is even stronger. My state school is just an hour away from home and quite a few of my close friends went here. The school I am at now is eight hours away, great school when it comes to rankings, gave me a great scholarship package and has a high percentage when it comes to students being accepted into graduate school. My main question is how do I know if I just have buyer’s remorse or that I made an actual mistake?
Hard to offer any meaningful advice without knowing more about the two schools.
As presented, do you want to be closer to home & attend college with your high school friends, or be far away from home at a school that prepares students for graduate school ?
Sorry about the lack of information. I’m finding it hard to properly explain my thoughts about this. The prestigious school is Tulane University, a great school that I wasn’t sure if I would be accepted into. I’m not sure about that. I guess that is the question I need to answer.
Depends upon what you want to study & whether or not your state school has an honors college since you must have very strong academics if you earned a scholarship to Tulane.
Does Vanderbilt University appeal to you ? Has both stellar academics & a lot of variety found at large state schools.
I understand your feelings about Tulane.
We put WAY too much emphasis on the name we will ultimately have on our degrees these days without much, dare I say, any evidence that it matters. It’s far more important that you find yourself in a place where you feel like you can thrive. Every year students leave prestigious institutions because they weren’t, in the experience of those people, what they were cracked up to be. Good luck wherever you land.
I agree, but it is unclear as to whether or not this is a case of homesickness for a first term freshman.
Perhaps give your second semester at your current university a “good college try.” << That’s an old saying meaning, do all you can, go all in. Are you involved in clubs beyond academics? I would encourage you to join a few clubs and get involved. Go to study groups, professors office hours, join an intramural team. Invite students in your dorm to attend sport events like a D1 basketball game. Name of the game is Be involved.
Your HS friends will always be your friends. Your college friends won’t take their place, it’s just that your heart grows to fit more inside.
Good luck in whatever path you take.
During my initial application cycle, I was accepted into the honors program at my state school. So I believe I should still meet the standards.
I am a big fan of state flagship honors colleges because students get the best benefits of a large university with the attention & intimacy/closeness of an elite small college.
Now I’m trying to guess which honors college is 8 hours drive from New Orleans. Probably Georgia.
If it is UGA, the Honors College is outstanding. I would rank it higher than Tulane, although it could vary by major.
In answer to OP’s question, no, it is not bad to transfer from a prestigious private school to a state flagship honor’s college.
You need to be where you will be happiest. I think the idea of being cut off from all that you know and pitched out to see that you can be ruggedly independent (the US way) is over-rated by far. There is something to be said for staying in contact with old friends and building up new friendships too.Yet if you return to your home community, try to be cognizant of the need to also meet new people and hear about different ideas-both of which are important aspects of the college experience but which can be jeopardized by the ease with which you will be able to meet up with your old friends. As others have said, the best state schools can be as good or better than private ones-even highly rated ones. How good a school is for a student is greatly dependent upon what the student is looking to get from the school-and fit between the student and the school. Sounds like you have great options. Pick the one that will make you happiest.
What is not clear, however, is that if OP opts to go to the state flagship will she be in the Honors College & did she miss the primary benefits of being in the Honors College by entering as a sophomore.
I think you may be experiencing the same feelings/thoughts that a lot of first year students have. I recently read a great article from Mayo Clinic on The W-Curve theory - if you want to google it. It talks about the feelings first year students experience - especially during winter break when they come home. Please read the article, it sounded a lot like what many first year kids I know are experiencing.
I would recommend that you give the second semester a chance and then decide what is best for you and your goals.
Another issue to consider is, if it is Georgia, whether OP has lost her Hope or Zell Miller scholarship. So finances should be addressed.