Should I transfer out of Oberlin?

kellega1485
Wed, 31 Jul 2019 00:14:01 +0000

Hello all! The title of this post very accurately summarizes my inquiry. I am a first-year student at Oberlin college. Recently I had to go on medical leave due to an experience of brain trauma caused by a very severe auto-immune disorder/response. I was living in the tank co-op and this response was triggered by a bacterial infection I contracted there. Now, with my current plan, I am set to return, but my time both at Oberlin and on medical leave has really got me thinking a lot about my future. I really want to study civil-engineering. This is possible at Oberlin due to a 3+2 program, but I am extremely hesitant to go back. I am afraid for my health as my condition has presented major set-backs, even writing this post is incredibly difficult because I have no feeling and a lack of coordination in my left hand due to my condition. Now, I understand my worries and fears might be irrational, but I feel very strongly against going back. For a school that preaches acceptance and open-mindedness, the student body in my view is incredibly hypocritical. I feel suffocated by its homogeneous nature and the opportunities for what I want to study are quite narrow. Granted, I don’t mean to generalize the Oberlin population, but the number of people and, well, things that apply to what I speak of is very overwhelming to me. You might ask why I applied to Oberlin in the first place, and my answer to that is: upon visiting the campus and reading up on the programs there, I was admittedly seduced especially taking the music double-degree program into consideration (I play and have a passion for cello). However, joining the conservatory was something I was always on the fence about, and now I can’t even physically play the cello due to my condition. I no longer see Oberlin as worth the tuition cost and the anxiety it brings me. I don’t mean to be overly dramatic, but all these feelings are new to me following my experience with my condition and time at Oberlin. I find everything too dramatic for my taste at this school. Yes, there are aspects and people that I do enjoy at Oberlin, but I feel too constrained there especially when it comes to what I want to study. I understand that I might find the same exact challenge at other schools, but as long as I am studying exactly what I want to study I believe I am up for the challenge. The 3+2 program would be the only reason I might stay at Oberlin, but the class scheduling and overall atmosphere of the institution leave me wanting something else, and it doesn’t help that the class schedule for my intended major (physics) is very inconvenient. With all that is going on at Oberlin and my life, I do strongly believe I would thrive in a school with direct access to the areas of study I desire to explore. I have planned ahead for both potentially leaving Oberlin and staying there. Transferring to another institution would still allow me to graduate on time with the credits I have from Oberlin and other institutions. Staying at Oberlin would potentially keep me there for an extra year, perhaps even more due to the class scheduling. Not to mention, pursuing the 3+2 program (or a modified version due to my semester medical leave) would keep me even longer. I just don’t see the worth of this extra time (and tuition cost). I am lost, my parents want me to at least go back for a semester to explore college life at Oberlin following my condition, but after that, they support my decision to transfer if it is something I feel incredibly strongly about and if I have a plan. So I guess my question after this incredibly long post is: is it feasible and justifiable for me to transfer to another school (side note: my stats are good, grades are not an issue) such as a place like case western or UW-Madison (my top choice for state school), or should I suck it up? Thank you