<p>Okay, here’s my story.</p>
<p>I’m going to be a sophomore at a highly ranked public university on the west coast, but I’m from a state in the Southeast US. In high school, I got great grades, scores, et cetera. For most of my HS career I knew I wanted to go out of state for college, and my parents encouraged it and pushed me toward it. Halfway through my senior year, upon getting into my State U, I decided I was happy with that and wanted nothing more. It was comfortable and I could picture myself there. I didn’t want to leave.</p>
<p>Then I got into the West Coast U, a highly ranked public school on the opposite side of the country from me, and my parents put considerable pressure on me to attend. I visited it and ended up liking it, even if I thought I wasn’t totally sure, it was a great school so I thought it justified that it was a little questionable in my mind.</p>
<p>I made a good amount of friends at West Coast U but I never felt a strong connection with a majority of them the way I felt about people back home. Many people at this school just seemed different from me. I thrive on social interaction and don’t mind putting off homework until Sunday night just so I can have fun on Friday and Saturday. Many people I met would stay in throughout the weekend because they had ‘too much homework.’ I know things are different in other parts of the country, and it’s a part of growing up, but it’s hard to get used to people being apathetic about college sports, or too stingy to even go out to dinner. I dealt with this, sometimes convinced my friends to go out more, but there were still plenty of Friday nights where my friends and I would be sitting around, most of them studying, and I’d be texting friends from home because the boredom made me lonely. When I came home for winter and summer breaks, I was more happy and fulfilled.</p>
<p>Almost all of my HS friends went to colleges in my state and most of them seem to be having a pretty good time. Of course, not everything is rosy, but it still feels for me like something is missing at West coast U. Now, everyone I know from home is getting ready to go back to start their second year, and most of them seem pretty excited. But I’m mostly just scared and kind of unhappy about returning to my school. While everything was new and a little scary coming in my first year, the newness is gone and I’m almost more freaked out now.</p>
<p>I guess I’m just wondering if my feelings of sadness are justified. I’m considering transferring to my State U as I’ve felt it’s ‘where I belong’ deep down somewhere. But I also wonder if I’m jumping the gun, or expecting too much. I have some friends that went to college and haven’t made hardly any friends at all there, and yet they don’t seem to want to transfer. I have friends, I go to a good school, my classes are usually engaging… So why does it feel like things just don’t ‘fit?’</p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice? Did any of you fall into a ‘sophomore slump’ like this? How did you deal with it?</p>
Goodluck making your decision.</p>