OK, first of all: deep breaths. You’re OK and you’ll be OK. OK?
Next-- the first thing that jumped out at me was the mention of your mental health. As a mom and a teacher, that mention always jumps out at me. If you said you had a lump, you would address it. If you said your heart was constantly racing, you would address it. Well, your mental health is no different. It needs to be addressed when you know something isn’t right. Why not stop by the mental health office on campus? I don’t know whether yours is open on weekends, but check. If not, they’re sure to be open Monday. Get there as early as you can, so you can tackle this. I know it’s hard opening up to strangers but it will be well worth it. Worst case scenario, print your post and bring it with you.
Now let’s talk about 5 years vs. 4. Once you get out of high school, you realize that the old timelines have disappeared. It really doesn’t matter whether you finish in 4 years or 4.5 or 5 or 6. You’re on your own journey, and it doesn’t have to match anyone else’s. No one notices whether the 84rd kid in the line at graduation is 21 or 26 years old. It simply doesn’t matter. So if you need a semester off to get your mental health together, take it. I think you’ll find it’s well worth it in terms of how you feel and your general level of productivity at school. Or you could even do a semester at a local CC, eating mom’s home cooking and getting your mental health in order while taking some of the Gen Ed courses you know you’ll need anywhere.
As to the lack of friends-- I think you’ll find that there are lots and lots of kids at any school who don’t party or rave. Is there some sort of volunteer thing going on this weekend? Check the calendar and go, attend, help out. I think you’ll find other like minded kids, making a difference in the world instead of getting drunk each weekend. They’re out there-- every campus in the country has them. But they’re not going to knock on your door-- you need to seek them out.
The roommate? Would it help to have a mediation session with the RA? Can you put up with it for 6 more weeks? Is there an empty room in the dorm you can move to? Or someone else looking for a roommate you can move in with? Ask your RA.
Pre-med or not. Hmm, I have no idea. But there are bound to be other medical majors out there-- from becoming a PA to nursing to I don’t know what else. Consider exploring them. Do you need a Pre-med major to get into medical school? I have no idea, but it’s a question you might consider asking.
This paragraph: "
I’m just lost and I don’t know what to do. I’m really unhappy and this is not what I imagined college would be.
I want to transfer to somewhere where I think the psych program would be better and where I would actually fit in with other students."-- OK-- it sounds as though you know exactly what you want. That’s what you should do.
Start with the schools you were accepted to last year. Why did you choose to apply to them? Do they seem to have what you now want? Can you picture yourself at any of those campuses?
Now broaden your search. Go online and do a few college match quizzes, knowing what you now know about your preferences. See what comes up and what it would take to transfer. You could do that today-- it might be good for your mental health to look forward to better days instead of thinking about how miserable you are now.
Hang in there. There are thousands of kids like you out there-- kids who simply chose the wrong school or the wrong major. You’re not locked in.