No one likes to come to the realization that one of the biggest choices they have to make in their lifetime was actually the wrong choice. Well, that happened to me when I chose the college I wanted to go during senior year of high school and if you are feeling this way too, I am here to tell you it is not as catastrophic as you think.
Starting at the beginning of senior year, my friends and I visited over 15 colleges with our parents to see what we liked and didn’t like as far as campus size, location, price, and faculty. On these tours, I realized that I did not want to go far away, I wanted a small campus, and I really did not want to take out loans for tuition. As we were visiting each of these colleges, I slowly knocked some schools off my list based on my likes and dislikes.
Long story short, I ended up choosing Saint Francis College (SFC) located in Brooklyn, New York. I loved the atmosphere of the city-like location, I had a full ride, some of my friends were going there as well, and I got to live home so I had the best of both worlds. There was no campus for SFC; it was literally in the middle of the city. It was just a tall building, but I thought I didn’t want a campus anyway so I was fully content. September 2016 came too fast and I started my first day of school which was when I slowly started to realize I had made the biggest mistake of my life. I wasn’t sure what my next step would be.
As the semester continued, I felt as if this school was not as challenging as I would have liked it to be and it was way, way, way smaller than I thought it was. My high school had a huge campus, football field, baseball field, tennis court, a huge gym, and so much more. When I left high school and I attended college, I thought it would be a step above high school but it turned out to be a step or two below and I was very unhappy. I noticed I skipped more classes than I had ever before and that was because I dreaded every second of being there, when usually, I love going to school.
There was something about not having a campus or sports teams around, or even just teachers that challenged me, that made me feel very uncomfortable. After my fall semester of freshman year, I finally told my parents how I felt. I told them that either I had to transfer by September or I was going to drop out of school until I didn’t have to go back there. My mom was very understanding from the beginning after she heard my reasoning, but my dad tried to talk me about of it because I had a full ride to go there. I was not even listening for a second. I really felt that loans were the least of my problems and there are so many people in the same boat as me, so I just didn’t want to hear it.
I promised my parents that I would handle all the paperwork and that this switch was my fault and not their responsibility. Sooner than later, I submitted my application to Monmouth and got my acceptance letter. I can’t even explain the relief I felt. By May of 2017, I was un-enrolled at my old school and I was officially a Monmouth student starting that upcoming September.
Transferring schools might be stressful, confusing, and nerve-wrecking, but it was the best decision of my entire life.
I’ve made lifelong friends, met amazing teachers along the way, and truly have had more opportunities than I think my old school could have ever given me. If you feel like your school is not the right choice for you, do all the research you can, visit more schools, and talk to your parents because leaving and finding the right school for you will change your entire college career!