If you ask almost anyone at Rollins College if they had considered transferring at one point during their freshman year, the answer will most likely be yes. As Rollins senior, Stephanie Chew, explains, “there are two paths when you get to Rollins where you either feel like you’re fitting in right away, or you’re on the outside. My advice to anyone is that Rollins is one of those places where you need to give it a full year to determine whether it’s right for you”. When the midpoint of the year hits, it’s common for Rollins freshman to have thoughts of leaving, so this article will focus on helping you work through tough decisions and figure out how to determine after one year if Rollins is still your school.
Keep An Open Mind
There are many reasons why someone would consider transferring from Rollins within their first year on campus, and it’s important to step back and first recognize if those problems can be overlooked and altered, or whether they are deal breakers. If your major issues are correlated with your friends, classes, or even your roommate, you must recognize that these are changeable issues that can be addressed with enough time. If your issues stem from something more concrete such as school culture or permanent aspects of the college such as size, rules and or location, then transferring may be a more responsible option.
Think It Out
Once you have decided to explore the option of transferring, there are many options that you may need to consider such as which places will accept Rollins credits. Being a small liberal arts college, there are many classes Rollins offers which other schools will not accept, which can make transferring logistically difficult. In each situation, it is crucial that a person weigh out the pros and the cons to figure out whether the reward of feeling Rollins is truly your home is worth the effort you will need to put in to plant more roots here. It’s easy to think that transferring would be a fast and simple fix to a case of the Freshman Blues, but picture yourself standing in someone’s shoes on another campus and ask yourself- would your life be made better or worse if you weren’t at Rollins?
Live Your Best Life
Each person is different and many people have different reasons for considering transferring but the most important thing for you to realize is that you should be running towards something and not away from anything. Don’t transfer just because you want to leave your school, and don’t transfer because you haven’t found your place here. Within your first year, opportunities are overwhelming and social life can get in the way of all the great people and organizations that are at Rollins, so only seriously consider transferring if you believe there is a better opportunity elsewhere. Your first year at college can be the most difficult to adapt to whether you’re struggling to find your core friend group or finding classes to be more rigorous. Having an open and patient mindset can make a major difference when you’re weighing out the pros and cons of such a big decision.