A future college student’s worst nightmare is not liking the college they end up going to. Most go through months of decision making processes trying to decide which school is for them and where they want to spend much of the next four years of their life. What if you’re not happy with your choice in the end?
I had a tough time picking a college because I got into two schools that I really loved: Saint Joseph’s and Michigan State. In the end, I went to college freshman year at Michigan State University. I rushed a sorority, picked my major, and made the most amazing friends. I was lucky enough to have my brother at school with me for the first semester as well. As a college freshman from New Jersey, this was huge. I got to go to multiple social events with my sorority and a football tailgate almost every weekend and got to experience my football team become the champions of the Rose Bowl. I loved where I was going to school.
As I was driving to Philadelphia airport in January to catch my flight back to Detroit to start my second semester of school, everything changed. I didn’t want to go and had this horrible sense of leaving everything behind. It was so intense that it made me sick. My parents ended up having to drive me to Michigan after a few missed flights, basically having to force me to go back to school.
I researched transferring to multiple schools but remembered how much I loved Saint Joe’s when I was a senior in high school. I ended up applying in February 2014 and received an acceptance soon after. I was beyond excited but also nervous about making this big change in my life. In April, I went to accepted student’s day and didn’t tell anyone about it. I feared what my friends or my sorority would think and how I would feel about leaving them behind. The day I spent at SJU reminded me how much I loved it and made me even more excited to make that transition.
Things I LOVE about SJU:
- Small class sizes
- Personalized advising for classes and future career choices – at MSU we had “communal” advisers who would advise anyone where at SJU we have an assigned adviser who we can get to know and help us decide what we want to do after graduation!
- Everyone is open to join whatever school they want – I would have had to apply to the business school at MSU and if I didn’t get in I would have had to pick a major outside of the business school, which wasn’t what I wanted!
- Close proximity to my home
- AMAZING professors
- Fall break and Easter break (perks of a Catholic school)
- Close-knit community feel on and around campus
Things I miss about MSU:
- My sorority – I was initiated into Kappa Delta, which does not have a chapter at SJU. Once you join a sorority, you cannot join another so I had to completely leave this behind.
- Sporting events and tailgates – being in the Big Ten conference, we had so many events for our sports teams, pretty much every weekend
- School spirit was HUGE – I wouldn’t say that SJU is lacking school spirit but I can definitely tell the difference between school spirit here and there
I will never regret transferring to SJU my sophomore year. I have met so many amazing people, made great connections with my professors, and finally feel at home. I was so afraid of trusting myself and taking this leap of faith, but it was well worth it. There were so many things I was worried about like making friends, regretting my choice, and not liking the school once I got here, but I trust my instinct and went for what I truly wanted, and it worked out for me in the end. I urge anyone who is thinking about transferring to listen to what you want and well, just go for it.
