College transfer h**l! Need advice!?

Question

I go to a college in Mississippi right now. A small private Baptist college that has minimal course offerings for my major and is way too conservative for me. Here's the problem: I can't choose between transferring to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and transferring to Southeastern Louisiana University. Pros for ULL: my long-term boyfriend lives out there, and I'm ready to start my life with him. My major is Spanish, and ULL definitely has better course offerings for Spanish. However, it has the reputation of having a party crowd. But that's not my scene. Going there, I could stay with my boyfriend's grandparents for free. Pros for SLU: It's a good school, center of all the important people in my life. But still two hours away from my boyfriend and everyone else, at least. I can stay with my grandmother for free if I go there. However, SLU has fewer course offerings for my major. Plus, a lot of people I went to high school with go to SLU, all of which are Katrina refugees [like myself]. I want to get away from that and start anew. I just don't want to be stupid about this. PLEASE HELP! ADVICE NEEDED!

Answer 1

it sounds like ULL is the place to be

Answer 2

Let's look at your cons for each school. ULL has a party reputation. SLU has fewer courses, is further away from your boyfriend and "everyone else", and is a step closer to your past when you're trying to move forward. The way you wrote your question--and please forgive me if I'm wrong--it seems like you want to go to ULL for legitimate academic and personal reasons, but someone in your life is pressuring or encouraging you to go to SLU because _they_ think that's what's best for you, and that's why you're having doubts.

Based on everything you wrote, it looks like ULL is your best option, even if you only consider the academics. More importantly, it looks like you want to go to ULL, but you're afraid to trust your instincts. TRUST THEM.

You say that SLU is the "center of all the important people in your life." Maybe this is true location-wise, but these people are important to you while you're living in Mississippi, so why would that change if you went to ULL? Maybe you wouldn't be in the "center," but I imagine that ULL is still a lot closer to your folks than Mississippi.

In summary, trust your instincts. If you have doubts, try to figure out which ones are your own and which ones were thrust upon you by other people, however well meaning they may be. It doesn't sound like you're "being stupid" about your decision at all. It looks like you've given this a great deal of though. Good luck.  

Answer 3

You have answered your own question here: Go to ULL.