I Chose the Wrong Undergraduate University
It’s been a year and a half since I graduated in mid-2017 and I’ve had a lot of time to reflect about my undergraduate experience. I have written a blog post discussing my feelings about graduation day, which you can read HERE.
Last year I took a gap year and applied to universities to continue my studies in graduate school and since these experiences heavily influenced my thoughts about my undergraduate experience, I thought this topic was worth to ramble about... For those of you who are currently applying to university the school and program/major that you pick can determine the course of your life. Therefore, I think it is important to consider things before you make a decision on which school you should attend. I have written many blog posts about choosing the right major and university, all of which you can find HERE.
I don’t regret my major or the experiences from which I was able to learn and grow during my four years at undergraduate university. Amazing opportunities have come my way and I am extremely grateful to have been able to attend university in the first place. However, I do believe that I made a mistake when applying to universities in high school and the university that I was attending essentially was not for me. My decision to apply was heavily influenced by my family members and the merit scholarship that I was awarded, as it made university very affordable for me. I’m grateful for that financial aid + scholarship; however, one big issue that I faced was not feeling a part of the community. I just did not belong there. Although I enjoyed taking liberal arts courses alongside my major, some of them were forced on us that we could not opt out of. Since graduating, I am in contact with only a couple of my close friends and I don’t have any intentions of returning and visiting the university campus because I don’t feel welcome there.
Another drawback of attending a small university is everyone knowing who you are. People are involved in each others business and there’s a lot of gossip. It was extremely annoying to be constantly bombarded with rumours about people that you have never met before but knew so much about at the same time?! Although I liked small classroom sizes professors could always find information about students from their fellow colleagues. A small community creates a bubble and you’re either inside or outside and when you’re meeting people for the first time but they already have assumptions about you it results in awkward conversations (to say the least).
This is quite a difficult topic to write about because had I not attended this university, I wouldn’t have met some of my closest friends, or studied abroad in South Korea, or had an amazing mentor and discovered my profound love for neuroscience and gotten into this masters program. If anything, combining all of the negative interactions and experiences that I’ve had in undergrad, I was able to learn from them to make sure that I wouldn’t make the same mistakes while applying to graduate schools. So second time around I looked for an interdisciplinary program (liberal arts have stayed with me), picked a big university in a multi-cultural city, made sure it would allow me to live abroad and would be full of opportunities for my future career in academia, etc. I am much happier attending University of Amsterdam, as I am finally living in a big city and am surrounded by like minded individuals on campus! The people in my masters program are absolutely amazing and supportive and because we’re all interested in research I have learned so much more from my peers. Honestly, I’m living my best life here in Amsterdam and I cannot wait for more opportunities to come my way!
I hope this rant gives you something to think about. The environment that you’re going to put yourself into for an undergraduate degree will shape not only the kind of person you’re going to start growing into but also what kind of people you will meet (who will influence you), what your living environment will be like and in the end what kind of experience you will have. I think that it is important to share my reflections about things that I did not enjoy during my undergraduate years because I did not fit the environment well and I hope that maybe some of you can learn from my mistake. I’m not saying that all small universities are bad but it only suits certain kind of people and it did not fulfil all of my needs.
If you would like to read more from me, click HERE to see other blog posts! You can also follow my studygram HERE for some inspiration!
