Determining what size college to go to

I am homeschooled and recently had to go to my local public school to take the PSAT. I did not know how claustrophobic I was :) The school was incredibly large and I found myself very anxious! Of course, I am not used to being in a swarm of students and as a short person, I was a bit intimidated by the size of people the same age or younger than myself! I should have prepared myself, but I was trying not to think about it too much to avoid overthinking and stressing myself out.

Word from the wise- if you are from a small (or home) school, consider smaller colleges. I will be attending a small private university near my home vs. choosing a bigger school like Penn State University Park!

Hi Solzano, congrats on your first post!

Most of my schooling experience before high school, I lived in a rural area with about 10 people in my entire grade. In my high school, there are about 850 students, with about 225 in my class. I was quarantined between the two and was sort of homeschooled (I received education using an online program and didn’t interact with anyone for about 1.5 years). Going from 9 classmates, to 0, to 225 had a huge impact on me, as I went from spending most of my life alone to being exposed to tons of new types of people. I drifted between friend groups before settling and creating a friend group of my own. I’m a junior in high school, but I also take classes at a nearby college and I am considered a college freshman by friends, peers, teachers, and professors.

Socially, the best advice I can give you is to not change yourself for other people. If you don’t hide anything about yourself, people that are attracted to you will likely have similar interests and you’ll probably get along easily.

Don’t be afraid to participate in class! College classes have lots of discussions, so feel free to share your experiences when your professor asks! Your peers won’t judge, which brings me to my last point…

People worry more about their appearances than they worry about yours. Whether it be a wrinkle in their sock, static hair, or an untied shoelace, other people don’t care about things you might be insecure about. Chances are, they don’t even notice! Big deals to you might not even be noticeable by others. Be confident, and don’t worry about what others are thinking!

I know I didn’t really talk about the academic changes, but I believe I was personally impacted more in terms of my social life than my academic life. I really hope this helped! Good luck with your journey :)