second guessing my life choices

[Unregistered]

I like to tell myself that I made a good choice in an imperfect life decision, however I really still second guess it. I choose a lowly ranked college, despite it being a total safety school for me because they have one of the best ranked program for my specific field, and there are very few programs in the country, I feel the work is far too easy for me though, not that I want hard work, but I have barely learned anything all semester, and my last final was simply 10 true or false multiple choice questions, when in high school I was pushed a lot harder. The field I want to go into is mainly based on work experience, and my school prepares us very well in that aspect. The field I choose stood out to me more than anything else, and many of my peers at the school also chose the school for the same program I did despite it being lowly ranking and the academic bar at my school is honestly really really low. While I love what I am studying, I cant help but think what it would be like to be at a slightly bigger school with harder academics, and better parties, and a much higher academic reputation. In order to do that I would have to change majors and do something that I don't love as much, it is really the only and best out of the small to medium sized schools for the specific program. Should I think about going somewhere harder and better academically and considering a different field of study? I always feel a bit bad where I tell people where I go to college, because for any other field, there are so many better colleges, and most people think about the school overall not just my program? my parents wont even let me look elsewhere, they feel I "made a decision, and it is done, and they don't support me looking elsewhere" They say "no school is perfect, and this has almost everything you are looking for" I wish though that I could spend sometime at another school in a harder academic program just to see what another field is like..how can I convince them, or is this just crazy and stupied?I want to try a few other fields, so I was thinking of getting a masters, but I also want to see what it would be like to study a different bachelors I feel like no matter where I went my whole life would be different, and I hate making choices. I would have a different amount of free time depending on the school, different friends, a different amount of money, different social life, different amount of debt, I would likely end up married to someone different, I would end up with a completely different career track, I would end up living somewhere else, and probably have a completely different future ahead of me. There are 6000 colleges in the US and at least 1000 I could get into, all with totally different outcomes, LIFE IS SO HARD. I wish I could just try a better school, I feel I wouldn't have this problem if I could just make my school harder and better academically and I felt so bad turning down all the harder better schools for my passion in a career field.

[2NDFLOOR]

I can understand second guessing choices that you have made, we all do it at some point in our lives. That's true that your life could be different if you went to another school, but that's going to be true for anything you do. You could go to a new school and hate it, it could be too difficult, the social scene might not be what you like, etc. There are no guarantees about what is in your future so you need to make the best decision for you. If this program is one that you like besides the fact that it is a lower ranking school, don't let that affect you. The people you will be working for know that that program is good for your major. Don't feel badly about telling people where you go to school, because just because they are going to a bigger name school doesn't mean they are doing better, going to get a better job, have a better social life etc. If you are truly unhappy at this school then of course you look for different programs, but make sure you are changing schools for the right reasons. We will constantly have to make difficult decisions in life, you're right life is hard! Making these decisions doesn't get easier, we just get more used to making them. Yes there will be different outcomes, but nothing is permanent. If you find that you don't like your outcome then make a change. But don't think about what could have been if you made a different decision, because you'll never really know. This will just lead you to feel more stressed about making future decisions. If you want to talk more give 2NDFLOOR Youth Helpline a call 24/7 or text us daily 4-8PM at 888-222-2228.