u/Electrical-Spell-861

Hi,

I committed to Purdue, OOS for CIT, at the last minute on May 1st on a whim, letting go of another school, VT, OOS for FYE (path to CS), which I deferred the previous school year after taking a gap year.

I honestly feel like this decision is huge, and I've been grieving this choice a lot. However, I feel like I'd be like this either way. My parents said that either school is good. Purdue has a good name, no matter the degree, but I was stuck until the last minute, and now I feel insane regret for letting go.

I'm terrified that I won't ever be able to try CS again, and I shut the door to that opportunity, but I also don't think I was in a good state to try it since I'm a bit burnt out.

I visited both schools and honestly feel very scared about Purdue winter, especially as an OOS. I've seen a lot of posts on Reddit and other sites about Purdue social life, academics, and environment, which made me scared.

Is it normal to feel this much regret after a commitment? Is it even possible to go back on this type of decision? If yes, do you recommend? If not, what are the best parts of this school, and is the program I got into good?

I still don't feel ready to start and hope for some advice.

I was accepted into an FYE program with a goal of CS, but I am honestly terrified of all the classes like physics, chem, and calc sequence. I think I feel this way because it's been years since I learned physics and chem and to be honest, my teachers were kinda bad. I'm also coming back from a gap year that burnt me out, so going into engineering feels terrifying. I feel like I'm entering college with less academic experience than others. While everyone around me says I can succeed if I seek out resources, I have pretty low self-esteem. I was accepted into another program this year, which is less theoretical but still on the tech path (CIT), while also being cheaper. I emailed my HS CS teacher, and he said that, based on how I learn, that program would be a better fit, but that environment also matters. I'm focused on avoiding burnout while having fun at a campus I like with good job outcomes. I really like the environment, but I'm afraid that if I don't do well in my first year (3.0+), I won't get any internships, won't get into the major I like, and I probably won't be happy even if it seems more fun. I know engineering is already a struggle for students who do very well in high school with AP credits. I'm definitely aware of the weed-out classes, and I might be setting myself up for failure. How hard is the first year of engineering, and do you think it's worth the risk?

I was accepted into the FYE program with a goal of CS, but I am honestly terrified of all the classes like physics, chem, and calc sequence. I think I feel this way because it's been years since I learned physics and chem and to be honest, my teachers were kinda bad. I'm also coming back from a gap year that burnt me out, so going into engineering feels terrifying. I feel like I'm going to enter college with less academic experience than others. While everyone around me says I can succeed if I seek out resources, I have pretty low self-confidence. I was accepted into another program this year, which is less theoretical but still on the tech path (CIT), while also being cheaper. I emailed my HS CS teacher, and he said that, based on how I learn, that program would be a better fit, but that environment also matters. I'm focused on avoiding burnout while having fun at a campus I like with good job outcomes. I really like the VT environment, but I'm afraid that if I don't do well in my first year (3.0+), I won't get any internships, won't get into the major I like, and I probably won't be happy even if it seems more fun. I only have 2 projects and 2 job experiences coming in. I know engineering is already a struggle for students who do very well in high school with AP credits. I'm definitely aware of the weed-out classes, and I might be setting myself up for failure if I don't withdraw. How hard is the first year of engineering at VT, and do you think it's worth the risk?