Hi, I'm currently a second year at Birmingham trying to decide whether or not to transfer to Royal Holloway to retake my second year. (My course is 4 years at Birmingham and 3 at RH so I'd graduate at the same time, and student finance should be covered). I've sent UCAS and everything off, just weighing up the pros and cons of staying/leaving. Sorry for the essay in advance!
I have really struggled with my mental health being in Birmingham as its quite far from home. I had some family stuff over the summer that made me quite anxious being away from home - especially as with the virus there was a really restrictive period of 3 months where I couldn't see family. While Birmingham is a good 4-5 hours away by train from home, Royal Holloway is under 2 hours, and only 40 minutes from London (I live about 40 mins further out). As someone who commutes to the city a lot to visit friends/my boyfriend I think it would feel a lot more like home. I also have two really close friends from school there, which is nice.
Royal Holloway was my insurance choice for first year but the only reason I never went was because I felt pressured to go to a Russell Group. But being at Birmingham I have struggled with the work load and pressure to meet the standards of other people on my course. Maybe transferring to RH would help with some of my anxiety related to this.
However I have a really good group of friends at Birmingham, and am scared I might lose them if I left. I also feel like maybe it would be a cop out leaving the Uni I worked so hard to get in to, just because I'm struggling at the moment. I know I shouldn't but I do worry about what people might think of me. And what if I regret the move?
Any help would be really appreciated - if anybody has experience of transferring or any advice about Royal Holloway that'd be great too. Thanks in advance!