It’s a really unfortunate situation when you go to college and end up hating it. It’s a waste of money, not all credits transfer, and it’s a hassle reapplying to colleges that you didn’t think you’d ever look at. You make friends that you have to part ways with, or maybe you don’t make friends at all when at home you had so many. Maybe your roommate was a nightmare, or maybe you didn’t take the schoolwork seriously enough and ended up failing out. Maybe you were homesick, or maybe you didn’t have your priorities straight. There are many ways why students transfer- that’s why we have a title, guys, we’re called transfer students for a reason- but there are only a few pieces of advice you’ll need in order to have a better experience somewhere else. College really is what you make it out to be.
Unfortunately, not everything goes smoothly the second time around, either. Here are a few pieces of advice on how to make your second (or third) college experience the best one yet!
1. Stay Close to Home I live in Connecticut and the first college I went to was all the way in Florida. My experience there was somewhat a disaster, and I was extremely homesick. The best I could do was facetime my friends and family back home, or book $500 plane tickets when I was going through a hard time. I wanted to stay in Florida, but with everything I was going through it was best to come back home. I decided only to apply to schools in Connecticut after doing a transformation year at community college, and let me tell you, it was the best decision I could’ve made. Now when things go wrong I can drive home or have someone come to me. I always have the comfort of having the people and the things I need close to me.
2. Find your New Roommates and Contact them Beforehand And if you can’t find them, make sure you don’t end up living with them. Nowadays every college student has some type of a social media account, so if you can’t find your roommates on Facebook or Instagram, chances are they’re not going to be the kind of people you want to live with! Don’t hesitate to email Res-Life and ask for a room swap.
3. And then, make Friends with Them Your roommates will be the first people you meet on campus. You want to make friends with them. They’ll be the ones to show you the ropes, the hot spots, how the cafeteria works, and of course the cute guys. They’ll also be the ones you come home laughing or crying to, and the ones taking care of you when you’re sick and comforting you when you’re sad, and the ones quizzing you at 3 in the morning when you have exams. Chances are they aren’t going to reach out to you first, so make sure you reach out to them! You’ll want to discuss what you need to bring to contribute to the room anyway, so make the first move!
4. Go to all of the “dumb” events that you don’t want to go. Orientation, the meet and greets, bingo night, the film they show in the courtyard, and whatever else your school might have. These will be the places where you will make new friends at, and most of them will be other transfer students feeling the same way as you. Trust me, it’ll be worth it when you come out with a couple friends, or maybe even just one good one. As long as you have someone!
5. Get Involved in Something This one speaks for itself. The best way to meet people and to get involved on campus is to join an organization. Greek life, clubs, interamurals, anything. Every school always has a list of the clubs and organizations on campus, and they’re always looking for new members!
6. Or Many Things Better yet, get involved in all of those things listed above. It’ll be worth it, trust me.
7. Reach out to People I can’t stress enough how important this is. I’m a person who has super bad anxiety when it comes to reaching out, but it’ll be worth it in the end. (This is how I ended up meeting my Big!) Say hi, ask for their number, ask to grab lunch or dinner, anything. People really take an interest in you when you reach out to them and chances are you’ll end up liking each other! And if you don’t, then that’s fine too, but you won’t know until you try. Remember, no regrets this time around!
8. Make an Appointment with a Counselor Make an appointment with one whether you have a reason to or not. You don’t need to have something wrong with you to make an appointment with a counselor, they’re there to help you and guide you in the right direction. If you talk to them about what went wrong your first (or second) time at college, they’ll help you make better decisions this time around. They’re there for a reason so use them to your advantage. They can even help recommend clubs or organizations they think you’d fit into. But seriously, make an appointment. (They’re typically free!)
9. Keep yourself busy. Colleges have a lot to offer for a reason. They want you to do well and succeed at their school. The easiest way to fall into a funk is to find yourself with too much free time on your hands. Too much alone time is not a good thing, especially when you’re adjusting to a new place after things not working out the first (or second) time. Keeping yourself busy is SO important in order to thrive at your new school!
10. Do All of the things you Didn’t Do the First Time. I personally had major regrets about not getting involved in enough things my freshman year of college. I think back to that time and wonder if I had gotten more involved if I would have met more people and liked the school better. There were a lot of things I wished I did differently, but going to a new school means getting a second chance to do all those things! Take advantage of it!
11. And maybe don’t do all of the things you did the first time. And of course, we all did things we regret doing the first time… I’ll just leave this one here.
12. Pat yourself on the back. Transferring is no easy task! Don’t forget to give yourself credit for trying again! Self love is the most important kind of love. Transferring schools is much harder than everyone thinks it is, so don’t forget to applaud yourself for starting over again!