I transferred to UT in the fall of 2018 from my local community college. Being accepted into UT as a journalism student was a dream of mine, and I cried a bit when I got my acceptance.
One of the things I thankfully didn’t have to worry about was securing housing in Austin. I was part of the transfer living learning community which actually began in fall 2018, so, I was able to live on campus in an area with other recent transfer students. This was a great way to meet other students who understood what I was going through as a transfer student, because our experience is much different than a freshman student.
When you come in as a transfer student it can be difficult to meet people sometimes, because when you come in during your sophomore or junior year many students have found their place at their school already. You’ve already completed a year or more of college, so you understand how things work academically compared to freshman, but you still feel a bit like a freshman all over again, because you’re going to a new place — and in my case it was my first time being on my own, because I lived at home during my time at community college — and you have to orient yourself to a new city, perhaps even a new state, meet people again, and adjust to a different academic rigor compared to your previous college.
One thing that UT does that I felt really helped me adjust was their transfer interest groups or TrIGs. With these you have your academic advisor, and you’re in a group with fellow transfers who are also in their first semester at UT, in your major and with whom you share classes. You meet once a week to discuss how things are going and certain topics that your advisor feels will benefit the group. I met some really great people through my TrIG, and I really enjoyed our weekly meetings during my first semester.
I was pretty nervous to begin my first semester, because I had heard how much tougher UT classes are compared to other universities, and coming from a community college I was worried I wouldn’t be able to handle just how much they expect from their students, but my first semester — and first year — went really well. I found a good group of people who shared similar career and life goals, and were able to provide support when I would be struggling with the adjustment. I also had professors who were incredibly passionate about what they were teaching and offered so much support that I had never felt in a college setting. I truly felt that they cared about me and wanted to see me achieve my goals, and I loved being able to talk to them about career advice, because many of them have done things that I dream of doing one day.
The process of transferring was stressful at times, and the waiting process was miserable, but transferring to UT was one of the best decisions I made, and I’m so proud that I get to call myself a Longhorn.