Being a transfer student can be very challenging, but it also can be a very interesting and fun experience. If anyone can relate to being the “New Girl,” it is Jessica Day.
1. Credits
When you first decide to transfer to a different college, one of the first and most stressful steps you must take is to see if your credits transfer over. Basically your new college gets to decide if the classes you took in your old college are worthy or not. Next, comes the even more stressful part: finding out if the credits that transferred over will make it possible to graduate when you want to. If you plan on graduating college in fours years and all your credits did not transfer over successfully, this may mean having to take extra classes.
2. Introductions
Being new to campus means that everywhere you go you basically have to introduce yourself. Your introduction basically always turns into a conversation about you being a transfer student and explaining why you transferred. It seems kind of weird at first, but eventually it becomes just part of your daily dialogue and it almost feels strange not to mention it.
3. Walking
In order to familiarize yourself with campus it means walking around many, many times trying to learn the lay of the land. You have to not only get used to how far everything is, but also where your classes are and the best routes to take to walk there.
4. Feeling out of place
It feels like wherever you go, people are looking at you. Everyone seems to know each other, but you feel like don’t really fit in a category. You’re not a freshman, but you are not exactly like the people your age either who are fully adjusted to the environment. You are somewhere in the middle with the knowledge of an upperclassman, but the confusion of a freshman.
5. Getting Lost
When you arrive on campus you eventually have to figure out where everything is, especially your classes. This usually takes getting lost about a hundred times. It also involves walking for hours to find where places are, only to end up more confused and lost than you were in the first place.
6. Being called a freshman
When people see you they immediately assume you are a freshman either because of the look of constant confusion in your eyes or the fact that you walked down the same hallway multiple times looking into each classroom thoroughly.
7. Getting involved in clubs
When trying to get involved in clubs you mentally have to prepare yourself for the vast amount of icebreakers you will play and plan out which “fun fact” you have to share with the group. However, no better conversation happens than one built upon the mutual hate for games where you have to talk about yourself.
8. Putting yourself out there
This is not easy, but in order to be a successful transfer student it means diving right into the school and figuring things out as you along. It might take a lot for you to convince yourself, but ultimately you know it is better for you.
9. Making mistakes
Being a transfer means making a fool of yourself on the daily basis. When you are learning new things, you might make a lot of mistakes until you get it right. You might go to the wrong classrooms and being unsure a lot of the times, but thats ok.
10. Finding a fellow transfer
When you find another recent transfer, you feel someone finally understands all your struggles and are happy to see if they are going through the same things as you.
11. Adjustment
All transfers adjust at different times. Some take longer, while others can adjust fairly quickly. When you look around or talk to other transfers it may seem like they figured out this new environment, the people, and the classes. However, it may not be the same case for you.
12. Different Culture/Environment
The school is not the only thing you change when you transfer, but your environment too. You are exposed to a completely different culture at this new college. You have to learn all over again what opportunities are offered and how the academics are different than what you were used to. Although you have a year or more of college under your belt, you surprisingly still have a lot to learn.
13. Food
All schools have different food. Some schools have better food than others, and all dining halls have some great food and some not so great food. You need to figure out which foods to avoid, and the ins and outs of all the different dining halls.
14. Weekends
Now that you have your class schedule figured out, you have to find out what people do for fun on the weekend. Not all schools do the same thing. Some may have bars, throw frat parties, or host events. Either way, you have to figure out how to spend your time on your free days that you don’t have class.
15. Meeting People
Being a transfer is a completely different experience from being a freshman. Freshmen tend to get to know other people and make friends easier. This is because freshmen are typically going places in large groups, and because their RAs and other community leaders organize events for them. Upperclassmen generally have already found the people with whom they want to hang out. Therefore, meeting people as a transfer is more of a challenge- but that’s not to say it cannot happen. It just takes introducing yourself and working a little bit harder.
Being a transfer isn’t easy, but you just have to embrace it and eventually you’ll get the hang of it and figure things out!