Transferring universities was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I transferred from Southern Connecticut State University, in New Haven, Connecticut, which has 9,377 total undergraduate students, and 1,989 students living on campus, according to the SCSU website, to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, which as stated by their Campus Data page, has about 24,000 undergraduates, with a significant amount of them living on campus. I went from a local school 30 minutes away that had a majority commuter student body to a much larger campus two hours away with a much more rich on-campus life and different demographic.
Why transfer?
If you have been considering transferring universities, do it. My original university was a “safety school” for me, and I had been thinking about transferring out since my orientation. While I had fun there and made amazing memories and friends, many of whom I still see today, the lingering feeling in the back of my mind that this school wasn’t the right one for me did not go away. I couldn’t even see myself graduating from that school, even while I was there, and I knew I would regret not transferring later on. Transferring schools has opened up so many opportunities to expand my network and meet different types of people. My current institution has a lot more to offer me in terms of experience and opportunity as well as academically and socially.
making friends is a different process
One of the biggest differences between my experiences at these schools was the process of making friends. I am a very social person, and making friends has never been difficult for me, but I found it took more time to make lasting friendships at UMass than it did at SCSU. This was partially because smaller schools are much tighter knit and everyone knows each other, but my day to day schedule is significantly different on a larger campus that has more involvement, so there are times that I have been too busy to go out and make friends. It is also harder to make friends as a transfer student, simply because there are so many opportunities and orientations for freshmen to meet each other, and transfer students are often left in the dust. I really started to find my group once I joined clubs and attended auditions. I highly recommend transfer students go to try outs, auditions, club and career fairs to meet peers with similar interests.
time MANAGEMENT looks different
Because the campus itself is a larger size and there are fewer parking lots, I have to pay much closer attention to my time management. At my old school, my dining hall was a five minute walk from my dorm, and all of my academic buildings and the gym were a 10-15 minute walk from where I lived. Now, I have four different dining halls to choose from, the closest being a 10-minute walk from my building, and all my academic buildings that I have classes in are at least a 15 minute walk, some being closer to 20-25 minutes, and the gym is a 20 minute walk from my dorm. Because of this, I have to make my routine a bit stricter so I can fit all the activities I want to do in order to accommodate for the extra time spent traveling to my destinations.
I am so thankful that I decided to transfer universities and for the new life I have fostered here. Because there is such a stark difference between the two universities I have attended, there was a large adjustment I had to make, which was difficult at first because I was going into this experience blind, not knowing anyone close to me who had transferred universities before. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything, and I encourage anyone who is currently considering changing their schools to look into it and start applying for and touring schools.
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