There is nothing more intimidating than stepping outside of your comfort zone. When you’re a transfer student, no one truly takes a moment to think about what comes with it. You’ve created friendships, you’ve formed routines, and you’ve become familiar with a life you’ve created at your first university. For however many semesters you’ve been at the first school college you’ve attended, you became comfortable with what you knew. Then, you decided to try something new! Go you! You’ve re-entered the stress of researching schools, filling out applications, writing essays, getting transcripts in order, and campus visits. It’s a lot, but it all pays off when you’ve opened that acceptance letter to the school of your dreams!
Welcome to the University of Michigan! First, this is a huge thing, and you should take a moment to sit with this and genuinely feel. It may not seem like there is much time to even breathe, let alone celebrate because now it’s time to go full speed into transferring. Buckle up, because it’s a crazy ride.
FULL SPEED AHEAD:
What to expect in this article?
- THE SWITCH TO CANVAS
- BACKPACKING
- HOUSING
- NAVIGATING CAMPUS
- TRANSFER ORIENTATION
- CAFFEINE KICKS
- FOOTBALL GAME DAY 101
- FESTIFALL
THE SWITCH TO CANVAS
What’s intimidating about transferring is the change. Your new university may not align with how your previous university did things. For example, welcome to using Canvas! Some universities, like my own previous school, use Blackboard.
Canvas is a lot when you switch over to it from a different type of platform. Something that made me nervous when I was entering my first semester at U of M was my classes not immediately showing up. It sparked a rush of anxiety and had me checking Canvas day and night. I emailed my advisor and even asked my future roommates who I had never met before if this was normal. Guess what? I was stressing about something normal! Shocker! Some professors publish their classes early, some two weeks before, some one week before, and some on the first day of class. Don’t stress until after then!
As for Canvas past those first few days… your new obsessive habit. My advice is to check Canvas just like you’d check your ex’s Instagram profile. My favorite tool on Canvas is the Calendar section. This shows you a lot of your due dates for coursework and allows you to get insight into what is coming up. Each class you’re registered in will be on Canvas, you can access these and find your syllabus for each! Each professor can create their course layout differently on Canvas, so just a reminder!
Put those FBI skills towards looking up any upcoming assignments, not toward figuring out who your ex just followed. I found that sometimes there were assignments due that were never spoken of in class. Most of the time, this anxiety-ridden fact was about extra credit assignments – WHICH YOU SHOULD STILL DO! It’s never a bad thing to load up on extra credit!
Backpacking
Another scary thing is registering for classes. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Thankfully, the university assigns you an academic advisor from the school you are accepted into. This advisor is there to help relieve your worries and will help you! The university also has videos set up to show you how to do things. You’ll set up a time to meet with your advisor who will help take you through the process. My previous university never had backpacking, like the University of Michigan does. In fact, I didn’t even know what “backpacking” was here! This is super helpful when creating your schedule. You’ll have an audit that will tell you what courses you still need in what subjects. You’ll have a wide variety of classes to choose from for each subject. It will all work out! Trust.
HOUSING
When I was in the process of transferring, I was set on living in an apartment building with roommates. I figured these types of university-related off-campus housing apartments would allow me to build friendships and get to have utilities included. While I searched for where I wanted to live, I realized that I needed a roommate too.
A piece of advice, look into housing early! Don’t wait until the last minute. The University of Michigan is a large campus with a plethora of students who most need a place to live. Places fill up fast and people find roommates quickly.
When searching for a roommate, don’t worry! You will not have to be placed with someone random if you don’t want to! The University of Michigan has an off-campus housing roommate portal where you can create a profile of everything you want in a roommate, and how you are as a roommate. Once your profile is created, you’ll get access to see other people’s profiles who are also searching. You will be able to reach out to people and people can reach out to you. It’s super awkward at first, I won’t lie. I didn’t love the idea of reaching out to strangers about living together, how would I even approach that? Just do it! It gets less awkward, and everyone on that site is expecting this (and doing the same thing).
Just be open-minded and excited! You get to move and redecorate your room! Remember how I said I wanted an apartment? Fun fact, I didn’t do that. I ended up meeting a group of girls who had already signed a lease to a new house they’d be moving into. I loved them! They were kind, easy to talk to, all had different personalities, and they were funny! They also were extremely understanding that I was a transfer student, and completely lost. They helped me with a lot, and your roommates will most likely do the same! One of my roommates had been a transfer student before and knew the overwhelming sense of change that I was being overloaded with. She’s been a dream and helps me navigate life at UMich still.
NAVIGATING CAMPUS
I came from a private university where the campus was secluded and super organized. Sports in one part, academic buildings in one area, dorms in another area, and food in the other. An OCD girl’s dream! It was easy to find classes because they were all right there, clear as day. The University of Michigan has more than one campus, but all are in the same area of Ann Arbor. I still could not tell you where North campus is. Central campus is my home, my baby, my safe space.
This being said, there are a lot of buildings, and they are confusing. Ross, as pretty as it is, is a nightmare of confusion for me. Angel Hall? A maze of three different buildings in one. A habit I’ve formed, even back in high school, was finding my classrooms before the first day of classes. My roommates found it fun to give me a tour of campus, show me their favorite spots, and even help me find my classes. This helped A LOT! Without looking at where my Angel Hall classroom was (that was actually in Tisch Hall) I wouldn’t have made it to class that first day. I might’ve even let my anxiety win that first day, and never go to class ever again. It helps relieve first-day anxiety.
TRANSFER ORIENTATION
Before you arrive at the transfer orientation, you’ll have to complete online requirements. This includes courses, online orientation, and placement tests. It’s genuinely not that much, you’ll fly through it – don’t worry!
Once transfer orientation comes, this is a great place to make friends. A lot of my friends are girls I met through this orientation. We still hang out, text, and navigate campus life together. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and talk to people. They’re just as confused and nervous as you are. It helps to build your little support group before you even have your first day of classes.
CAFFEINE KICKS
I’m a caffeine girl at heart. So much so that it’s become part of my daily routine.
My father and sister have always loved Starbucks, getting me hooked as well. Back in my hometown, Starbucks is drive-thru and quick. Here? On State Street? Not so much. If you want a quick coffee, I advise against that Starbucks. It’s nine times out of ten packed, so unless you have thirty minutes to spare waiting. Choose one of the cute Ann Arbor places! My new favorite spot to get my morning caffeine? The Lab, right off State Street.
FOOTBALL GAMEDAY 101
Buy those season tickets if you can. You can resell it to other students if you choose not to go. It’s such a fun experience and atmosphere.
One thing I didn’t know as a transfer student going to the football games is there is no cell service there. You will not be able to call your friends from inside or upload that Snapchat story while in the big house. This leads me to my next unknown thing, you have to go to the section assigned to you on your ticket. You can move around sections and seats once you’re through the entrances of each section, but the stadium workers will check your ticket section. They’re sticklers about this and will turn you away. The section numbers in the stadium are difficult to see. I still couldn’t tell you which section is which once inside the stadium. Though your ticket says an assigned seat, you can sit anywhere. No one cares!
Now, let’s talk game day fits! I knew that the University of Michigan’s fans, especially football fans, are hardcore. So, before I moved to school I began shopping for merch before! I bought a few core basics and then shopped more at the MDen once I arrived. Maize and navy-blue core colors! You can totally get away with white incorporated into the outfit too. My first game was a student section theme of “Maize Out”, so I had previously bought a top that fit the color scheme and went to the MDen to buy myself a skirt I could wear in the crazy humidity. A lot of girls sport oversized jerseys with shorts and others do whatever they please. No one cares what you’re wearing as long as you’re supporting your school! Some girls even wear Michigan bikini tops. Every outfit I saw was super cute! Have fun with it!
FESTIFALL
The last thing I will say is make sure you go to Festifall. It’s a great way to get involved in clubs, sports, and even find ideas of what you want to get involved with in the future. A great piece of advice I was given at my transfer orientation was don’t sign up your email at Festifall. Take a flyer, or a picture of the flyer, and then go through it all later when you are home. You can pick and choose which you want to be a part of. This will save you from being spammed with emails from clubs you can’t participate in or decided against.
WRAPPING IT UP
There is a lot more I could go on and on about as a transfer student. I’m here to tell you it’s all okay and you’ll figure it out. Don’t be scared to try new things and put yourself out there! Everyone here is super friendly, and the campus becomes more and more familiar with time.
Key takeaways?
- Canvas is your go-to for all things coursework. Including assignments and syllabus access!
- You can speak to an advisor to help you sort things out, they’re there to help you! It’s okay to feel lost.
- Build that roommate portfolio and be open to options.
- You’ll figure the campus out with time! The main street everything is on is State Street.
- Transfer orientation is a great way to make new friends!
- Break that Starbucks addiction and try new places. The coffee shops around here are really good and super aesthetic!
- There isn’t any service in the stadium, you’ll have to make plans to find your friends before you enter. Sections are mandatory but seating is not.
- Go to Festifall! Don’t sign up for clubs right then and there. Gab a flyer and decide which you really want to do when you get home.
- Have fun and try new things! No one is judging you, and everyone wants friends. Be you!
- Also……… It’s maize, not yellow. I learned the hard way!
Have fun! GO BLUE!