Transfer Troubles and Tips

Changing schools isn’t easy, no matter the circumstances or situation. Some students transfer due to the environment of the school, the need to be closer to home, sports teams, or their school may not have a major or minor they’d like to explore. As for myself, due to health circumstances, I had to transfer from Sacred Heart University in Connecticut to Ramapo College of New Jersey. The first thing a person wonders when they transfer to a different school is if they will make friends and fit in with their peers.

What comforted me was that I had friends that were attending Ramapo at the time, so I went up a few times to see them and get a feel for the school. Even staying a night can help a student realize if they truly feel at home. I went to a Theta Phi Alpha’s event that they have at Ramapo every fall: Home Run Derby. I knew no one so I showed up with very few expectations for the day. When I walked in, girls came running up to me, hugging me and saying “We’re so happy you came!” By the time I left, I felt ready to come to Ramapo for school in the spring. By the time I got home (about 30 minutes later), I had friend requests on Facebook from all my new sisters. Walking to class on my first day of school, I ran into one of my new sisters and a really good friend from high school, and they walked me to my first class.

One thing to point out is how different two schools can be from one another. Sacred Heart and Ramapo are so different. At Sacred Heart, I had no days off and when I got to Ramapo, I had two days off a week. I thought I’d have too much free time. Turns out, I’m in the library doing homework A LOT! Being the “new” kid in the sorority and at the school, I felt like I had a lot to prove. I clocked in more than 200 hours in the library in my first semester. Another difference may be the environment and living structure. I went from a suite of 12 girls at Sacred Heart, to a suite of four at Ramapo…and we all had our own room!

Being at a new school where no one knew me gave me time to think about myself. Everyone who is transferring schools can do the same. Take a leap of faith and talk to people in your classes or in your dorm to get connected to peers. When I went into Pay-Cafe for lunch, my sisters had a table and seat for me so I wouldn’t have to sit alone, which was my biggest fear. Now I still just look for my sisters or other friends and there is always someone to eat with, hangout with, to watch movies with or order in with on a Saturday night!

Here are my top tips for anyone looking to transfer schools:

Visit the school even (and especially) if you don’t know anyone.
If you have friends that attend the school, visit to see if you could see yourself going there for however long you have until graduation.
If you’re in a sorority, or on a team, go to a game or event to get to know people and make friends.
Social media! Join the transfer student group on Facebook to meet people and talk about your transferring fears.
Talk to someone in admissions to find more about your program, classes you’d be taking, and to get your credits transferred from your other school.
Go to a club fair, or center for student involvement when you get to school to look for ways to get involved!
LOVE YOUR NEW SCHOOL MORE THAN THE OLD ONE! We can’t change situations in the past, so we have to make the best of the future!

The best memories at school are the ones where you take a leap of faith or try something new. Being a transfer student could be the scariest and greatest experience in a college student’s life. As Nicholas Sparks said, “In the blink of an eye, something happens by chance when you least expect it, sets you on a course that you never planned and into a future you never imagined.”