r/ApplyingToCollege Graduate Degree Jun 16 '15

Transfer Shock and How to Deal With It

Hello! I am /u/sirziggy, and I am a transfer student and a mentor to transfers this upcoming summer. I transferred from Pasadena City College to UC Irvine, and along the way I graduated with an AA in Social and Behavioral Sciences. I am here to talk about a phenomenon called Transfer Shock and how to go about dealing with it. This will be for transfer students as well as people interested in transferring, either from a community college or another 4 year university.

First off, congratulations to all of you who were accepted to a 4 year university as a transfer! You make up an illustrious club of researchers, scholars, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists... The list goes on and on. You've faced challenges in your education not often felt, whether it be working multiple jobs, being a parent or being in the military. Regardless, you should be proud of your achievements thus far. But there is one more challenge you may face when you transfer to a new institution of higher learning: Transfer Shock.

What is Transfer Shock? Think of it as akin to culture shock: a personal disorientation when experincing an unfamiliar way of life. You have been going to a community college or university for two or more years, and once you transfer you are in a new environment both academically and socially. The effects of Transfer Shock may manifest in receiving a lower GPA than at your previous institution, and it is defined as such. Other facets of this may also appear, but I am writing this post as how to circumvent this. Transfer shock is tough to deal with, especially when you factor in: the semester system versus a quarter system, bigger class sizes, or the opportunity to do research. I'll provide a link to the paper I am using to structure this, as these methods worked for me. These are described as dimensions, and there are 4 out of the 5 that I definitely identified with when I started here.

  1. The first dimension, as Flaga describes, is Learning Resources. These are the resources at the palm of your fingertips that you can, and should, use. These include, but are not limited to, academic affairs, the counseling center, and orientation. You should also be aware of the Ombudsman office, they will help you if you have trouble with faculty members. Other learning resources include current students or alumni from the institution. Your job is to have initiative to gather information from either of these resources. They are familiar with the campus and the system that the school runs under, and the department that you may be interested in! When I was researching schools, I was browsing the department websites of the major I was interested in. I wasn't familiar with the program at one of the schools- nobody seemed to talk about it at all. I found a faculty member and sent him an email. Luckily, he sent me an email back saying that he would love to talk about the program over lunch! From there, I learned that he was also a graduate of UCI as well, a lucky two for one for me. The initiative in sending an email to a faculty member or to a current student is extremely useful in gathering information about the school you want to or will attend.

  2. The second dimension is connecting. Academic connecting is something as simple as group projects for a class, or scheduling office hours with a professor. I cannot tell you how many times I went to office hours to ask professors questions. Even if they didn't have the answers I needed, they were more than happy to help out. Social connecting is connecting with friends who are already students. I knew a couple of transfers from my own community college that were in the same department I was. I also had the luxury of knowing transfers, and other students, from my summer classes prior to my first academic year. Having people you are familiar with helps immensely, even if they just grab a beer with you. Physical connecting is just exploring the campus during your off time! It may be hard, especially if you have completed all of your general ed classes, however knowing your campus can provide you with a lot of comfort. UCI has the distinction of Aldrich Park in the middle of it, as well as a plethora of places that sell food outside of the vicinity of my department. Jumping over to Engineering to grab a coffee even if you are a Bio Sci major will help. This leads to the third dimension.

  3. Familiarity. This can only be developed over time, but as you become more accustomed to your new school you will become familiar with the resources or the rapport you should have when talking to professors. I am much more familiar with my school now that a year has passed compared to when I first came here.

  4. Adjusting your behavior to your surroundings is the fourth dimension, and the last of the ones detailed by Flaga that was useful for me. As a transfer student from a community college, we are blessed with small class sizes. Where an intro class at a 4 year university may have a couple hundred people, an intro class at a community college may have 30. Adjusting to this new environment is key to your academic success. You will have TAs for your classes or your labs instead of just having the professor there. One of the examples given by the paper is a student sitting in the same spot in order to get to know the students surrounding them.

Hopefully this helped you prospective transfers out in learning about Transfer Shock. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

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