<p>This was in the MIT newspaper, originally from the NYT. The article says these students are less engaged with school and campus life. “Transfer students were less likely to work with professors on research projects, to participate in community service or to engage in other activities that enrich learning.”</p>
<p><a href=“http://www-tech.mit.edu/V125/N54/54changingcolleges.html[/url]”>http://www-tech.mit.edu/V125/N54/54changingcolleges.html</a></p>
<p>However, if the student was miserable at their first school (like me) it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve always been one to get to know teachers well so I’m not too concerned. Being a future commuter I won’t really need campus life since I’ll have my old job and many organizations that I had belonged to prior to leaving back including two bands, church, and a Macintosh users group. Basically the only contacts I’ve lost on a local level since I left were five people who all went away to school, and for them I’m just an email away.</p>
<p>over30,</p>
<p>I somehow get the feeling that the authors of this paper did a regression, found the two variables to have a high coefficient, and then went, “Ah-hah! It is so!”</p>
<p>Correlation is not causation. The article fails to mention that transfer itself may not be the causative factor, but it may be other factors peculiar to these students that makes them less likely to get involved. As a former transfer (CC to UCLA), I was very involved and found most of my classmates to also be involved.</p>
<p>Then again, uni to uni transfers might be different. I still say the correlation might not be causative.</p>
<p>My D and I both transfered, me from an LAC to a U, her the other way around. I did not get very involved, but that was from personal style and situation. D threw herself into her new school and was tremendously involved in all sorts of ECs. My S, though very happy at the school he started at, is relatively uninvolved in outside stuff.</p>
<p>I don’t doubt that the study found a correlation in the aggregate, but it is meaningless for any individual–it’s possible to become extremely involved or not to–according to one’s taste and choices.</p>
<p>i transfered to my current university.</p>
<p>I live in the ‘transfer center’ … a dorm that is made up of all transfer students. We are all involved together in student government, classroom activities, athletics, EC’s, volunteer activities, everything!!! </p>
<p>It was my previous school that i wasn’t very involved in. Either way, i completely disagree with the statement “switching colleges often hurts students.” It was the best thing that’s happened to me yet!</p>
<p>In my case I agree. I decided to transfer from the get go as I only got half financial aid when I applied as a freshman. I went to our state school with every intention of transferring , got all A’s and then recieved a full ride and transferred. I was involved but not as bonded as if I had started there. I was put in a dorm with 12 woman all juniors who already were connected. It is not what I would want for my kids but then I have a fulfillinf career which I love and am very succesful in and I am a chair interviewer for my college now. It was just not the best thing for the ultimate college experience. If my kids were unhappy at their choice though I would want them to transfer. It is a heck of a lot of money to not feel thrilled with your college in my opinion. Just random thoughts that don’t add up to any one conclusion!</p>
<p>If you’re trying to transfer, you’re presumably not having the “ultimate college experience” to begin with, sadly!</p>
<p>yes, exactly.</p>
<p>I agree that it certainly depends on the student. It seems they used an awfully broad brush.</p>
<p>Another parent of an extremely happy transfer student weighing in. I read the article when it first appeared in the Times, and I’ve been puzzled by it ever since. Reading between the lines, I think the authors focus is on serial transfer students, or perhaps on students who began their college careers at community/commuter colleges, then transferred to four-year colleges without benefit of a traditional freshman orientation experience.</p>
<p>Totally disagree with the article headline. I’ve met other transfers- both at Colgate and Smith, and they’re so happy to have made their choices to attend their schools. Although, as wjb said, it could be just the CC students going to universities. None of the transfers that I met came from CC but large, impersonal universities. Ever since transferring to Colgate, I’ve been so extremely involved that this week is probably the craziest I’ve ever gone through. In addition, the article pointed out that these hopping transfers were more about “reducing” their education as much as possible- cheap and fast track. What kind of college experience is that?</p>
<p>Maybe the freshman orientation does matter after all…</p>
<p>I wouldn’t waste time with data like that. It really matters on individual students. I go to a Christian school and I’m not Christian. There’s really not much here for me to get involved in, hence why I’m transferring in the first place lol.</p>
<p>I think it is going to always depend on the person to be honest. I transfered this year from a CC to UCLA. One of the first things I did was get involved in building government for my dorms. It’s a mixed bag really, I know a lot of people like me who jumped right in and got involved, and I know a lot of other people who bearly ever leave their rooms. But my guess is that it’s not that much different then freshmen. I very much doubt that every single freshmen gets involved on campus or in clubs.</p>
<p>I agree that it totally depends on the student. I pretty much hate my school and I haven’t been very involved there. I’m currently studying abroad at the London School of Economics and I absolutely love it here. I’ve done more the past two months than I did in my two years at my school. I’m applying to transfer here at the end of the year and I have no intention of suddenly withdrawing from campus life if I am able to transfer.</p>
<p>I think staying at a college in which a student is unhappy hurts him/her.</p>
<p>Exactly. I totally agree.</p>
<p>williams07 can i ask why you don’t like williams? by the way i think it’s pretty coolio that you’re at lse :]</p>
<p>um, prob b/c williams has like wat 200 freshman and isn’t heterogenousby any means.</p>
<p>I am SO GLAD I transferred from my original college to the one I went to as a sophomre & graduated from 3 years later! I gained a huge amount, as did my brother who also transferred as a sophomore & graduated from his dream college.</p>
<p>Sweeping generalizations are bad & so much depends on the circumstances, but I agree that transferring should not be lightly assumed or undertaken. It does take time to settle at each school & some folks do lose credits when they switch schools (fortunately I didn’t lose any). Some folks do have a hard time re/adjusting to the new campus, making friends, finding where they fit in, etc.</p>
<p>At my transfer campus, I was MUCH more engaged in community activities than I had been the rest of my life combined, worked closely with a LOT of professors, was the 1st to graduate with honors & write an honors thesis in the history of the department I majored in, had a great dorm & later apartment life, got great grades, got very close to the associate provost (who allowed me to reactivate several national honor societies on campus). I really “found myself” & had a much richer experience at the transfer college than I suspect I would have had if I remained at our local state U.</p>
<p>Starion</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ironically, I just earned a research position under a philosophy professor.</p>