Monday, 6/23/97 Experienced transfer students must adjust to
rigors of UCLA Juniors face difficult transition despite prior
exposure to college
By Kathryn Combs Daily Bruin Contributor Making the transition
to life as a UCLA student is often difficult regardless of a
student’s academic background. However, for transfer students, this
transition is unique. There are assets and liabilities associated
with being a transfer student. In some cases, transfers have to
adjust to slightly more demanding academic standards. However, they
do have additional experience to play upon that entering freshmen
do not have. This experience, however, is not always the asset it
appears to be. Sandra Castille, a fourth-year pre-
business/economics major, said attending a junior college had given
her an advantage over entering freshmen. "Compared to an entering
freshman I think I was better prepared. Even though I commuted to
school, at least I had the college experience," she said. However,
Castille said, by their junior year, those who entered as freshmen
have the advantage of knowing the system of their university. "They
are more prepared when they reach their junior year than junior
transfers because they know how things at UCLA work," Castille
said. There are various challenges that all students face when
adjusting to the academic environment at UCLA according to Bruce
Barbee, a College of Letters & Sciences academic counselor. He
said that transfer students have a tendency to take for granted the
fact that they have gone to college before. "All transfer students,
obviously by definition, have already been to college," Barbee
said. "Many of them not only have to learn about UCLA but many of
them have to dump what they already know to be ‘true’ about
college." He explained that although these students may think they
know what is involved in achieving success, to do so at UCLA may
require a higher level of academic dedication. "This leads to
several different things. For example, a somewhat smaller
percentage of transfer students go to orientation than do
freshmen," added Barbee. He said that although 75 to 85 percent of
transfers do attend orientation, those who don’t tend to miss out
on vital information needed to excel at UCLA. "The notion is that
freshmen coming in to college have a clean slate. You come from
high school and you know what it is like to be in college, you have
studied these things," Barbee said. One of the challenges transfer
students often face that freshmen don’t is the transition from an
18-week semester to a 10-week quarter. Another challenge is a lack
of rigorous academic preparation for upper-division course work.
"The challenge is that they come from a community college and they
have not yet been exposed to the rigor that students who come here
initially experience early on," said Berky Nelson, director of the
Center for Student Programming. "When you go into an upper division
course expecting to be prepared, you can find it to be a very
difficult transition (and) in addition to that you have to make
normal adjustments at the highest level of academic preparation,"
Nelson continued. "This is a flagship institution (and) it’s a high
level of competition and a high level of expectation," he added.
Many agree that it is such academic factors in combination with
non-academic responsibilities, such as family and full-time work,
that make being a transfer student difficult. "Some transfer
students tend to be a little bit older and usually that implies
they have a family, or a spouse and other outside responsibilities.
… Working 40 hours a week is not uncommon for many transfer
students," said Michelle Anderson, an academic counselor with the
Academic Advancement Program (AAP). "It may be a little more
difficult for a transfer student to adjust as quickly," she added.
Anderson also said that transfer students have a greater tendency
to give up and enter the work force, both because they feel the
need to finish school as soon as possible and because they are able
to utilize their resources more effectively. "I have seen more
transfer students give up," Anderson said. "If they hit an academic
or personal obstacle transfer students sometimes give up and say,
‘I can go to work.’ They (students entering UCLA as freshmen) don’t
have as much personal resourcefulness as a transfer student."
Transfers often feel "that an education, although important, is
(sometimes secondary)," Anderson said. Anderson also said that one
of the things that may hinder transfer students from quickly
adapting to university life may be the time that it takes most
students to make a connection to the university through networking.
"Part of it is the race-track mentality of ‘I’ve got to get out of
here,’" Anderson said. "Transfer students tend to be a little more
goal-oriented. They want to get their classes done and move on,
(so) transfer students will sometimes put themselves under the
proverbial gun to get out," she continued. "In the beginning,
networking really works and plays a vital role in forming a
connection with the university (and developing) a familiarity with
it," Anderson said. According to academic counselors at UCLA,
transfer students can make a smooth transition to UCLA by getting
involved in campus life and making themselves aware of the academic
resources. By doing this, students can answer that "need to feel as
though the university is working for them instead of against them,"
Anderson concluded. With reports from Tyler Maxwell, Daily Bruin
Senior Staff. Related Link Retention and Graduation Update for UC
Santa Cruz Junior transfers