Integration into a new college community can be challenging

While the actual UCLA transfer application is relatively straightforward, the more difficult aspect of being a transfer student comes after acceptance. Integration into the UCLA community is not easy for every student.

The biggest obstacle for most transfer students is finding a social niche and a group of friends, said recent graduate and Santa Monica resident Gavin Shafron.

“If you’re looking at the whole college experience, you have to make up for a lot of lost time very quickly,” Shafron said.

Michael De Vera, a fourth-year anthropology student, said that while transfer students do eventually integrate into the campus community, the process is much slower at a campus the size of UCLA’s.

De Vera said he found his place at UCLA when he joined the group Pilipino Transfer Student Partnership, a group that tries to provide a voice for transfer students on campus.

Unlike De Vera and Shafron, other students face little difficulty adjusting to life at UCLA.

Omar Sandhu, a third-year psychology student, had several friends already attending UCLA when he transferred here, a factor that he said made his transition seamless and allowed him to become a part of the UCLA community quickly.

“I already had my group here even before I came. … For other people that transferred, I don’t know how they did it,” Sandhu said.

Like Sandhu, third-year economics student Cameron Milani had friends at UCLA before he transferred, but said he felt even more adjusted because he is from the Los Angeles area.

Some students who don’t have friends at UCLA before transferring still feel like they are able to integrate quickly.

Tracy Yu, a third-year business economics student, said that how quickly people meet others is dependent on their willingness to take advantage of the several opportunities on campus like workshops and clubs.

“There are opportunities everywhere to meet friends,” Yu said.

While students differ on their attitude about integration into UCLA on a social level, most agree that the academic transition is especially difficult.

Because most community colleges are organized around a semester system, switching to a four-year college on the quarter system is initially a challenge for many students.

“You have to be ready from the first day,” De Vera said.

De Vera also said that, while the transfer student orientation, a day-long event, does address certain aspects of the academic integration, it does not do enough to integrate students socially.

Because the orientation is only for one day, De Vera said there is not enough time for student organizations to reach out to transfer students.

“That’s something that set me back in terms of finding my niche, and something I prioritize now ““ my student organization involvement,” De Vera said.

Shafron, who initially transferred to USC from community college before attending UCLA, also felt that UCLA could have made more of an effort to help transfer students with the transition.

While Shafron was unable to attend UCLA’s transfer student orientation, he felt there was not enough of an opportunity for students to connect with campus organizations compared to what he experienced at USC.

“USC had a couple of on-campus events that were geared toward transfer students,” Shafron said.

Other students, however, feel a greater presence of the school in transitioning because of the campus organizations of which they are members.

Georgia Broughton, a third-year geography student and member of the Alumni Scholars Club and Regents Scholars Society, feels that the organizations offered her numerous resources.

“Scholarship resources were set aside just for transfer students, which put aside any sort of second-class studentship that I wouldn’t be anybody’s priority by the simple fact that I am a transfer,” Broughton said.

Broughton said she would still like to see transfer students connect to each other.

“Since the transfers are few and far between, it would be helpful to have more methods to connect with other transfer students because we have similar previous experiences,” Broughton said.

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