bea transfer student

By Jamilyn Moreau and Daniella Moreau

Senior Brendon Ada didn’t expect to mesh at Chapman after transferring from two community colleges in 2020. And after a year online due to COVID-19, he wondered if he’d find friends on campus.

“I really thought I’d just be a, ‘go to school, do school, go home, and that’s my life,’” Ada said.

But that wasn’t the case. He not only found Chapman a good fit, he got involved with helping other transfer students.

It doesn’t work for everyone. Some transfer students still feel out of place. Some are jolted by Chapman’s high costs. But for some, moving on from community college or transferring from another four-year school makes them feel like freshmen again.

Each school year, Dean of Students Jerry Price estimates that Chapman welcomes more than 1700 firstyear students and 350 incoming transfer students.

“Transfer students come from a million different backgrounds,” Price said.

According to Price, transfer students tend to be more academically focused. Though students’ college goals vary, Price said that Chapman works to ensure they get what they want from their experience.

Though transferring wasn’t seamless for Ada, a screenwriting major, he’s found ways to get involved. He became a transfers orientation coordinator. That includes details down to making sure they receive a stole and tying red ribbons to students’ class fenestra.

“I definitely think it’s a work in progress,” Ada said. Ada has also joined Chapman’s professional film fraternity.

“I was really lucky to have found a community and been accepted,” Ada said.

Other transfers were not as lucky.

Transfer student Lauren Broderson was forced to live off campus due to late admittance causing her to feel alone.

“In my classes, I was practically mute. Like I didn’t talk in my class the first semester at all,” said the sophomore creative writing major.

For a group project, Broderson said her partner thought her name was Gigi the entire semester.

“I was like, oh, that’s how people saw me,” she said.

Outside of the classroom, transfer students have had to find unique ways to make friends.

One transfer student used social media to find his roommates, who ended up becoming some of his best buddies.

“Actually, this is funny. I used Facebook to find my roommates, which is pretty rare,” Alex Manalastas, a human applied physiology major, said. His plan was to commute the second semester, but decided to extend his lease because he loved his roommates.

Transfer student Miles Gaskin, a junior English major, noted that his involvement with the football program helped him connect with the Panther community.

“It was pretty easy for me to find friends and find a social group. But I also feel like a lot of that had to do with the fact that I played sports,” Gaskin said.

Aaron Perry, senior transfer counselor, said finances are the most significant area of dissatisfaction for transfer students.

“There’s typically a gap with transfer students. And so helping them just kind of have that financial literacy is a pretty big part of my work. Just because I know it can be daunting for some,” Perry said.

Student involvement is in the hands of the transfer students. Meeting with an advisor as a transfer student is critical to a student’s success, which Ada regrets not doing more frequently.

“I didn’t really use my advisors when I was at my community college. So then when I came here, and they’re like, ‘you have to meet with your advisors,’ I never really did,” Ada said.

“We really rely on them being assertive and coming to us with questions,” Price said.