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Submission: Transfer student stereotypes must be eliminated

By Daily Bruin Staff

Jan. 14, 2015 2:32 a.m.

Grueling, lonely, overwhelming, tough, intimidating, disappointing, isolating, stressful, exciting, adaptable, opportunistic, roller coaster, secluding, unexpected, full of homesickness; these are words commonly expressed by our Transfer Student Representative staff describing their first quarter at UCLA.

Mostly coming from community colleges, new transfer students at UCLA often find it challenging to assimilate to the rigorous academic life UCLA has to offer. While community colleges run on a semester system, UCLA and other schools from the University of California system (except UC Berkeley and UC Merced) have a 10-week quarter system. Not only does this adjustment pose a challenge to fresh transfer students at UCLA, but it also ignores the challenges transfers undertake. For the most part, students and teachers are under the impression that it’s extremely easy to be admitted to UCLA as a transfer and that we cannot reach our full potential as a four-year student would. This stigma remains within transfer culture and because of this we often feel unmotivated and overwhelmed with the curriculum at UCLA.

Transfer students are stigmatized for taking the easy route, but the words described above express a different tone, one that resonates how transfers themselves have different experiences during their first quarter. Students all have unique and different experiences. Just like any UCLA student, some people may find community college easy, while others may face many academic challenges. Even though some four-year universities have programs and resources to help freshmen adapt, the majority of community colleges do not offer them. So students have to adapt on their own.

Moreover, there are many factors that make community college classes seem to be the “easy” alternative. One these factors is the instructors. Community college professors do not lecture, they teach. They share their knowledge with smaller classes, which allows them to give individual attention to students. Another factor is free tutoring in writing, math and language centers. These resources develop learning skills and foster academic independence. However, these factors play a bigger role than just making classes “easier.” They help students overcome their challenges and become competitive individuals. Many community college students have to maintain a GPA close to 4.0 in order to transfer to a prestigious four-year university such as UCLA while dealing with economic struggles, family responsibilities or full-time jobs.

Additionally, some students may prolong their time in community college due to lack of communication with academic counselors, who may not be qualified enough to advise students according to their particular challenges and goals as a transfer. This issue was seen in a past Daily Bruin article titled, “For transfers, there’s no such thing as a smooth transition” by Cristina Chang.

Community college is not “the easy way out.” Even some four-year university students can identify with the challenges that community college students face. Transfer students are similar to “traditional” students, but still not the same.

Transfer students face the issue of time. They have two years to participate in clubs, obtain leadership roles, accumulate research experience, maintain a competitive GPA, adapt to the quarter system and obtain internships, not to mention that they only have one year to prepare for the GRE, LSAT or any other graduate school test. It is important that as a UCLA community, students are aware of the different challenges other students face to foster acceptance and to avoid stereotypes. Avoiding the negative stereotypical remarks toward transfers will dwindle the stigma and eventually it will fade out, but only through cooperation and understanding.

After all, we’re all just trying to find that empty desk in Powell.

Transfer Pride Week is a week dedicated to celebrating one of the most diverse groups at UCLA: the transfer community. Get all the information at transfers.ucla.edu.

Hempstead, Galaidos, Sotelo, Porroa-Garcia, Robertson-Brown and Lakhani are all part of the academic reform component of the Undergraduate Students Association Council Transfer Student Representative’s office.

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