Ask a transfer!

<p>Ok, I noticed a good helping of transfer students on this forum, and I wanted to make a post where I can answer any questions you transfer students may have. I transferred to UCSB in the Fall of '05 after going to a community college after two years, and I'm currently a 5th year senior. I can answer any questions about transfer housing, getting involved in school as a junior (including rushing fraternities/sororities as a transfer), getting classes and graduating on time, doing internships and finding jobs, and finding a way to integrate yourself in the school compared to everyone else who had a two year head start.</p>

<p>I can also answer most questions you freshman have should you need any info.</p>

<p>so should a transfer start in the summer to get the feel for things to be better prepared for the fall, or does it not rellay matter come fall time?</p>

<p>Also transfers should dorm their first year right? instead of living off campus? And is it easy to make friends? so i heard you sign up for classes during orientation? and where can you find internships?</p>

<p>i spent 3 years at a cc so even though its my 4th year at college this year i'll still be junior standing, i think most people transfer in 2 years from a cc, i think some people it takes 3 years too hopefully i'm not the only one.</p>

<p>Ok, I have a few questions:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>For a transfer student looking to make new friends yet isn't much of a partier (I'll have a few drinks here and there, and I don't mind going to parties, its just it's not really 'my thing') do you suggest I dorm or live in the university owned apartments?</p></li>
<li><p>If my only option is living in the university owned apartments, which one do you reccomend (I don't intend on partying all the time, rather I inted on focusing on my schoolwork and only partying on occasion, if that helps).</p></li>
<li><p>Also, I'm not sure you can answer this question unless it applies to you, but can you shed some light on the English and/or Film department?</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>I have a few questions for you also..</p>

<p>Did you attend the Transitions program in the summer before you started your first fall quarter? </p>

<p>If so, how did that go and how long did it take you to adjust to the social enivornment and make friends? </p>

<p>Where did you live your first year?</p>

<p>oh BTW dragondawg: You're not alone on the 3 years at cc situation. I'm also a 3rd year transfer, but I also graduated hs at 17, so i'm still 20.</p>

<p>yeah not much of a partier either, never partied in high school, though did stop by like 2 parties for like 5-10 minutes, yeah i'm one of those becuase that are born at the end of the year who got held back a year of school becuase of it, odd cause some people who are born like at the end of december are a year ahead of someone who is born in like the beginning, at least from my experience with some people. Anyways i'll be like almost 22 when i start in the fall.</p>

<p>so should a transfer start in the summer to get the feel for things to be better prepared for the fall, or does it not rellay matter come fall time?</p>

<p>I did the "Transitions" program the first year it was instituted. I think it's a good idea to come here in the summer so you can kind of get the feel of the university before the fall. Unfortunately, the Transitions program isn't as geared towards social activities as much as the Freshman Summer Start Program is. It's more like regular summer school with certain meeting events planned for the transfers.</p>

<p>Also transfers should dorm their first year right? instead of living off campus? And is it easy to make friends? so i heard you sign up for classes during orientation? and where can you find internships?</p>

<p>I suggest dorming. If you're a transfer, you'll likely end up in Manzanita Village or the transfer floor in San Rafael. Manzanita Village is set up more like traditional style dorms (although on a smaller scale) and San Rafael has suites. I lived in Manzanita my first, and honestly I didn't like it that much. They don't have a dedicated transfer house, so you get put into houses with a lot of 2nd year students who decided to continue to live on campus after the freshman dorms. Many of these students have their circle of friends already and don't hang out often in Manzanita. This varies greatly from house to house however, and I still recommend doing it over living in Isla Vista.</p>

<p>You will sign up for classes during orientation. Signing up your first quarter kind of sucks because many classes will be full already. Your next quarter will be much better, because class selection is based on total units earned (your CC units are included) so at least you'll be picking before the 1st and 2nd years. For internships, I suggest talking a lot to the adviser in your major or checking your major website for ideas. That's how I found about the internship I did (I actually took winter quarter off to work for Project Vote Smart in Montana - it was awesome!)</p>

<p>For a transfer student looking to make new friends yet isn't much of a partier (I'll have a few drinks here and there, and I don't mind going to parties, its just it's not really 'my thing') do you suggest I dorm or live in the university owned apartments?</p>

<p>I think a lot of it just depends on the kind of roommates you get. I described the on-campus places. I've been to all 3 off campus places, and each is kind of set up differently. Santa Ynez has townhouses scattered around, and I think it tends to be a pretty lively place because that's where all the international students stay. I'll ask about the other two from friends I know who live there to get an idea of what they're like.</p>

<p>Also, I'm not sure you can answer this question unless it applies to you, but can you shed some light on the English and/or Film department?</p>

<p>Yeah, I'm a Political Science major so I can't answer on those two departments definitively. I don't know if you noticed the huge construction on campus if you visited, but what's being built is a new building for the Film department: Center</a> for Film, Television & New Media @ UCSB</p>

<p>I think those answers covered all the questions asked so far... let me know if you have any further questions!</p>

<p>sounds like transfer students are at the bottom of the food chain and freshman get more of the attention.</p>

<p>So does it get boring over the summer if you do the transition program? and even for summer, do you suggest living on campus, in this case, i think they are only offering san mig as the on campus residence hall for summer, or is it better to live off. So manzanita wasn't all that great? hmmmm, i think mostly freshman year in the dorms are the funniest and most people move out after that. Hope i don't get stuck with a bad schedule come fall. I heard tranfer orientation was rather boring and some people bring laptops to sign up for classes on their own. Just hope mazanita is fun if i get in, san raf is fine even though there is a suite, but i rather live in the traditional dorms. Are all the other dorms all freshman?</p>

<p>Ok here is my situation, I didn't think i would finish in time to apply for fall08. Turns out i could have made it so now im just going to take the max 70 units(105 quarter units) and try to transfer in the winter. I could wait for fall09 but i would have like 7months of wasting time and working or something. The way i figure i take winter, spring,summer, fall, winter and spring and i would be done with the remaining 75ish units. I would save myself loosing another year. I have already taken a year off right after hs so i feel old and working instead of being in school is a waste of valuable time...and like someone in a previous post said about people born in december i was put a year behind and not ahead...that reminds me im gonna go complain to my parents.</p>

<p>So my question is do you think i would be able to find a decent place to live, i was thinking manzanita or san rafael(transfer guarantee's are for fall only) I know it will probably be harder to transition because not many people will be in my shoes and practically everyone is going to have their groove. As for my class schedule it will probably be a little wacky but oh well.</p>

<p>Are there some books about how to prepare for transfer?</p>

<p>dragondawg,</p>

<p>For the summer, I'm going to suggest (albeit a little reluctantly) that you choose San Miguel. It might be a little annoying for because you'll be living with a bunch of people younger and dumber than you, but I'm sure you'll also have more fun. Also, the off-campus places don't have meal plans, and a meal plan, especially when you're just starting off here, is very convenient. That way you'll have more time to spend meeting people and having fun in the summer.</p>

<p>In terms of dorms, the Channel Island 5 cluster and Santa Catalina dorms are all freshman (I heard that Santa Catalina, then known as Francisco Torres, used to have a transfer floor before I got there, but they stopped it due to alcohol related issues). San Raf is almost exclusively upper division students. In Manzanita, one of the 3 clusters is exclusively freshman, and the rest are mostly upper division. Manzanita also has a lot of themed houses and these tend to get a handful of freshman as well.</p>

<p>rc251 I know you say not to live in IV as a transfer, but my friend has two openings in his house on Sabado Tarde and wants me to occupy one of them. Why exactly would you advise a transfer student not to live in IV though? Harder to meet people? More difficult transition? Just curious because I'm debating on where to live if I do in fact attend UCSB, which is likely.</p>

<p>I wish I could stay in San Miguel for summer, but the price difference between the santa ynez apartment and san miguel is big, like 700 compared to 2000 for each session.</p>

<p>ok wow if i do take summer i was seriously consider living off campus due to the price, so a lot of freshman live in san mig during the summer? i heard that's that the worst dorms out of all the dorms. Yeah, don't think i would want to be rooming and hanging out with freshman who are just out of high school and are still immature, i've had enough of that in high school, i'm generalizing of course, i thought on campus housing would be cheaper but i guess not, hmm might have to reconsider where i live in the summer. eah i think ft and the 5 channel islands are all for freshman since they recommended that freshman live in the dorms their first year.</p>

<p>serg1231, </p>

<p>A few people end up dropping out fall quarter and spaces usually open up in most of the dorms during winter. You'll probably have to put in a little more effort to meet people, because as you said, everyone else will have a quarter head start on you.</p>

<p>rc251 I know you say not to live in IV as a transfer, but my friend has two openings in his house on Sabado Tarde and wants me to occupy one of them. Why exactly would you advise a transfer student not to live in IV though? Harder to meet people? More difficult transition? Just curious because I'm debating on where to live if I do in fact attend UCSB, which is likely.</p>

<p>I think it depends on your friend. If he has a lot of friends I'm sure you'll get to know a lot of them, but it might still be harder compared with living in a dorm. I suggest the dorms, but if you really want to live off campus, there are other things you can do to meet friends. Besides the obvious stuff (like clubs, etc), one thing I really recommend is Leisure Review classes:</p>

<p>Leisure</a> Review</p>

<p>I'm upset that I didn't take advantage of this more. I signed up for Tae Kwon Do this quarter, and not only is it a good way to get into shape, but you can also meet people in your class.</p>

<p>Calvinator, </p>

<p>Yeah, the price difference does kind of suck. Though you do get meals in San Miguel, the difference is still pretty big. I think Santa Ynez won't be too bad, and at least you'll get to know your roommates pretty well.</p>

<p>dragondawg,</p>

<p>In general, the off campus apartments are actually one of the cheapest places you can get in IV ($474 a month for some of the room options). Living on campus is pretty expensive, but it's still the easiest way to get to know a lot of people. I assume that the transfers will be segregated on their own floor in San Miguel, though I can't be certain of that.</p>

<p>some of the leisure activities look interesting, yoga and surfing are sold out, would love to learn to surf</p>

<p>Those are all the spring dates, so once the fall dates come up you should be able to sign up for them. I don't know if surfing is offered every quarter but that seems like it would be a fun one to take. I did want to do that this quarter but it was already full by the time I got my academic schedule finalized.</p>