<p>Hello, il be one of the very few winter transfer students, they put me in porter dorms, im a film major... anything you guys think I should know?</p>
<p>That the Transfer Community is a joke.</p>
<p>No, seriously. It is. It never should have been created. It will only benefit you if you happen to also be Porter affiliated (which very few transfers have been allowed to be). All the positives I’ve heard about the community are easily refuted or were already in place no matter where you lived on campus. The only real “benefit” is you’re closer to STARS, but I’ve never used them myself. You will still have to travel to your affiliated college if you want to speak with a college adviser.</p>
<p>Winter transfers really get the short end when it comes to orientation. I was a Winter 2010 transfer myself (thank god, no Transfer Community then, but I am Porter affiliated and lived in the dorms last year and this year) and our “Welcome Week” was a “Welcome Day” that lasted for about an hour. All the information they gave I already had had for months from doing my own research.</p>
<p>The biggest problem I found with winter transfer was that you move in and the next day classes begin (or the day after if you choose to move in the day before the quarter starts/two days before classes start). It was a huge stress that was compounded by the fact I was still fine-tuning my knowledge of things (such as how to declare one’s major… the procedure of which changed between Winter 2010 and Spring 2010). I found that if advisers/instructors knew I was a transfer, then they assumed I was a fall transfer and had already been there a quarter and I had to learn a lot of information on my own.</p>
<p>Be proactive. Make appointments with advisers (college and department for your major(s)) to ensure you’re on path to graduate on time and what classes you need to take. The department advisers will also be able to provide you permission codes for many classes that appear full. This is what has saved my behind before I was in the system properly for my regular registration.</p>
<p>Explore your portal extensively. A lot of information you need will not be available until your final transcripts are processed, though. I would also highly recommend hand-delivering your transcripts (and IGETC certification if applicable, but this is less crucial than transcripts initially) to the admissions office so that you can confirm they have received them. Since transcripts for winter transfers are not due until February-ish, the quarter is already well under way and registration will be popping up soon for Spring 2011. You want to make sure your transcripts are in the system in a timely manner so that you can receive your priority in the registration system.</p>
<p>Good luck. Being a winter transfer is a pain in the neck… but I wouldn’t have traded the experience for anything.</p>
<p>The transfer community isn’t a joke. You’re just biased because you guys were promised housing or whatever and instead they gave it to the transfers.
Being amongst other transfers has been an experience, I would never have wanted to live with freshmen.</p>
<p>My biases have no place in my analysis of the effectiveness of the Transfer Community. This conclusion has come from discussions with a large chunk of the Transfer Community residents as well as comparing and contrasting previously offered benefits with the supposedly newly offered benefits. Remember that I am a continuing transfer myself and I would have been horrified if this was given to me as my only option. I also would have come to the same conclusion had I chosen to live elsewhere on campus (or off) rather than the dorms.</p>
<p>The Transfer Community offers what was already possible (and often happened): living with older students. I only ended up with mostly freshman because I was a winter transfer and I was stuck with whatever single room option that was available (which happened to be in a substance free hall - a hall that is reserved for freshman). Most transfers in the past have chosen to live in the apartments, the Village, and the University Inn. These are not available to freshman except under special circumstances. Even for those transfers who chose to live in the dorms had the option of transfer themed and upperclassman themed halls. Your chances of having been placed with freshman were slim to nil as a fall transfer.</p>
<p>There is nothing about the Transfer Community that you would not have had previously aside from what I already mentioned: being closer to STARS. Transfers already had all of the benefits previously. Housing guarantee, option to live with older students, option to live with other transfers, etc. The Transfer Community does have a huge negative, though: it encourages segregation. There are other negatives as well, but I find this one to be the most contradictory to the goal of integrating transfers into university life.</p>
<p>Please do not throw out false accusations. It’s rude. This may come as a shock, but there are actually people who can set aside their biases and look at something objectively and come to a conclusion through careful analysis of the facts presented.</p>
<p>Oh, and something I forgot to add: I was offered the opportunity to move into A Building. A single opened up shortly into the quarter. There was even a single available for my friend I live next to. However, we like having hallmates from various backgrounds and loving refer to our hall as the “leftovers.” We are freshman, continuing, and new transfers. We have all been very respectful of each other and our common areas in the hall.</p>
<p>Note that priority to move was given to my friend and me over the new transfers in our hall. Why? We’re Porter affiliated and continuing. Our priority points for housing are much higher than transfers who are not affiliated with Porter. This fact seems to come as a surprise to many new transfers I speak to.</p>
<p>This makes your theory that I am biased because I was denied the opportunity to live in the initially promised location bunk. I was eventually given the opportunity. I turned it down because I did not want to live in a segregated community and I enjoy the people I am around. I do not base my opinions of people using their age or their class-standing. My opinion of people is, however, based on how they treat others.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that us transfer people had a duel affiliation with Porter and our respected colleges. </p>
<p>Anyhow, I actually do like living in the transfer community building A. Whether you like where you’re placed depends on which floor and possibly which room you’re in. It seems like every floor has a different personality, but that isn’t completely true. </p>
<p>Within the first week or so, you’ll adjust to everything. Since you’re a film major, the porter transfer dorms should suit your needs since the media buildings are fairly close by. I think Porter’s theme is also art & film? I can’t recall.</p>
<p>frosty110: You are not considered affiliated with Porter if you have affiliation with another college. Just like those who live in Redwood Grove Apartments are not affiliated with Kresge if they have affiliation with another college. If you choose to walk when you graduate, then you will be walking with your affiliated college, not Porter. You will also only have housing priority based on affiliation with your affiliated college, not Porter. You will not be able to participate in Porter College Nights either. Even the Transfer Community will no longer be readily available to you after your first year. It is intended only for new transfers.</p>
<p>You can request to have a change of affiliation (a classmate of mine did this), but it must be approved by both your affiliated college and Porter. I do not know if my classmate’s request was approved or not. He was given the impression it would be unlikely, however, due to space issues. It has gotten so bad that people are being forced to share mailboxes at Porter.</p>
<p>And yes, Porter’s core class is art-themed. However, this is a moot point when it comes to transfers as they are not required to take the core class at this time. Every college has a wide range of interests and is not solely focused on its core class theme.</p>
<p>i thought they didnt have winter transfers for the winter quarter 2011 ? cuz they had the desired amount of admits for the fall… how were you able to apply for the winter 2011?</p>
<p>There are occasionally special circumstances that allow winter transfer even when winter transfer admissions are closed to the general public. One example that comes to mind is anyone who deferred admission. There are other likely scenarios as well. I do not know the OP’s specific reason, though.</p>