Deciding what college you want to attend is an intimidating and difficult decision. While you hope to find the university that is the perfect fit for you, it doesn’t always work out on the first try. Many students, myself included, need a second chance to discover what they really want out of the college experience.

While transferring to a different school can be extremely rewarding, there are definitely some challenges transfer students face:

1. Despite being an upperclassman, you somehow manage to get lost on campus.

If you’re like me, you had to ask no fewer than six people how to get to class at the beginning of the quarter and sat down in the wrong lecture not once, not twice, but on three separate occasions.

2. You constantly think you see people you know and then realize they go to school 998 miles away.

You know that awkward moment where you wave at someone and they don’t wave back because they are actually a stranger? This happens. Often.

3. You have to completely restyle your wardrobe.

Every college campus has different vibes regarding style trends. As a student transferring from Orange County to the Pacific Northwest, at first I was a walking fashion faux-pas. For example, up until last year, I had never heard of Chacos. Nor had I invested in a raincoat. Trust me, layering multiple cardigans may keep you warm but it does not work well for rain deflection.

4. You are an expert at negotiating with administrators about transferring credits.

You probably had to somehow convince your advisor that your three-credit French film class definitely fulfills the requirements for a five-credit anthropology class. It’s an art form.

5. You will do whatever it takes to make friends.

After the first year in college, many people have established a tight posse. As a transfer student, you must find a way to force yourself in. At any cost. Even if that includes using excessive flattery, handing out cookies everywhere you go, or offering to pay everyone’s tuition. You have to get creative.

6. You don't understand the local lingo.

What are Birks? Where is “the Ridge”? You don’t call the dining hall the “caf”? Are we speaking different languages???

7. You never get a break during summer vacation again.

You must pay for your decision to better your life and start a new adventure by taking summer classes for the rest of your college career to make up for how behind in credits you are (OK so maybe you’re not quite as good at negotiating transfer credits as you thought you were).

8. Actually, graduating seems like a conspiracy theory.

So, if you take 18 credits this quarter and 21 next quarter, you might be eligible to graduate in Spring...of 2025!