Change is good. Without it, people would not be able to discover the field they want to pursue a career in, some wouldn’t be able to meet the one they are meant to marry, and lives wouldn’t be able to evolve. However, there are changes that many people tend to stereotype in a negative light. Transfer students are students that change schools at some point in their college career one or more times. Many people tend to stereotype transfer students as trying to take the “easy way” into college. I myself am a transfer student and can say from first-hand experience that the stereotypes people have on transfer students are not always true.

Every transfer student transfers for a reason. The stereotypical view on transferring is that it is used get a student into a school that they did not get accepted to when originally applying. However, this is not always true! I will admit that I know a few people that transferred for this reason, but this should not drive people to view all transfer students this way.

I transferred because I felt like I didn’t fit in with the college I was enrolled in. I will not name the college because I do not want anyone to create biases about the college, but it was a very different environment than I was used to and I knew that from visiting my friends at other colleges that there was a better college out there for me. This is a very popular reason for transferring and many people do not realize it!

People also don’t realize that, ironically, transferring isn’t easy. It is a long process. Think about when you originally applied to college, all of the material you needed to get together and essays you had to write. Times that by two! When applying as a transfer, you need to include all of that stuff plus additional information and transcripts from the college you are transferring out of. I have even had many friends that have tried transferring themselves come to me for help because of how tedious the process is. How ironic is it that the entire view of stereotyping a transfer student is that they are trying to take the easy way into college, when the process isn’t even easy!

Ultimately, transferring is not as one may stereotype it. People transfer for different reasons of their own. The reasons could include anything that is not the stereotypical view people believe, like financial issues or simply not liking the school they are at. It’s also not an easy process! So, before you stereotype the next transfer student you meet, remember that you can’t judge someone by their title and that they could have transferred for a variety of reasons.