Boston College admits roughly 100 transfer students each year. Of these 100 transfers, about 20 of them are juniors. Anyone who thinks that BC welcomes these students into the campus community should rethink their assumptions, particularly when it comes to senior housing.
It is hard enough being a transfer student, but being a junior transfer student makes the transition that much more difficult - you might as well stamp a big "T" on our foreheads.
BC students who came as freshmen have pretty much already made their friends and, although not impossible, it is difficult to slide into one of those groups. I was lucky enough to be placed in a suite with seven other girls who welcomed me and treated me as one of their own.
The difficult part for transfers comes in the middle of their second semester at school. The dreaded word strikes a chord with them, like fingernails on a chalkboard - housing. We are only guaranteed one year on campus, and after that, it's every man for himself. For the sophomore transfers, this isn't as much of a concern.
They were placed with other transfer students on College Road, making it easy to find people who will be needing roommates for off-campus housing the following year.
Junior transfers are another story. We are placed with juniors who got four years of housing. This becomes a significant problem when searching for people to live with off campus the following year. It is not as if we were placed with other transfer students who are in the same situation. Now, we are left scrambling to find other seniors who will be living off campus next year.
Perhaps the worst part of the deal is that almost all seniors live on campus. So, what about the bonds the junior transfers have made throughout this year with their new friends? Well, you can kiss those connections goodbye.
The juniors you just spent an entire year with will be moving on to bigger and better things, namely, the Mods. And you, well, you'll be living off campus in perhaps a single apartment, or in a house with people you don't know.
Junior transfer Nick Courtney, A&S '09, said, "We have serious concerns, and they just generalize our problems as if our problems are the exact same. It's really frustrating, and Steve Prue [director of housing] ends up ignoring our problems. I think it's absurd."
It's difficult enough being placed in a situation where you don't know anyone, but most transfers accept that this is going to happen their first year. What they don't plan on is having to do it again, after they have already made strong bonds with the students they lived with.
Not only is it painful for the transfer student but also for the people he or she lived with. My roommates still aren't sure whether to include me in the lottery for the Mods because ResLife can't give me a straight answer as to what my fate is for next year.
Perhaps BC ResLife doesn't understand why transfer students decide to change schools in the first place. The first school was not a good fit, so we decide to spend hours doing the college application process completely over (as if it wasn't painful enough our senior year in high school).
We do this in the hope of finding a group of people with whom we belong, a group that we hope to form lasting bonds with.
Once the student transfers, it is more than likely that he will form the strongest bonds with his roommates. If the student feels he fits in with this group, he has achieved his goal as a transfer; he has found those bonds.
So, ResLife, please answer me this: Why would we transfer in the first place if these friendships are going to be ripped apart anyway? Most of us could have saved several grand by just staying at our old school.
Be the first to comment on this article!