Feeling Alienated, Some Freshmen Transfer Too Quickly
Posted on January 31st, 2006
(Source: Moravian College)Each fall, kids arrive in droves to college campuses across America. Some are happy to be wherever they land. Some think they will be, hope they will be, but ultimately aren't. What do they do? They transfer and try again.
Here are some bits from a piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Call it the freshman churn, the students who bail before sophomore year. Most first-year students stay put, but in every class an antsy minority switches schools, spurred by homesickness, a creepy roommate, social anxiety, geographic shock, or financial or academic concerns. The place is too small, too big, too cold, too remote. [....]
There are valid reasons to switch schools, but unrealistic expectations about college life or a lack of research often lead students to make that decision before they give their institutions a chance, school officials and counselors say.
Now add an increasingly common phenomenon: Many high school seniors get so caught up in the "trophy hunt"-the mania to get into a brand-name college-that they fail to search their hearts and honestly assess what they will need to flourish, admissions authorities say. [....]
College newbies can feel lonely and alienated until they find their niche, said Jenny Sawyer, executive director of admissions for the University of Louisville.
Motivation for a lot of transfers, she said, is "primarily an environmental issue-not enough of a social life, too much of a social life, too small of a town."
The colleges are not blameless, however. Promotional materials and chirpy campus tour guides create false expectations for freshmen, said [Scott] Jaschik, of Insidehighered.com.
"They get these 'view books' of happy students, and they look on the Web site and see pictures of happy students. And if they visit they're told everyone's happy," he said. They think "I'll just show up, and I'll instantly have a new set of friends, instantly know which way I'm going."You can read the full article here.
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