While California Lutheran University offers a transfer weekend for students coming in fall, there is nothing similar for spring students.

As a spring transfer student, I wish there were more involvement opportunities. It was a really difficult transition and it would have been comforting to connect with students who probably felt the same way.

Schools such as Loyola Marymount University have connection guides for both fall and spring, and welcome weekends for students and families.

According to LMU’s website, they offer a two-week program that helps students “get acclimated to all the opportunities and events happing on campus.”

Spring transfer students have to go through the struggle of fighting for spots in classes, finding buildings on campus and adjusting to change.

According to the University of Southern California website, they host, “one-hour workshops designed to highlight opportunities for transfer students.”

Many students, like Rachel Lipstone, would benefit from a system like this at Cal Lutheran. Lipstone is a 2018 spring transfer student who used to attend Moorpark College.

“If there had been more acknowledgment to the fact that some of us are new, that would have been nice,” Lipstone said. “We didn’t know exactly where everything was and we didn’t know how everything worked.”

Offering a family weekend for new incoming spring students would allow them time to look at the campus before classes start.

“I went to one of the transfer days where you just go and talk to a counselor. They either admit you or don’t admit you. I had a 10-minute interview, she admitted me and then I just went home,” Lipstone said.

Yes, Cal Lutheran is fairly small, but I believe this is even more of a reason why the university should support spring transfer students.

Cal Lutheran data shows the amount of spring transfer students has doubled in the last 10 years. Being a student in college is hard enough, without having to transfer partway through.

“Once I got in my classes, everything went smoothly…but it was the initial getting started that was more stressful than it needed to be,” Lipstone said.

Rose Riehl
Reporter