According to counselors within California Lutheran University’s Office of Transfer Admission, the university receives around 200 transfer applications each semester. With several Cal Lutheran alumni on staff, the Transfer Admission office has made it its mission to support students in their pursuit of higher education. 

“I love that I have the opportunity to meet my students more than one time so if they need additional support, to ask questions and navigate. Of course I 100% want the students I meet and cross paths with to choose Cal Lutheran,” Senior Transfer Admission Counselor Teresa Cordova said. “I see value and understand the value of our university and have had it myself here as a graduate student in the past.”

Transfer Admission Counselor Aaron Acevedo said that prior to attending Cal Lutheran, he had no idea what the school was until the admission team told him about the university and helped him navigate the application process.

“When I was aware of it and I got to know a little bit more, that helped me so much more through the process as well as my education and led me to graduate and now into this position,” Acevedo said. 

Associate Director of Transfer Admission Destiny Lewis attended Cal Lutheran for her Master of Science in Counseling and College Student Personnel in 2023. 

“I think transfer students add a really unique perspective. A lot of the transfer students that we work with, usually by the time they come here, they have been somewhere else and for better or for worse, they had an experience,” Lewis said. 

Cordova said she believes that transfer students add a needed sense of diversity to the Cal Lutheran community, in addition to many insightful lived experiences. 

“I think they add a lot of tremendous knowledge and tremendous passion for what they do,” Acevedo said. 

Lewis said that the goal of the Transfer Admission office is to support students through the application process, whether that be for students coming from a two-year or four-year institution. 

“We are that connecting bridge, one, to help them through that process, but two, also just to let them know what it’s about and what Cal Lu means,” Acevedo said. 

Lewis said that she, Cordova, and Acevedo all split schools in the area to visit and recruit students from. 

“We help them navigate admission requirements for the diversity and also an understanding of what the credits they have previously taken and what that would look like here before they get started,” Cordova said. 

Lewis said that sometimes the Transfer Admission counselors will even do classroom visits to talk to students about the value of higher education. These are done as informational sessions on what attending a private university can look like for students of all backgrounds.

“There are usually a lot of college fairs that happen both at high schools, but also that happen at community colleges. So we will attend those and kind of advertise Cal Lutheran and talk to students about how to transfer,” Lewis said.

Acevedo, Cordova, and Lewis all said that the admission process at Cal Lutheran is more personalized than it may be at larger institutions, which allows for a more individualized and one-on-one experience. 

“I talk to students who maybe are flying to bigger schools and they don’t even know who their admission counselor is. They wouldn’t even know like who to email or who to call,” Lewis said. “In addition to answering questions about the application process, we also answer a lot of questions and have a lot of conversations about campus life, whether that’s from our own personal experience or even just trying to connect them to the right place.” 

Cordova said that the role of a Transfer Admission counselor goes beyond just reading applications, and that their jobs involve forming social, emotional connections. 

“Some of my meetings that I do are 100% in Spanish, helping families navigate the admission process here in another language and making sure that they feel supported in that,” Cordova said.

Acevedo said people may not realize that admissions counselors read applications “wholeheartedly,” and that his favorite part of his job goes beyond just helping students get admitted to Cal Lutheran. 

“Being able to hear their story and hear their interest in their passions, students have so much that happens in their life,” Acevedo said. “So being able to just be a part of that, being a part of their journey.”

Lewis said she enjoys connecting with students and helping them navigate the entire admission process and beyond. 

“They just make it so fun. Even though I’ve been here at Cal Lutheran for almost six years, every year my job feels different, and I think it’s because as the students change, the conversations that I’m having change,” Lewis said.  

Cordova said that the Office of Transfer Admission is still in the process of accepting transfer students for the upcoming season, and looks forward to welcoming new transfer students soon.