USC transfers struggle with lack of community, loneliness

USC is known for its large transfer community. In fall of 2022 alone, about 27% of the new USC students were transfers, but they don’t always feel as welcome as first-year students, with some students feeling as though the university provides more opportunity for freshmen.

“There’s a lot more opportunities, I feel like, for freshmen to meet other people,” said Meera Popli, a student who transferred to USC last school year. “And so [transfer students] and I really struggled with that last year. I was really lonely and I felt like I didn’t know where my place was at USC.”

At the beginning of the school year, new students are welcomed with the USC Welcome Experience, which features an array of on-campus events for new students to go to. However, these events are often exclusive to freshmen, while transfer students are left with a diminished amount of resources that they feel do not cater to their group.

“You have to be a freshman to attend some of those events. And I felt like a lot of those freshmen definitely had a stronger sense of group, or they had better informed their friendship circles and stuff like that,” said Shuichi Matsumoto, a junior transfer student.

Transfer students are not the only ones who have noticed this.

“For those fall freshmen, they have a lot more time and more opportunities to find organizations and groups based on interest because there’s club fairs and all these other events that you’re encouraged to go out and find new people,” said Zianna Razon, a sophomore who was admitted as a fall freshman.

Accessibility to on-campus housing reinforces transfer student isolation. Unlike freshmen, junior transfer students are not guaranteed housing on USC’s campus. This marginalizes transfer students from residential college communities, which often host social, cultural, and academic events to encourage communities for first-year students.

“I think offering some sort of guaranteed housing would be really helpful,” said Popli.

But that’s not the only thing students are worried about. Some transfer students were also concerned about the lack of communication between advisors.

“I think having more accessibility to advisors, I think that would be really cool instead of trying to figure everything out on your own because I had to do everything on my own and it’s stressful at times,” said Sonia Sharaa, a transfer student from San Antonio College.

Other students said the advisers had made them feel welcome.

“We have great advisors here, so I feel like I was really supported and everyone is super welcoming,” said transfer student Rory Burke, now a junior.

Despite USC having a high volume of transfer students, some feel as though the university could be doing more to help ease their transition.

Andrew Mendez, a junior transfer student from Fullerton Community College, suggested that USC could assign a mentor to students.

While there are students who feel the university could be doing more, some are ambivalent and feel the experience has been smooth and relatively simple.

Mendez, for instance, felt that overall, his transition to USC has been going well.

“I think it’s been pretty good so far. There is an adjustment period where the curriculum and just getting to know the campus is a little bit, like it’s kind of a rough transition, but I’m getting used to it,” he said.

Justin Wee, a junior transfer from Diablo Valley College, emphasized putting yourself out there to help yourself assimilate into the USC community.

“I just say just putting yourself out there at the end of the day, you know, if you’re able to put yourself out there, you can get the opportunities that, you know, a freshman will get,” said Wee.

Although Burke didn’t have the same experience as other transfer students, she said that being active and involved helped her transition to USC last year.

“I feel like there’s so many opportunities to socialize and meet new people through clubs and other activities,” she said.