Prospective transfer students will spend time on campus today to learn about the University and evaluate their future options.

The students will be attending Transfer Student Day, hosted by the Office of Admissions and Records at the Illini Union Rooms. A morning session will provide a presentation of the campus, and a panel of current transfer students will share their experiences. Deans and other faculty will discuss intended major options with students in the afternoon portion of the program. In the afternoon session, students will have an opportunity to talk to representatives of university offices, such as admissions and financial aid.

Mary Kate Durkin, sophomore in LAS, said she has found the top reasons students decide to transfer are expenses, trouble adjusting at their other college, and deciding on a major after coming from community college.

According to Admissions and Records, the University receives approximately 1,300 transfer students each year, with 70 percent of those students coming from community colleges, and the other 30 percent from four-year and out-of-state institutions.

Rhonda Kirts, assistant dean of the New Student Programs, said about 150 to 350 transfer students come to the University during the spring semesters. The exact amount of spring transfer students this year is not yet available.

When enrolled transfer students arrive on campus in the spring, they attend a student welcome reception to get adjusted to the environment. But Kirts said that transfer students enrolled for the fall semester attend a one-day summer orientation as well. The attendees are given advice on such things as apartment hunting, and current transfer students again share their insights with the new students.

University programs are also available throughout the year to help students adjust. The Tau Sigma National Honor Society, an organization for high-achieving transfer students, provides a way for students to interact with fellow transfers. The society – established this year – had members of the first class inducted in the fall, said Kirts. To apply for membership, students must have a 3.5 GPA or better for their first semester at the University.

In addition, the University has also arranged a transfer student cluster at the first floor of Hopkins Residence Hall.

Mary Kate Durkin, a sophomore in LAS who lives at the cluster, said her housing arrangement provided additional support for her transfer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“I think it helped living on a floor with other transfer students because we are all going through the experience together,” she said.

Despite the University’s efforts, however, some transfer students face the hassle of trying to make sure their previous classes count for University credit. Most students are unsure of their status because transfer credits are not considered until the student applies to the University. But information on transferable courses can be accessed via the Internet before the transfer application process each semester.

Another problem for transfer students is the general education requirements. Durkin said even though she came in with thirty credit hours, she was frustrated when she discovered some classes she thought would count as general education requirements only counted as electives.

But Anca Scaesteanu, junior in engineering, said she didn’t have the same problem. Transferring from Vassar College in New York, to the College of Lake County, and now to the University of Illinois, Scaesteanu wasn’t surprised when all of her credits transferred as she expected.

“(Because of strict requirements for my major), I knew that all my important classes would transfer,” she said.

Ultimately, both Scaesteanu and Durkin said they are happy with their decision to transfer to the University.

“I decided to come here when I finally decided what I was going to do,” Scaesteanu said.