As I’ve settled into my first few weeks as a sophomore transfer student at NYU, I have started to reflect on the highs and lows of my time at the university so far. Though adapting to life in New York City and at one of the most far-reaching institutions in the country has been a big change, overall, it has been a rewarding and exciting experience. In my encounters with fellow transfer students, I have found them to be some of the most community-oriented and enthusiastic individuals on campus, ready to embrace all that NYU has to offer. But, unfortunately, many members of the transfer community — including myself — felt unsupported throughout their transition to NYU. 

After applying and waiting for their acceptance decision, many transfer students are hit with the disappointing news that they are ineligible for financial aid. While NYU offers a few scholarships and grants to students in select programs, these opportunities are limited and leave many transfer students unable to accept their enrollment offer. NYU prides itself on admitting students of various financial backgrounds, but fails to provide adequate financial support to the thousands of students who have come from other academic institutions. 

Additionally, unlike the rest of NYU students, who are guaranteed four years of on-campus housing, transfer students are not guaranteed housing. When accepted into NYU, transfers are often given a relatively short amount of time — usually a matter of weeks — to both choose whether to enroll and to secure housing. By the time most transfers are accepted, other NYU students have already selected their housing for the upcoming semester, which leaves transfers with very few dorm options to choose from, if they get housing at all. This leaves many transfers scrambling to get affordable apartments, often far away from campus or with non-NYU roommates, leaving them further isolated from the rest of the student body. 

The process of registration can be overwhelming for transfers as well, as little support from the university leaves students in the dark.

“I did not hear from my adviser for the whole of the summer,” Tandon sophomore and transfer student Maria Medina said. “I was required to find their email and contact them myself. It made me feel overwhelmed, and this uncertainty while starting my academic journey at NYU made me feel like maybe I couldn’t do this.”

In order to aid in students’ transition to the university, NYU Welcome hosted a variety of events geared exclusively toward transfers. These events, led by previous transfer students, were useful and thoughtfully planned, but it still felt that NYU was isolating its transfer students from everybody else. While great for meeting other transfer students, these events did not work to merge transfers into their respective schools, preventing them from meeting first-year students and upperclassmen. I was lucky that the College of Arts & Science had an orientation solely for transfer students, but the majority of my peers weren’t made aware of any events at other schools. 

Delilah Brainin, a Tisch sophomore and transfer student, shared that “it was hard to find my place as a transfer with so few transfer events. It’s hard to connect with people anyway at this big school — as a transfer it is a particularly unique experience where you have done many of the orientation activities before and you need a different avenue for exploring yourself at NYU.” 

Without financial aid, guaranteed housing or an established community, many of us find ourselves lost in transition. Transfers bring unique perspectives to campus and should be given the same opportunities as any other student to become an active member of the NYU community. Rather than being their own isolated category, transfer students should find themselves enmeshed in the university they’ve made clear they want to be a part of. By supporting the needs of its transfer students, NYU can work to foster a more welcoming environment for all its students and give them the proper shot they’ve worked for.

WSN’s Opinion section strives to publish ideas worth discussing. The views presented in the Opinion section are solely the views of the writer.

Contact Alexandria Smith at [email protected].