After several years at Long Beach City College and meticulously completing required coursework, George Alvarado can now say he is a 49er.
Alvarado is one of the 1,150 students transferring this spring semester to Cal State Long Beach. Although transferring to a new school during the fall semester can be tough, transferring halfway through the academic year can pose challenges of its own.
Alvarado wanted to transfer to CSULB in the fall of 2011, but he had to stay at LBCC to complete one required math class. Like most universities in the Cal State system, CSULB requires transfer students to complete a minimum of 60 transferable units with 30 units satisfying the general education requirements before applying.
“Everything is fast-paced here,” said Alvarado, an aerospace engineering major.
Alvarado attended the required Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR) orientation during the winter break, along with other transfer students. He had hoped the orientation would make his transition easier but he said it did not help and it was not as personalized as he had wanted.
Transfer student Nic Cohn, a nursing major, said he feels more comfortable with his transition because he is older.
“I’m not 18, I’m 43, and as you get older you adjust to these kinds of things,” Cohn said.
Cohn received a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and was working as a research chemist for a pharmaceutical company when he was laid off in 2009. He decided to go back to school to find a new career and began taking classes at LBCC in order to fulfill the requirements to transfer to a university.
“It’s been such a crazy long road,” Cohn said.
He said he feels prepared now and also plans to be more involved in school activities. Cohn has already joined the California Nursing Student Association and said he wants to meet people and make new contacts.
Many resources and activities are available on campus to help students adjust. Transfer students wanting to get involved or find out more about organizations and clubs on-campus can attend Week of Welcome this semester Jan. 30 through Feb. 2.
The Transfer Student Association, formed in September of 2011, organizes mixers and activities to connect transfer students with each other.
CSULB enforces a competitive admissions process for transfers and only admits upper division transfer students. According to Marie Alfred, admissions director at CSULB, the university received 4,600 transfer applications for the spring 2012 semester and 1,300 were admitted.
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