For a student, nothing compares to the thrill of stepping onto a college campus for the first time, with the excitement of the unknown rising across the horizon. Some Aggies have been able to experience that electric feeling more than once.
Transfer students make up approximately 4% of the undergraduate student population at Texas A&M. Remarkably, the graduation rates for these students are consistently higher than those of traditional students.
Communication sophomore Scott Nilsen transferred to A&M this fall from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Despite being almost 4,000 miles from home, Nilsen remains grounded in his decision to move across the Pacific to become an Aggie.
“The main three things were the culture, it is a higher education, I’ve noticed the classes are a little bit more difficult here, and just the overall camaraderie,” Nilsen said. “It feels more fulfilling, like there’s more purpose here.”
For many students who redirect their academic path, their personal fulfillment plays a significant part in deciding where to go. Psychology sophomore Emma Wehring has found her purpose at A&M through community and fellowship that she said has felt authentic to her since transferring this fall from Auburn.
“I feel like sororities were really big at Auburn, and if you weren’t in one, it would have been really hard to get involved,” Wehring said. “I feel like involvement here has been much easier, you meet people so easily and organically. I think everyone wants to be your friend.”
Some transfer students, like Wehring, find community naturally. Communication senior Brooke Balderrama had a different experience when she first transferred here through the Program for System Admission, or PSA, from Tarleton State in the fall of 2023. But Balderrama’s community developed after a year of advancing in her major.
“Once I started getting in my communication specific courses for my certification, communication leadership and conflict management, I feel like that’s when I started meeting more people,” Balderrama said. “Major specific certification classes are really the best because you have the same professors, the same classmates and you see each other. It’s a smaller class size, so you feel more intimate and that group conversation is more enhanced.”
While some students take longer to adjust, others immediately put themselves out there. Business administration graduate student Samantha Dao quickly involved herself in Greek life and professional organizations as a junior when she transferred from Texas in the fall of 2023. Even though her involvement eased her transition to A&M, she said it was not without intentional effort.
“Just joining those wasn’t the answer to everything, and it didn’t solve all my problems,” Dao said. “I still had to put in the work to find people in those. You get out what you put in type of situation.”
Creating a meaningful support system at a new institution is also something that can be done in the classroom, where forming relationships with professors and classmates proves crucial. As Dao transferred into A&M’s College of Engineering undergraduate program from Texas’ College of Natural Sciences, she noticed stark differences in the educational and social culture through her lectures and labs.
“At UT, professors-wise, they’re brilliant, clearly very smart and can teach you a lot from the books,” Dao said. “I think the professors here, especially in industrial distribution, can teach you a lot about life, and they just value you as a person more than as a number.”
Even as transfer students explore new experiences and their fresh identity as Aggies, there will always be lingering remnants from their past experiences that A&M does not offer. Bittersweet reminders of cherished routines are treasured by students like Nilsen, even while moving toward a different future.
“Environmentally, I miss surfing so bad,” Nilsen said. “The weather’s a bit more pleasant there because it is Hawaii. That and the smaller campus, I did appreciate that.”
Homesickness is a common experience for many students, yet embracing missed aspects can transform perspective. Balderrama encourages transfer students to embrace the new opportunities provided, even through discomfort.
“When you get here, I know it’s gonna sound like you don’t even want to do it, but rush, join an org, do it,” Balderrama said. “If you know you’re gonna transfer from the beginning, consider joining something transferable here.”
Few students understand the challenges that come with starting over and creating a new identity more than once, but opportunity presents itself alongside moments of discomfort, Whering said. For her, beating those feelings and transferring to A&M resulted in a new home.
“I felt I was gonna be looked at differently because I was a transfer, but A&M has made me feel at home in three weeks,” Wehring said. “I never felt at home through an entire semester somewhere else, if you were thinking about transferring, just do it.”
