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Poole College Transfer Appreciation Week Celebrates the Diverse Academic Background of Transfer Students

National Transfer Appreciation Week is held every third week in October to celebrate transfer students and their faculty, staff, and fellow students who have supported them. This year the Poole College of Management will be participating in Transfer Appreciation Week with events between Oct. 21-25. 

For the fall 2019 semester, Poole College of Management welcomed both external transfer students from other colleges/universities as well as students changing majors to Poole through the Change of Degree Application (CODA process). Poole welcomed 200 external transfer students, out of 809 applicants, 58 percent of them from North Carolina community colleges. Poole’s Change of Degree Application (CODA) student population, averaged a 3.3 cumulative GPA. 

Megan Van Hook, an academic advisor for the Office of Undergraduate Programs, describes the transfer student admission process as extremely competitive for all admission types. Van Hook said that most transfer applicants have impressively strong academic and extra-curricular resumes. 

“For new students who started in fall 2019, Poole had more external transfer and CODA students than incoming first-year students,” said Van Hook on why there was such an increase in transfer applicants. “Business administration and accounting are two of the more popular majors for students to apply to transfer into which also leads to an increase in transfer students (and also lends itself to the increasing competitiveness for admission).”   

Poole’s transfer students bring diverse academic backgrounds to the classroom which adds depth to discussions and group projects.

“What makes a transfer experience unique is that at a community college you see a diversity of backgrounds,” said Yusuf Mahmoud, a transfer student from Wake Technical Community College. “Here, you see a diversity of thoughts. Once you go through this experience you learn how to act, understand, and work with both.”

One of the biggest struggles of transfer students, not just in Poole College, is fitting into their new academic environment. The key to overcoming this obstacle is to start looking for ways to get involved on campus and in their college early on. 

“I think it’s incredibly important for transfer students to get involved as quickly as possible because there are so many opportunities for students who are involved,” said Carmen Nurinda, a transfer student from Wake Technical Community College. “Whether that is through student organizations, volunteering, or any organization under Poole College of Management. Honestly, it’s a complete new rewarding experience as well.”

This is the first year that the Poole College of Management is celebrating National Transfer Appreciation Week, but there are so many more opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to recognize transfer students. Being open and welcoming in classrooms and reaching out to new students with opportunities to get involved within the college are great ways to get to know transfer students. 

Stop by the Poole Transfer Student Appreciation Table on Oct. 24 for food and buttons, and look out for the transfer student social media takeover on Poole’s Instagram.