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Expectations vs. Reality: Transferring from Another College

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Mass Amherst chapter.

About 1,300 transfers, including me, arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at UMass Amherst this fall. Despite our previous college experiences, we were ready for a fresh start. 

Expectation: Making friends will be hard because you don’t know anyone, and everyone already has their own group of friends.

Reality: Making friends is easier than you’d expect. Joining clubs, introducing yourself to people in your hall and classes makes the transition easier.

Expectation: The campus is so large that you will be completely overwhelmed.

Reality: The more you’re here, the smaller the campus feels. Soon that walk from Worcester to Bartlett will stop being quite so painful.

Expectation: You’re going to see so many people from high school here.

Reality: Seeing people you know from high school is pretty rare, honestly. 

Expectation: You’re going to get invited to parties every weekend by your super cool new friends.

Reality: You’ll spend most of your nights in your room watching Netflix.

Expectation: You’re going to have such a great time here.

Reality: You are going to have such a great time here!

GIFs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Chloe Trepanier

U Mass Amherst

Chloe is a Her Campus National Social Media Intern and a senior Communication major at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is the Social Media Director for Facebook for the UMass chapter and is the Chairperson of the UMass Theatre Guild. Her hobbies include watching 30 Rock and eating ice cream. You can follow her on Twitter and on Instagram. 
Contributors from the University of Massachusetts Amherst