Coming into this course I had no idea what to expect, but reading all the required readings and watching the videos I am honestly appalled at what I have learned. I had no idea that we even had a 'college loans' debt crisis. I find this very interesting and eye opening. It makes me think about how many jobs I could handle over the summer in order to pay back some loans in order to lower my debt before I graduate so that I will be able to pay it back.
Coming into Rutgers as a transfer student was a struggle for me as it was hard to navigate around campus and figure out the bus schedules. I must have ridden every bus there was at Rutgers University before I had the slightest idea of where I was and which stop I needed to get off. I honestly got lost my first couple days, but after looking like an idiot and asking many many questions, I found my way. I believe that navigation is a real struggle for transfer students at any big college especially one like Rutgers. Another challenge that transfer students face is social life. Some transfer students have a hard time with this as they live with students who have their 'cliques' because they have been living here for a while. This could cause transfer students to have a sense of loneliness and/or depression.
Last but not least, I would like to discuss transfer students' ability to transfer their credits from other colleges to Rutgers as I have gone through this and have first-hand knowledge. Transferring credits over isn't as easy as they portray it to be. I thought I had taken all the right classes at my community college to qualify for the New Jersey Statewide Transfer Agreement but when I came to Rutgers I was told that I was half a class away from qualifying. Half a class? I wasn't aware that existed. I think with this topic, I would like to get opinions from other students and see if they faced struggles too.
This is a great topic, and it is good you have a personal interest and experience with it. The issues related to transfer students are very important, especially as more and more students are choosing community colleges as a way to save money on the way to a four-year degree. Your biggest challenge will be to try to look at the issue more from a "policy" than a "personal" perspective. What I mean is that, as you recognize, there are a lot of transfer students at Rutgers and at other schools. What policies affect them and what policies might be implemented to make their lives better? What policies are currently in place (such as the articulation agreements between Rutgers and the two-year schools that formed the ARTSYS and now NJ Transfer system), why were they developed and how are they working? Is the community-college-to-Rutgers route a good path to a four-year degree? Why has the NJ government encouraged that route for students looking to save money? And is it a successful path for most students who choose it? These are just some questions of policy that come to mind -- there are many others. But I encourage you to look beyond your personal experience and try to understand the problems that transfer students face as a population.
ReplyDeleteI have had a few students work on the transfer issue. They have all been promising projects with a lot of potential. Check out these links:
http://alexmurtha201college.blogspot.com/
http://jennifercollege201.blogspot.com/
The first shows how the NJ government's push to use community colleges as a "stepping stone" to increase four-year degree completion is not successful for the majority of students (not least because of some gaps in transferring credits, as you mention). The second one focuses on how transfer students feel alienated at college and turn to drinking at higher rates than more traditional students (which fits with your view of loneliness and depression among transfers).
Check out their bibliographies (in their last posts) for some ideas about readings to get you started. Then scout the territory.