What it’s like being a transfer student at UW-Madison

It’s a blessing to be a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. However, like many other students here, I was never a “baby Badger”. I transferred from a smaller state school, and received one of those super lame “UW Madison Transfer Student” pom hats. I had the opportunity to attend two different schools in my undergraduate career, and I wouldn’t have traded my experience for the world.

Like my shirt? My wonderful friend, Mitch, made it for me for my transfer! I wear it with pride, not because it’s Madison, but because it’s a La Crosse memory.

There’s a stigma when it comes to transfer students at this school. Sometimes you’re looked down upon (“were you not smart enough to get in the first time?”) or criticized for your first college move (“why would you want to go to La Crosse when you got into Madison the first time?”).

There’s also a stigma when you go back to the school you left. Your college friends start to forget about you, and some may think you’re pretentious now that you go to a Big 10 school. When you complain about how much harder you have to work, your old friends just don’t understand. They also may not understand just how hard it was to leave them.

Nothing beats the small study areas that the UW-La Crosse residence halls offered. That’s where I met my best friend (and apparently, a chair)

My college career started on a very bumpy road: I lived in a standard dorm room with two other girls, and we had to share two closets. There was no air-conditioning, no privacy, and I had a terrible relationship with one of the girls. To make matters worse, I broke my foot during the winter and didn’t know what to do with myself. I was an extremely active person, and this side of my life took a hiatus. My first year of college seemed so much worse than my friends’. They were having the time of their lives, while I sat at home with my immobilizer I named Sally. How sad.

Though I knew I was going to transfer, I still stayed involved on campus.

It wasn’t until I transferred that I realized just how great I had it at La Crosse. I live with two other girls who transferred from La Crosse, and we all came to the same conclusion: our most genuine friendships were made at that school, even in the short amount of time we were there. Though Madison challenges us and the prestige of the school will get us far, it’s the friendships that we miss the most.

Though I wouldn’t trade my Madison experience for the world, I wouldn’t trade my decision to go to La Crosse either. The cliché of meeting your lifelong friends applies to me and my roommates – and I will assume, to other transfer students like us – and I met mine in La Crosse.

Nothing like a cake fight among friends

So, transfer students, my advice to you is this: transfer for you, but don’t forget the friends you are leaving. I made the best decision to transfer for the academics, for the location, for the name, and for the opportunities (and I may mean the parties here), but I will always cherish my lovely friends, as every transfer student should.