8 Tips for New Transfer Students, from Someone Who Did It
In addition to the thousands of first-year undergraduate and graduate students settling into life on Commonwealth Ave each year, Boston University also welcomes hundreds of transfer students to campus.
8 Tips for New Transfer Students, from Someone Who Did It
How to assimilate at BU—all the advice you’ll need
Moving into college for the first time is one of the most monumental life changes a young person can experience. Tackling a long list of daunting tasks—living away from home, making new friends, doing well in classes, and adjusting to dining hall food—just to name a few—can feel like juggling a bunch of bowling balls.
What if you had to do it all over again?
In addition to the thousands of first-year undergraduate and graduate students settling into life on Commonwealth Ave each year, Boston University also welcomes hundreds of transfer students to campus. Often colloquially known as “Terrier Transfers,” these students take a leap of faith and choose to start anew for a variety of reasons.
I was in your shoes just a few short years ago, when I transferred to BU as a sophomore in fall 2022. Now that I’ve graduated, I want to share my top eight tips for those just starting, including what worked for me, what didn’t, and what I wish I’d taken advantage of.
1. Join a club
With more than 450 clubs and organizations on campus, there is truly something for everyone at BU (Pitch Perfect fans like me might appreciate that one of our a cappella groups is, coincidentally, named The Treblemakers). If you missed this semester’s Splash, I highly recommend that you attend Splash 2.0 spring semester to maximize the chances that you’ll find your niche—whether it’s a club team for the sport you played in high school or a new hobby you’ve been thinking about taking up—and meet other students who share those same interests.
It pays to do a bit of preparation work before you go: check out BU’s official list of student activities, make note of the groups that stick out to you, and show up ready to say hello and ask questions.
You can find community within these groups by simply keeping an eye on your email and showing up to the advertised meetings. It’s not weird to go alone, I promise, and eventually, you will make friends with other members and can walk in with them, or even eat together before or afterwards.
2. Utilize on-campus resources
Many students are drawn to BU’s large size and diverse offerings of academic programs. It’s one of our university’s strengths, but it can often be intimidating for new Terriers learning to navigate class schedules and workloads, administrative policies, the HUB, and more. Feeling stuck or overwhelmed? Within the past couple of years, BU has created and implemented dedicated help and support for transfers, led by Debra Marcus (CAS’16, Wheelock’21), assistant director of first-year and transfer success. Terrier transfers can schedule an appointment with Marcus using this link or can contact them via their BU email (dmarcus@bu.edu). BU alum Marcus was a transfer student, so they’re a great resource for whatever questions or concerns you may have.
Additionally, each BU student is assigned at least one academic advisor (most colleges assign students to one specific to their major and another who works with the college as a whole). These individuals are a great point of contact for Terrier transfers who want to understand the right courses to take and how the courses from their prior school will transfer over.
3. Stay organized
Besides supporting and guiding you in the right direction, your academic advisors can also help you plan and organize your class schedules and time at BU as a whole. Having taken a semester off prior to transferring to BU, graduating “on time” was a priority for me. Checking in with my advisors at least once each semester allowed me to achieve this goal. Most of the time, these meetings aren’t time-consuming and can even be done virtually.
The “Transfer Roadmap” was hands down the most helpful trick that my advisors had up their sleeves: it’s a printout (but can also be accessed and edited virtually) that Terrier Transfers can use to organize their time at BU in a few different ways, including major/minor requirements, HUB requirements, prerequisites for study abroad programs, and unrelated interests. I printed this out and kept it in a folder in my backpack for all three years, updating it at the end of every semester with the grades I earned in each class and my schedule for the upcoming term. I can’t recommend it enough (especially if you’re Type A, like me).
4. Make the first move
There are so many advantages to restarting your college journey at a university with such a large transfer student population. For one, no matter how lonely you may feel during those first few days or weeks at BU, there are a whole bunch of other people in your situation. Oftentimes, new transfers are placed in the same (or neighboring) residence halls, such as the Fenway Campus and Danielsen Hall, so there’s a good chance that some of the students in your building or on your hall might be new to campus, too.
And as we all know (and commonly dread), the first few weeks of classes are typically filled with introductions and icebreaker activities. Keep your ears open, pay attention to your classmates, and introduce yourself to any transfers you happen to cross paths with. There will be many! Whether it’s their first semester or their last, they can empathize with you and help you get adjusted. As scary as it can be to approach someone and start a friendship, it’s always worth it.
Are you finding that you’re forging more connections with non-transfer students? Don’t fret, those relationships are just as valuable: these are the friends who can show you the ropes at BU, the hidden study spots, and the best places to hang out or share a meal.
5. Embrace the uniqueness of your situation
Just like BU has academic-focused resources for its transfer student population, there are also some social-focused resources on campus for Terrier Transfers to take advantage of. Transition to BU (TTBU) is an organization designed and run by transfer students, for transfer students, boasting a successful mentor/mentee program among other efforts to make BU feel like home in no time. Read BU Today’s feature article on TTBU from this past April to learn more or head to TTBU’s Instagram page to find out how you can get involved.
6. Give traditions a try
Although BU may not have a football team, we’ve still got plenty of school spirit. Check out the BU Athletics calendar to see what teams play when. Hockey season officially begins in October and is not to be missed: in case you didn’t know, the BU men’s hockey team won the Beanpot Tournament in 2025 and produced the first pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, former Terrier Macklin Celebrini. Make sure to get your tickets in Section 118 of Agganis Arena and join the BU Dog Pound to get in on the action and learn all the fun chants. Aside from hockey, many BU students also look forward to cheering on our men’s, women’s, and lightweight rowing teams at the historic annual Head of the Charles Regatta, which passes right by campus, held this year from October 17 to 19. Celebrating the Boston Marathon on Patriots’ Day in late April is an absolute must, too.
If sports aren’t your thing, don’t worry—there are still plenty of BU traditions you can participate in, including the upcoming annual Lobster Night, where all BU dining facilities serve a full lobster dinner. Having a vested interest in campus culture and BU pride will help you feel integrated and at home here in no time.
7. Learn to love alone time
Amidst the chaos that is transferring to a new college or university, it’s just as important to designate downtime you can spend alone as it is to be meeting new people and getting involved on campus. Don’t be afraid to take a step back to rest and reset. In my opinion, feeling comfortable going on solo outings is also a crucial part of living in a big city like Boston. I can guarantee that if you walk into any store or café around the city, you’ll see plenty of people who are there alone, doing their thing. I strongly recommend you build a time each week in your schedule that you can set aside for yourself: whether it’s a time to nap, read, journal, exercise, or explore, this independence will help you become more confident in your new life and will become an essential part of your routine, balanced with academic endeavors and social outings.
8. Be yourself (everyone else is already taken)
This is my favorite ironic saying, and as cringeworthy as it may be, it’s absolutely true. BU is home to tens of thousands of undergrad and grad students from all over the globe, and all of them bring their own unique perspectives and lived experiences to our university’s metaphorical table. What can you contribute to the BU community? Challenge yourself to be as authentic as possible when meeting new people, be candid about your transfer experience, and stand out rather than fit in.
One of my favorite aspects of our campus community is that no two Terriers are alike. As a prospective student, it excited me that there was such diversity in BU’s student body and there wasn’t one stereotype of what a BU student looks or acts like. After arriving on campus, it was clear that this was true, and a huge advantage for me as I began my new college journey. At BU, there’s no sort of pressure to conform to the masses, because there really are no masses here. Every student has a unique style, interests, and goals, and beyond. The commonality is that we’re all here to learn and grow as students and people and that we’re proud to be Terriers.
Realizing this helped me to feel confident and empowered to show people my true colors, which, in turn, not only brought me some valuable and sincere friendships, but also allowed me the freedom to join clubs and organizations that really appealed to me.
If there’s one thing you take away from hearing about my experience and advice as a past Terrier Transfer, I hope it’s this. The rest will come naturally once you’re comfortable in your own skin.