After a year at Ashland University, Avi Zaffini knew what he wanted to do.
"I liked Ashland, but I knew I wanted my political science degree to come from Ohio State," Zaffini said.
But first, he had to make a pit stop - a trip to Iraq as a member of the Marine Corps.
Although his journey to OSU was a little more involved than that of the typical student, Zaffini is one of the 3,000 to 3,200 students who transfer to OSU every year, said Mabel Freeman, assistant vice president of Undergraduate Admissions and the First Year Experience.
While most students start their OSU careers in the autumn quarter, Freeman said about 300 to 350 - including Zaffini - choose to start in the winter quarter.
"Winter quarter transfers are different," Freeman said. "In autumn quarter, everyone is looking for transfer students ... people expect for there to be new students."
Because the 3,000 transfer students do not include students coming from OSU's regional campuses, Freeman said the figure is comprised of students who transfer from community colleges or other four-year institutions.
A large percent of OSU transfer students enter with sophomore status, meaning they have already had at least one year of college somewhere else, Freeman said. Some of these students are freshmen who have transferred in the middle of the school year.
"Transfer students come here for a variety of reasons," Freeman said. "We may even be their second or third transfer."
Zaffini, who completed his deployment in 2006, began class at OSU in January 2007. Coming from a smaller university, Zaffini had to get used to both the size of the campus and the quarter system.
"You feel so overwhelmed when you first get here, but everything becomes pretty easy to navigate after a while," he said.
Zaffini said he has no regrets with his decision to transfer and is taking advantage of everything OSU has to offer.
"There are so many more resources here, the classes are better and there are a lot more people," he said. " Even though OSU is big, getting into my major has helped make things seem smaller."
Zaffini said he has also been able to take advantage of the internships offered in his major, which he said are a "tremendous resource."
"Admissions was a huge help for me ... all the e-mails they sent and the programs really made a difference," he said.
Freeman said she knows the importance of providing transfer students with resources.
"Transfer students are a little harder to serve," she said. "They want to come to OSU (to) fit right in and not stand out."
Earlier in January the admissions office hosted Buckeye Welcome, an event specifically for transfer students. Of the 300 students invited, about 70 showed up, Freeman said. The event concluded with the winter quarter involvement fair.
"It's important for them to get involved on campus, but since a lot of them are not living in the residence halls, it presents a challenge," Freeman said. She said colleges and schools within the university should also be proactive in welcoming transfer students during winter quarter.
Aaron Cohen, who also transferred during winter quarter, said he knew that transferring from the University of Akron to OSU would be a good decision.
"I figured that if you can't find what you are looking for at OSU, then you probably will not find it," he said.
Cohen said he wants to pursue graduate school and knew attending OSU would give him a better chance of getting there.
"Ohio State had a better name on a degree than Akron," he said.
Nicole Staples can be reached at staples.25@osu.edu.
2008 Woodie Awards
Be the first to comment on this story