Yale transfer students take road less traveled

Each year, about 24 sophomores and juniors plunge headlong into Yale with little introduction or support. They are transfer students, and many of them have taken unusual routes to get to Yale.

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH Transfer students Giulia Musolino, JE '00, and Francisco Cervantes, JE '01, have settled easily into life at Yale.

Chistopher Murphy, director of transfer admissions, said the transfer program is designed "to help and assist students who are non-traditional." Many are married and a few already have children when they apply for admission. Some did not achieve highly in high school but later "found themselves at a junior college," Murphy said.

Yale has a very low attrition rate, leaving little room for transfer students. Murphy noted that the "precious number of spaces" for transfers makes it impossible to consider an applicant who "has no particular reason for [attending] Yale."

Yale enrolled 32 transfer students this fall. The admissions office received transfer applications from 655 students and admitted 37, a 5.6 percent acceptance rate.

Other Ivy League universities admit a similarly small number of transfer students. This year, Harvard received 1,208 transfer applications and admitted 81 (a 6.7 percent acceptance rate).

Princeton does not even accept transfer applications. Michael Viola, who works in the University's admissions department, said that because of the school's low attrition rate and large freshman classes, Princeton has not admitted any transfer students in seven years.

Brown accepts around 100 transfer students out of about 750 applicants (nearly 13 percent), while in the past three years Cornell admitted an average of 695 transfer students out of approximately 3,000 applicants (23.2 percent).

Assistant Dean Mary Li Hsu, who oversees transfer students and their transition into Yale life, said that in admitting transfer students, "We look for exceptional students who will add color to the student body." Hsu noted that past transfers have come from the CIA, the Army Green Berets, and the Navy SEALs.

In the past, transfer students were paired with "big sibs" who were supposed to facilitate the adjustment period, but that practice was discontinued this year. "I'm giving them a few resource people this year," Hsu said.

John Wright, DC '01, came to Yale this fall from Fresno City College in California and hopes to graduate with a degree in political science. Wright seems to have made a smooth transition to Yale, though "it takes a little longer for transfer students because we do come in late," he said.

Frank Novellino, SY '00, enrolled in Yale this fall after spending two years at Suffolk Community College on Long Island. "I thought [transferring to Yale] would be a good opportunity for a comprehensive education," he said. Novellino's sister, an attorney, suggested that he choose Yale over the other Ivies. "She said that [Yale alums] were very smart, well-spoken," he commented.

Novellino explained that transfer students form their own subset of the Yale community. "We all help each other," he said.

Kimber Tilleman-Dick, SM '99, transferred to Yale from Regis University in Denver. Both of her parents went to Yale, and her two brothers also transferred from Regis to Yale. As a junior last year she had to learn to balance her course load at Yale, where one class might require as much reading as all of her classes combined at Regis. Like Novellino, she considers the other transfer students her friends. "I do say `hi' to them on the street," she said.

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