Drake University has roughly 100 students transferring into their community every year, making it a new experience for many students. 

According to study.com, a transfer student is someone who starts their college education at one institution and then decides to move to a different school to finish their education. Drake gets a plethora of transfer students from community colleges and other universities around the state of Iowa. 

Lauren McCarthy, the Transfer Student Transition Advisor, helps many transfer students along this process. McCarthy does everything from helping with registration to getting transfer students connected with their faculty advisors to making sure they are getting involved and seeing them through this transitional period. 

“I really want transfer students to become integrated into the Drake campus. I want them to feel like they’re Drake students, not just Drake transfer students,” McCarthy said. “Obviously, their experiences are different from students that come in straight from high school, but I want them to feel like they are just as much a part of the Drake community as students who come from high school. So, to have internship opportunities, have research experiences, get involved with student activities or intramurals.”

Gonzalo Valdenebro, a junior studying data analytics, is one of the many students that McCarthy has advised during this time of change.

Valdenebro is from Madrid, Spain where he was studying business at the College for International Studies. The one thing that truly drove him to Drake University was the community on campus and how attentive the staff was at getting him information. 

Of all the universities that got back to him, Valdenebro said that Drake was the one that did the most. McCarthy was one of the staff members to help him through this with supportive actions, like always emailing him back in a timely fashion, answering questions to the best of her ability and connecting him to the community that was around him at Drake. 

“I really want them to become part of the community and not feel like school is this separate thing from the rest of their lives,” McCarthy said.