Despite the heat, students flooded Santa Monica College's main campus Thursday, Oct. 6, for this semester’s College Fair. Dozens of U.S. and international schools lined the pathways of campus from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., providing resources and answering questions students had about transferring.
The turnout for this fall’s fair was unlike past years. Third-year SMC student Gigi Rodriguez said that last year she didn’t really find what she was looking for, “but this year it feels like there's so much to look at.”
Student Hojae Yu said he only expected to see the usual UCs. “I didn’t know some of these colleges,”he said.
When students entered the fair, Ashley Warmington and Emma Schwartzlara, the co-founders of Transfer Abroad Network, greeted them.
Warmington and Schwartzlara founded Transfer Abroad to show students and community colleges that further education overseas is for anyone who wants it. From Europe to Japan to Australia, and beyond, students have the unique opportunity to work with a program where their SMC credits will be recognized. “That’s what's so exciting, since we’re an application platform, students come as they are, with what they have, and we see where they can go.”Warmington said.
Students can access transfer abroad network or join co-founders Warmington and Shwartzlara near 18th Street Art Center for opportunities to ask more questions with the founders themselves, see the Universities the program partners with, as well as enjoy free In-N-Out.
For students that preferred a more localized school than one in Rome, Westmont College, a private Christian, liberal arts college located in Santa Barbara. Westmont is free to apply to, but does not have a credit threshold, meaning SMC transfer students can apply for upcoming semesters without having to cram in any extra classes to reach a required amount of credits.
Westmont College’s Assistant Director of Admissions, Brenda Tirado highlighted the school’s top majors. “Economics and business, biology, psychology, kinesiology, and communications,” she said. Ensuring transfer students feel welcome in their community was another topic she spoke about. “One thing Westmont does well is making sure all students are celebrated.”
Alexandra Agron, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Pepperdine University, answered SMC student’s questions, specifically targeting students interested in the university's new School of Nursing.
Pepperdine has a “very unique opportunity to get together,” Agron said. With their two year transfer program, students will spend two years in a transfer specific program followed by an additional two years in the school’s program for Bachelors of Nursing and Science program.
Agron urged students interested in transferring to Pepperdine’s program to focus on excelling in their science courses as well as show their volunteer hours in medical settings when applying.
According to Agron, Pepperdine currently has 26 active clinic placement sites all within 50 miles of its Calabasas campus. “Some of those clinics will include Kaiser Permanente and Cedar Sinai, but the list goes on,” Agron said.
Located in Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College is a small, four year, test optional Liberal Arts College 30 minutes from the city of Philadelphia and two hours away from New York City’sTimes Square.
Swarthmore is able to offer students better access to resources, and more personable lessons due to the college having a total 1600 students, with the average class size being just 15 students.
Having smaller class sizes also gives students the confidence to pursue more intensive courses, one of which being a special major known as The Honors major, where instead of being graded by your professors, you'll be graded by outside examiners. According to Swarthmore's Director of Admissions, Alondra Romero, the intimate size of the school has facilitated a space where guest speakers have joined them to share wisdom. “We’ve even had somebody from The Louvre come to campus,” she said.
The university prides itself on being has a cash free campus, as well as a place where inclusivity and accessibility for all students despite being a 4 year university matters.
"We won't be looking at financial aid documents, and there won’t be any hidden fees once they are on campus,” Romero said.