Photos by Erika Johnson/University Communications

Thousands of Students and Families Attend Transfer Triton Day

Newly admitted transfer students discover UC San Diego’s myriad opportunities

UC San Diego opened its doors to thousands of newly admitted transfer students and their families on campus Saturday for Transfer Triton Day. In the same tradition as Triton Day, which is targeted toward admitted freshmen, Transfer Triton Day brought together the entire campus community to encourage admitted transfer students to accept their offer of admission to UC San Diego for fall 2014.

For Alisa Ochoa of Los Angeles Mission Community College, the day helped cement her decision to attend UC San Diego and submit her intent to register.

“I learned that there is so much more to this campus than what I realized; it makes me want to be a student here,” Ochoa said. “I have never wanted something so much!”

The event was an opportunity for newly admitted transfer students to discover campus life through academic department presentations, workshops, information fairs and college sessions, as well as tours of campus and the Village at Torrey Pines.

As a part of Transfer Triton Day, the Village threw its traditional ice cream social, where prospective transfers got the opportunity to learn more about the campus’s transfer student housing community and meet and mingle with Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla and Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Alan Houston.

“This is one of the best transfer student housing communities in the nation,” Khosla said. “The housing, along with the campus, has amazing beautiful views. But the greatest view you will get is the view from your classroom. You will learn from the world's top scholars—members of the National Academy of Sciences, Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and faculty at the forefront of their fields.”

Houston spoke about the value transfer students bring to the UC San Diego community. “The transfer route is a vibrant and vital pathway to our campus,” Houston said. “Transfer students bring unique perspectives that add to the vitality, strength and diversity of our student body.”

According to Tanya Nap, who will be transferring to UC San Diego from Diablo Valley Community College, the event was a success. “It has been really helpful,” Nap said. “I learned about all the requirements for next year; it was very clear. Everyone has been really friendly and it’s been great to meet new people.”

In the morning, students, including Huy Nguyen from Ventura Community College, attended welcome sessions from each of the campus’s six colleges. “It was really insightful,” said Nguyen, who was admitted to Revelle College. “It was good to hear Provost Paul K. L. Yu talk about the great undergraduate research opportunities here.”

In addition to the college sessions, students had the opportunity to meet with faculty and staff from various academic departments during the academic sessions. Here, students got to explore opportunities in their major and minor fields of study.

Francisco Aceves, from Southwestern Community College, attended the academic sessions at the Jacobs School of Engineering. “It made me feel really reassured that I am not the only one here who will have to adjust from the semester system to a quarter system,” Aceves said. “We heard from Dean Albert P. Pisano and learned about research opportunities and all the student support programs that are available to engineering students. I felt the program addressed every concern I had and it made me feel really welcomed.”

Newly admitted students were also given the opportunity to attend student support services sessions on financial aid, career services, undergraduate research and more.

Transfer Triton Day had many highlights for Nicholas Warnkey of Foothill Community College, who was admitted to UC Santa Cruz and UC Santa Barbara in addition to UC San Diego. “I am about 90 percent sure I will choose UC San Diego,” he said. “I love the location — this campus is beautiful. I feel it is really what I am looking for. It is diverse and a really good school.”