WashU admitted six transfer students this semester in the second year of the mid-year transfer admissions program for the College of Arts & Sciences that began in 2024. Twelve first-years and two sophomores were admitted during the pilot year of the program. 

WashU’s Admissions Department has not responded to several requests for comment or interview as of the publication of the article. 

One such transfer student said that she has had a positive experience at WashU so far. The student, who enrolled as a junior this January, requested anonymity because of personal concerns. The student is from the Bay Area, California, and spent her first two collegiate years at a small liberal arts institution on the West Coast.

The student said that she had no intent to transfer until she returned home for summer break after her sophomore year. She took a gap semester before enrolling at WashU this spring.

“It was one of those things where I pretended everything was fine, and then I got home and I basically felt like my life was falling apart after the year I had due to personal circumstances,” she said.

The student experienced anti-semitism at her previous institution, targeted at her and other Jewish students. She said that students threw rocks through another Jewish student’s window and tore her mezuzah off of her wall. 

“I’m leaving behind this college because of their stance on how protests were conducted,” she said. “They were basically like, ‘We’re not going to get involved. Figure it out for yourselves.’ And it put me and other students in harm’s way.”

The student used the Anti-Defamation League’s report cards evaluating anti-semitism on college campuses to compile a list of schools she was interested in transferring to. Her list was shortened by the limited number of schools that accept mid-year transfers.

“My policy was that I wasn’t going to a school where anything violent had happened or a school that had a lawsuit against them,” she said. 

Outside of the issues she had with her previous school related to anti-semitism, the student described the social scene as that of  “a dysfunctional high school.” The school was very small but there was lots of animosity within the community. She said that WashU’s campus community has been a “culture shock” to her in contrast. 

“My first day of class [at WashU], I was reading the syllabus and remember my professors said ‘you’re going to disagree with people, and you’re expected to be polite and kind about it,’” the student said. “That was funny to me, because I’m coming from a place where cancel culture is an appropriate thing to do — and in person, not like over the internet.”

The student said that strong academics were another draw for her coming to WashU. She has been very satisfied with her experience so far.

“The campus is beautiful, it’s safe for me, and it’s big enough that I can be who I am,” she said. “It’s been surprising to me that all the WUSA’s and everyone are so genuinely friendly — it’s not like [they are] forcing it because they are paid to be friendly, the friendliness is natural.”

The student felt that the admissions process went smoothly, and was grateful that her orientation group was smaller than it might have been if she had joined in on the first-year Bear Beginnings programming.

“For someone who is bad at transitions and is easily overwhelmed, I really liked transferring in the spring because it made the orientation easier on me,” she said.

Lauren Eckstein is a current junior who transferred to WashU last spring. She also attended a liberal arts institution on the West Coast, Pomona College, and transferred to WashU last year because of anti-semitism there.

Eckstein said that, one year after getting to WashU, she has felt supported by the community here and professors have been accommodating to her academic needs.

“The Arts & Sciences admin was very good with keeping up with us, just to check in on how we’re doing and all of that,” she said. “At this point, people don’t even know that I’m a transfer — I feel like I just, like, kind of blended in really seamlessly and easily.”

Eckstein said that one campus event that had a big impact on her transfer experience last year was the spring club fair. 

“It was really helpful for me, and I feel like most schools don’t have club fairs both semesters — it’s only a fall thing, but here it’s pretty normalized to have your club go to both,” she said. 

The only long term issue Eckstein identified with the mid-year transfer process is the extremely short window she had to figure out her housing options for the following year. 

“I just decided to be administratively assigned, which worked out, but I didn’t know my roommates,” she said. “I’d never met them before, but we’ve gotten pretty close.”

Aside from the abrupt housing situation, Eckstein has found a much more supportive environment at WashU that’s helped her to stay true to her Jewish identity. 

“I’ve become very involved in the Jewish community here — another transfer and I are now co-presidents of Chabad, and I’m also on the Hillel board, and so I feel like I’m always doing things within the Jewish community, and a lot of my friends are Jewish,” she said. “I just feel very connected.”