Four weeks before the semester’s end, representatives from California State University, Northridge and the University of California, Los Angeles were on campus for the annual UCLA and CSUN Transfer Day.
The event, organized by the Transfer Center, gives students the opportunity to seek advice and have questions answered by members from multiple academic departments at the two universities.
“The UCLA/ CSUN Day [event] is when the different departments are here from those two schools so that any students can come and learn more about the different majors,” said Sunday Salter, director of the Transfer Center.
After showing proof of their acceptance letters, students preparing to transfer in fall celebrated with complimentary pizza and cookies. Those students were asked to deliver a meaningful quote to future transfer students. Salter said the UCLA and CSUN Day has been going on for about ten years, but the celebration for transferring students is only in its second year.
According to Salter, UCLA has 125 majors but 50 percent of applicants apply to the same 10 majors. That makes UCLA’s departments especially competitive and it can be hard for students to get accepted into the most popular programs.
“We want to expose students to other options [and] other major choices so they can meet with advisers and faculty from the different disciplines,” Salter said.
Nianne Newns, a representative from the Admissions and Records office at CSUN, said the reason the school volunteered in the event was to advise students about the requirements and the chances of getting into CSUN.
“Our whole purpose for being here is to dispense the correct information to students according to Cal State Northridge,” Newns said.
The representatives provide information about deadlines, applications, transcripts and other important aspects of the often confusing transfer process.
According to Newns, CSUN’s most competitive and popular major departments are business, engineering, and computer science. UCLA’s single most popular department is chemistry and biochemistry.
Two advisers from UCLA’s department of chemistry and biochemistry, Tim Mahlanza and Denise Mantonya, attended to guide students who hope to transfer and to help motivate science majors.
“It’s a pretty rigorous major overall,” said Mahlanza.
Mahlanza said the bulk of required courses for chemistry majors are mathematics, such as calculus and physics. The requirements for biochemistry are life science and biology.
“We want to let them know that we are approachable,” Mantonya said, “and that we’re open to their questions.”