Mascolo said that just by applying to transfer, many students demonstrate an awareness of what they want from their education. Going through the college application process a second time requires students to reevaluate their goals, she said.

Erwin said that the transfer process was a learning experience. “[Applying to transfer] wasn’t anything I really thought I would do, just because you go through the college process once,” Erwin said. “You hope that’s the one and only time.... But it provided me with a really good avenue for introspection, I think, to look at the kind of things I gained from Hopkins, the kind of things I wanted to change, and the things I wished were different.”

HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING

With one or two fewer years to participate in College life, transfer students are often eager to dive into Harvard’s activities right away.

“These are students who are going to need to hit the ground running, both academically and socially,” Mascolo said. “When they get here, I feel like they take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way.”

Not only has Farag won a national title in squash his first year at Harvard, but he has also become interested in researching solar energy.

“I’m trying to take advantage of every resource we have here, because I know that I have one year less,” Farag said.

Erwin initially participated in many extracurricular activities including theater, choir, and the Mission Hill After-School Program.

“I definitely had a bit of a ‘freshman year’ my sophomore year when I joined a million different groups,” she said. “It was really amazing, because I had so many things I knew I was going to join before I got here, and then I found so many other things I didn’t even know existed before coming here.”

Arriving from a small school, LeBoeuf also said Harvard presented opportunities he had not been exposed to before. He comped The Crimson, ran for the Undergraduate Council, and taught civics through the Institute of Politics, plus traveled to Chile over J-term.

“It’s a new excitement,” LeBoeuf said of the opportunities at Harvard. “There are so many things, depending on where you’re coming from, you may not have had....It’s like opening your eyes to a whole world you didn’t even know existed.”

Two and a half years later, LeBoeuf no longer identifies himself as a transfer student when he first meets someone. Instead of a transfer from Clark, he is now a senior at Harvard.

“[Coming to Harvard is] something that four years ago when I was applying for college, I never expected would happen,” LeBoeuf said. “Now here I am, a senior, working on a thesis, having done activities and fellowships. It’s just not a part of my life that I expected, but I can’t think of myself without Harvard anymore.”