2008 Woodie Awards
Students transfer in, more than half are from Washington
Melissa Challender, Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/25/08
Last Updated: 12/12/08
Attending Whitworth for four years is a typical experience for many Whitworth students.
However, some follow an atypical path.
Ninety-one new students transferred to Whitworth this year, compared to 92 last year, according to the Fall 2008 Tenth Day enrollment report.
More than half of the transfer students come from schools in Washington state, according to the report.
Eighteen of the students from Washington transferred from Spokane Falls Community College, 10 from Spokane Community College, three from Eastern Washington University, two from Western Washington University and two from the University of Washington. No new students transferred from Washington State University this fall, according to the report.
Credits from community colleges in Washington transfer over because Whitworth has an articulation agreement with other schools, said Fred Pfursich, vice president of admissions and financial aid.
“We recognize that there are courses taught in community college that are very similar in content and scope,” Pfursich said.
Seniors Sarah Davies and Olympia Eberlein are transfer students who had different reasons for coming to Whitworth.
Davies attended Multnomah Bible College in Portland, Ore. Although she enjoyed it, she said it didn’t have the wide range of programs she was looking for.
After she realized she wanted to go into psychology, Davies started looking at other schools.
“All of their degrees are ministry-oriented but they also had communication and music, so it wasn’t just like you learn Bible only,” Davies said.
Multnomah is in the process of getting a psychology major, Davies said, adding that their timing isn’t too wonderful for her.
Davies said she came to Whitworth her junior year mainly to get a degree in psychology, but also for the dance and theater programs.
“Right now I’m in a play and that’s really cool,” Davies said. “And they have clubs here.”
Although Davies is satisfied with her decision to come to Whitworth, she said she feels that she belongs at Multnomah more than Whitworth.
“I’m happy with my decision, but Multnomah is still where my heart is,” she said. “It’s more like my second home and Whitworth is just kind of a place.”
Davies, who has lived in Keola the past two years, encourages transfer students to live somewhere where they can find good community.
“Being a transfer, going into a dorm of all singles just made it a slight bit more lonely,” Davies said.
Unlike freshmen and sophomores, transfer students are not always required to live on campus even when they first come to Whitworth, Pfursich said.
Senior Olympia Eberlein also transferred to Whitworth her junior year.
“I was going to transfer my freshman year, but basically I didn’t feel at peace about it,” Eberlin said. “I was praying about it and decided, ‘No, I need to wait.’”
Eberlein transferred from the University of Washington, which has 42,098 students on the Seattle campus, according to UW’s office of institutional studies Web site.
“It was really easy to slack off at UW because it was so big,” she said. “I was just kind of taking classes to get it done.”
Another factor to take into account with larger campuses is the level of safety, Eberlein said.
“We’d get e-mails [saying], ‘Be careful around this street; so-and-so got mugged,’” she said.
Eberlein said she too is happy with her decision to transfer to Whitworth.
“There are some things I do miss about UW, but overall, this is better for me,” Eberlein said. “I do miss their 24-hour library.”
Contact Melissa Challender at melissa.challender@whitworthian.com.
However, some follow an atypical path.
Ninety-one new students transferred to Whitworth this year, compared to 92 last year, according to the Fall 2008 Tenth Day enrollment report.
More than half of the transfer students come from schools in Washington state, according to the report.
Eighteen of the students from Washington transferred from Spokane Falls Community College, 10 from Spokane Community College, three from Eastern Washington University, two from Western Washington University and two from the University of Washington. No new students transferred from Washington State University this fall, according to the report.
Credits from community colleges in Washington transfer over because Whitworth has an articulation agreement with other schools, said Fred Pfursich, vice president of admissions and financial aid.
“We recognize that there are courses taught in community college that are very similar in content and scope,” Pfursich said.
Seniors Sarah Davies and Olympia Eberlein are transfer students who had different reasons for coming to Whitworth.
Davies attended Multnomah Bible College in Portland, Ore. Although she enjoyed it, she said it didn’t have the wide range of programs she was looking for.
After she realized she wanted to go into psychology, Davies started looking at other schools.
“All of their degrees are ministry-oriented but they also had communication and music, so it wasn’t just like you learn Bible only,” Davies said.
Multnomah is in the process of getting a psychology major, Davies said, adding that their timing isn’t too wonderful for her.
Davies said she came to Whitworth her junior year mainly to get a degree in psychology, but also for the dance and theater programs.
“Right now I’m in a play and that’s really cool,” Davies said. “And they have clubs here.”
Although Davies is satisfied with her decision to come to Whitworth, she said she feels that she belongs at Multnomah more than Whitworth.
“I’m happy with my decision, but Multnomah is still where my heart is,” she said. “It’s more like my second home and Whitworth is just kind of a place.”
Davies, who has lived in Keola the past two years, encourages transfer students to live somewhere where they can find good community.
“Being a transfer, going into a dorm of all singles just made it a slight bit more lonely,” Davies said.
Unlike freshmen and sophomores, transfer students are not always required to live on campus even when they first come to Whitworth, Pfursich said.
Senior Olympia Eberlein also transferred to Whitworth her junior year.
“I was going to transfer my freshman year, but basically I didn’t feel at peace about it,” Eberlin said. “I was praying about it and decided, ‘No, I need to wait.’”
Eberlein transferred from the University of Washington, which has 42,098 students on the Seattle campus, according to UW’s office of institutional studies Web site.
“It was really easy to slack off at UW because it was so big,” she said. “I was just kind of taking classes to get it done.”
Another factor to take into account with larger campuses is the level of safety, Eberlein said.
“We’d get e-mails [saying], ‘Be careful around this street; so-and-so got mugged,’” she said.
Eberlein said she too is happy with her decision to transfer to Whitworth.
“There are some things I do miss about UW, but overall, this is better for me,” Eberlein said. “I do miss their 24-hour library.”
Contact Melissa Challender at melissa.challender@whitworthian.com.
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Andrea Idso
posted 12/09/08 @ 12:30 PM PST
Thank you for writing an article about transfer students. Sometimes I feel like we're a bit left out, having non-traditional academic careers here. I appreciate it. (Continued…)
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