A professor at Rio Hondo Community College told Eric Rodriguez '08 not to bother applying as a transfer student to Brown. But he did anyway, and after enrolling in 2006, he is one of the small number of transfer students who come to College Hill from community colleges.
Now, as a student, Rodriguez is trying to help increase that number. During the 2006-07 winter break, Rodriguez went back to the Rio Hondo and other community colleges in Southern California to speak to students about transferring to Brown - all on his own initiative.
At the schools where he spoke, Rodriguez said he felt that the students received him well. In Southern California, Rodriguez said, "Stanford and CalTech never step foot on community college." Rodriguez is not an official recruiter, though the University allowed him to speak as a volunteer at the meetings. Still, he said he felt that "it meant something to (the students) that they had a 'representative' from Brown."
The small number of students who transfer to Brown from community colleges is not due to lack of effort on the part of the University, Rodriguez said.
Unlike the students to whom Rodriguez spoke, community college administrations were not always receptive. "The experience was pretty eye opening. A lot of people tend to put the blame on universities like Brown for not recruiting students from community college."
But he added that a larger reason was that "some of these (community) colleges don't even want me to come and talk." Colleges "have pipelines already established" as to where they will send their students, he explained, based on where the students have the greatest chance getting accepted and where they have had the most success academically.
The community colleges in California send most of the students into the University of California system - the applications are readily available for those wishing to transfer from a community college to a UC school. But the transfer application process to an out-of-state or an Ivy League university can be more complex and require much more research, Rodriguez said.
Despite the obstacles, Rodriguez made it to College Hill and said he loves it. "I transferred to Brown because of the academic freedom afforded to students. You can study whatever you want and there's a tremendous amount of people here who are willing to guide you to whatever you're interested in," he said. The financial aid he received was also a major factor in his decision to apply to transfer to Brown.
Rodriguez is applying for jobs and fellowships to begin when moves back to California after graduating in May. "I am really satisfied with my experience here. Academically, I've been challenged," the international relations concentrator said. "Socially, I've been able to interact with people from all walks of life. I've learned so much from my classmates that I don't think I would have gotten elsewhere."
