Pledge week, dorm picnics, a carnival at the union - the first weeks of college at UW-Madison are jam-packed with activities for new students.

That is, if you're a freshman.

But transfer students - who arrive at the university each fall by the hundreds - say their reception traditionally has been a little cold.

"I didn't feel anything super welcoming," said Jenny Sunday, who transferred to UW-Madison from the University of New England in Maine last year. "It's not that they didn't want us to be here. I just didn't feel like they had anything special for transfer students."

But the school is trying to change that. For the first time this fall, UW-Madison organized a convocation, or welcome event, just for transfer students.

There is also a new student group for transfers and a seminar where they can explore their transition to UW-Madison.

Adrianna Guram, who helps lead that seminar, admitted the university has not offered enough programs targeted to the specific needs of transfer students.

"The content for transfer students was not there," said Guram, who is a coordinator in the Center for the First-Year Experience.

Like traditional freshman, transfer students face the unfamiliarity of a new campus, new city and new classmates.

But unlike them, they have likely already lived away from home and may not have the same wide-eyed excitement of newfound freedom.

"They maybe have a little understanding of what college is, but they may not understand what college is here," Guram said.

A big challenge for transfer students can be finding a social circle. Although UW-Madison offers housing for transfer students in Tripp Hall, many live off campus, making it more difficult to find a niche, Guram said.

In order to fill the gap, Sunday and a few other transfer students created The Student Transfer Association and Mentor Program (STAMP) last year. The group offers social activities such as trips to the farmer's market or volunteering at Vilas Zoo.

"New freshman have a lot of opportunities to get to know campus," said Teddy Schober, who transferred from Franklin College in Switzerland last year. "Transfers didn't have that."

Almost 1,400 transfer students started at UW-Madison this fall.

Some come through transfer programs such as the Connections program, which allows students to start at any of the two-year UW Colleges or three Wisconsin Technical Colleges and complete their degrees at UW-Madison.

Others may have started college somewhere else and decided to make a change.

Jessica Sznaider, 20, came to UW-Madison this year after spending one year at UW-River Falls and another year studying abroad. She's living in an efficiency off campus.

Sznaider said she attended activities for new students, such as sorority recruitment and an event called First Night at the Overture.

"I've been a little disappointed," she said, adding that the events felt like they were "things for freshman."

But she said she was heartened to attend the convocation for transfer students.

At the event, Dean of Students Lori Berquam assured the transfer students they would soon feel at home.

"You're going to have the same sense of pride saying you're a graduate of UW," she said. "You'll have to squeeze a little more into your time here, but you'll have that same sense of pride."

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