Man, I love college. Or so says Asher Roth, whose single "I Love College" seems to have become something of an anthem for students across America. When you put it the way he does, who wouldn't love college? Drinking, dancing, partying, staying up until 3 a.m.-it all sounds like a blast. But if you actually go to college, you know full well that partying isn't what it's all about. Despite all the good times that some have in college, the truth is that many students don't love college, at least at first, and end up transferring to another institution. A report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling says that about a third of all college students do just that.

Upon first reading that figure, I thought it was shockingly high. But on second thought, I realized it wasn't that shocking at all. College is a time of great confusion for many. While one school may be appealing at first, anyone could easily discover that what they really need in a college is to be found elsewhere.

That figure became even less shocking when I thought about my own experience. My first semester at Brandeis was especially difficult, and I ended up applying to transfer.

I suppose what I really found surprising was not that so many students transfer but that so many students actually succeed in transferring when the process is so painstakingly difficult. Many schools put transfer students at the bottom of their list of priorities. During the application process, I was discouraged from even applying to some schools when they couldn't tell me about credits, financial aid or housing.

But if one-third of all college students do end up transferring, why does it seem like transfer applicants are at the bottom of the priority list? According to an April 27 Chronicle of Higher Education article, on average colleges enroll 64 percent of admitted transfer students but only 42 percent of admitted first-year students. With enrollment rates for transfer students as they are and with the economic crisis still in full swing, it seems like colleges, particularly colleges like Brandeis, should make the application process more transfer-friendly.

Many colleges that are suffering from the current financial crisis, including Brandeis, are looking to increase their acceptance rates to bring in more money. But perhaps instead of focusing on increasing the size of freshman classes, these colleges should make the transfer application process easier. Ultimately, more accepted transfer students will enroll than accepted freshmen will. By attracting more transfers, colleges will also be able to keep their freshmen admissions rates competitive, while still gaining the increase in enrollment that they need.

In addition to the financial incentives, transfer students may have a great deal more to bring to campus communities than do freshman applicants. Transfer students already have some college experience under their belts and will likely be more focused and directed than a freshman. If they decided to transfer, they know what they want in an institution and will be more likely to succeed when they get it. Furthermore, admissions teams can see exactly how well the student has already fared in college, which should be an accurate indicator of how well they will fare at a new institution-certainly a more accurate indicator than the SAT, which is one of the primary credentials for freshman applicants.

DePaul University has already seen the benefits of providing a transfer-friendly application process. Before even applying, prospective transfer students can submit their transcripts online and immediately see how their credits will transfer over as well as and how many more they will need to graduate. The admissions staff is also prepared to answer questions about financial aid and housing for transfers. Additionally, the admissions team at DePaul also publishes precise cutoffs for transfer admission, so students know exactly what GPA and exactly how many credits they need to get accepted. These kinds of guarantees usually aren't made available to transfer students until after they know if they got in, yet theirs are the sorts of things that colleges like Brandeis should be implementing in order to attract more transfer students. They should also be able to deliver a prompt decision so that students don't start their summers still wondering where they will end up.

It is unfortunate that transfer applicants have been placed so low on the list of priorities for some colleges. There are many benefits, both financial and academic, to bringing more transfers to campus, and perhaps if the application process were made a little easier, more of those benefits could be realized. Then maybe more students actually would love college.