Baala Shakya, Staff Photographer

Prospective residential college transfers were notified about the results of their application via email in a Friday announcement. 53 out of 72 requests were approved.

According to Ferentz Lafargue — the associate dean of residential college life — transfer applications are reviewed by members of the Yale College Dean’s Office and Student Affairs Office and, occasionally, residential college staff. He wrote that there was no particular trend in which college received the most requests each application cycle, adding that it was not apparent what causes these shifts year to year. However, rising sophomores tend to make up the majority of transfer applications.

Students can reapply for a transfer request if their initial application is not accepted.

“The most common reason is a desire to live with friends in another college with whom they have formed a close connection,” Lafargue said. “Without fail this is the reason cited in over 90 percent of the applications every year.”

Lafargue explained that when evaluating students’ applications, the two primary criteria considered are how the transfer requests will impact the residential college dean’s advising load and the college’s ability to house upper-level students.

According to Lafargue, after Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray colleges opened in 2017, the number of overall applications increased significantly. This number has since declined, with 138 applicants in 2022 compared to 72 in 2025, while the acceptance rate jumped from roughly 38 percent to 74 percent in the same time span. 

“I’m really looking for mentorship, and also just a space [where] I know people are looking out for me,” said Andy Mejia ’28, who submitted a transfer application this cycle but was denied. “But also [a place where] when it comes to events or things related to your residential college that people take strong pride in that.”

Mejia emphasized the importance of community in his decision to transfer. He told the News that he had found it difficult to make connections with older students, despite looking forward to receiving “mentorship” from upper-level students.

However, Mejia emphasized that he had found strong connections within his own class year. He noted his primary motivation for transferring was not the environment at his current residential college but instead that he had found what he was looking for in a different college.

“I’m somebody that really likes to have upperclassmen friends and just feel like I’m part of a cohesive community,” said Mejia. “I like the space I inhabit to be really interconnected.”

Jerry Huang ’27 echoed these remarks. Huang said that he decided to transfer last year from Timothy Dwight College to Pierson College, wanting to live with a group of friends who he shared classes with.

He hoped that sharing a suite would allow them to collaborate on problem sets and other common assignments. However, Huang noted that now most of his closest friends all live in different colleges.

“I don’t think for me the resco was really like a barrier for my social life,” said Huang. “For me, I can always just bike to places.”

Benjamin Mousseau ’25 transferred from Saybrook College to Ezra Stiles College last year after receiving an offer to be a first-year counselor at the college. As a FroCo, Mousseau was not required to complete the standard transfer application process.

He noted that although he had assumed he would have “dual citizenship” between the colleges, his swipe access to Saybrook common spaces was initially revoked following the transfer.

However, after speaking with the assistant director of operations at Saybrook, he was able to receive swipe access again to some of the spaces. Mousseau noted that he had enjoyed finding a new community at Stiles as a senior.

“When I first joined Stiles, I was touched by some friends I knew who knew I knew were in Stiles. They reached out to me and were like, ‘Oh my gosh. You’re coming to Stiles that’s so exciting! Welcome to the herd,’” he said. “That was really sweet.”

Offering advice to current transfers and prospective FroCos, Mousseau emphasized remaining open to change and advised students not to dismiss the idea of becoming part of a new college community. 

Jonathan Edwards is the oldest residential college at Yale.