If you are considering transferring to a different school, you should consider that how much you will likely get out of the experience is partially determined by the kind of school you transferred from.
As previously reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education, the National Survey of Student Engagement compared data from students who had made “vertical” transfers, from community colleges to four-year institutions, and students who had made “horizontal” transfers, between two four-year colleges. The study found that horizontal transfer students were more likely to take advantage of a school’s resources – particularly “high impact” activities such as study abroad, internships, research with faculty, or a capstone, senior seminar class.
Perhaps because they are more familiar with the four-year environment, almost double the percentage of horizontal transfer students participated in study abroad compared to vertical transfer students. However, both groups lagged behind the “native” students who spent all four years at the same school. While 15% of horizontal transfer students participated in study abroad, 20% of native students did so. Statistics for participation in all kinds of college activities showed similar discrepancies between transfer and native students.