When sophomore Madysinn Crull transferred to Simpson College this fall, she found something the University of Iowa couldn’t give her: a tight-knit community.

“It was a really big school, there’s 24,000 students there and their undergraduate program for anything other than law, medicine, science, is just kind of by the wayside,” Crull said.

She also didn’t like the way the classes were taught by teachers assistants and were all lecture-based.

“The classes are great, you get more involved, you’re taught by an actual professor instead of a TA and it’s all discussion based, which was never a thing for 300 student classes,” Crull said.

Junior Jacob Korbakes, a transfer from the Defense Language Institute (California), likes how accommodating the professors at Simpson are.

“I’m very happy I go to Simpson, I have a good rapport with my professors and I feel like they’re very understanding about the small things that come up,” Korbakes said.

For example, when Korbakes’ basement flooded last semester, his professors were very understanding.

“I missed one or two assignments and I told my professors about it and they were very accommodating and gave me extra time to turn them in,” he said.

Junior Noel Rix, who transferred from Marshalltown Community College, said she likes the smallness of campus.

“I took a tour here, it would have been last spring, and I just fell in love with the campus. Everyone was so welcoming and I just like how small it is and I like having one-on-ones with professors and I get a good education when it’s a smaller campus,” Rix said.

Rix said she joined PRIDE and Roteract Club and was welcomed by the students she met.

Crull likes that everyone at Simpson knows each other, which didn’t happen at U of I.

“The small school atmosphere is amazing, everybody knows each other, you pass people on the sidewalks and they’ll nod at you or they’ll say hey and that didn’t happen at Iowa,” Crull said.

Crull also explained that there was no negative stigma about being a transfer student when she arrived.

“They find out I’m a transfer student and they’re like ‘oh that’s cool, I hope you like Simpson better’ and it’s a done deal. And it hasn’t been difficult because now I don’t even feel like a transfer student, so that’s a plus,” Crull said.

Rix said she doesn’t regret going to MCC her first two years, but she is disappointed she won’t be attending Simpson for her entire college experience.

“It’s sad that I only have one more year here,” Rix said.