Feeling like a freshman again

So, I have this edited book called "The First Year and Beyond: Rethinking the Challenge of Collegiate Transition." It is edited by Betsy Barefoot, a very well-respected researcher and educator in student affairs. In it, there is an article called "Feeling Like a Freshman Again: The Transfer Student Transition" by Barbara Townsend.

In it, Townsend notes that "the dominant theme that emerged from the studies described in this chapter was that transfer students, whether they transferred from a community college or four-year school, 'feel like a freshman again' in their lack of knowledge about how their new school works. Yet, transfer students were explicit about not being first-year students and did not want to be treated like them."

In my experience working with transfer students, I find this to be the case here at Maryland. I am always perplexed though. Transfer students NEED to know the information that we provide them at orientation. This includes, where to park, how to get to campus, where to live, how to eat, how to get involved, how to make friends. BUT, when we talk with transfers about this information, they seem extremely bored and disinterested. Over the past few years, we have tinkered with how much information we provide for transfers during orientation and when we have a lot of information, transfers say it's too much. When we have less information, they say it's too little. We present the information in a way that is mature and interesting and not through lots of game or icebreakers like we might for a freshmen group.

I think this year, we have a nice balance of information for our transfers. But I would like to know:

What do you think about this quote? And if you need to know the information, how do you want to receive the information? We want you to have fun, meet people, and feel like a part of the university, so how do we do it most effectively?