Two recent transfer students describe what it’s like to transition into a class that has already formed.

Students transferring from another school face tough decisions, but make the choice for a variety of reasons.

Transferring students come to Malvern for a variety of reasons such as academics, sports, and “brotherhood” experience. Sophomore Drew Butera and freshman Ryan Durkan came for all three reasons.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“It was a lot different and a bit awkward not knowing anyone, but the kids were very nice and I felt welcomed. I met a lot of new people through the swim team and it didn’t take long until I felt that I had fit in.”

-Ryan Durkan ’21

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“The atmosphere here, teachers, and people just want to help you out more,” Butera said. “The brotherhood is always something that I wanted to be apart of, having a brother go here, and it’s just something that my parents thought I couldn’t miss.”

Butera came from Archbishop Carroll at the beginning of his sophomore year. His older brother Chris graduated from Malvern in 2015.

“My brother having such a great experience here really drew me to always wanting to come here, and last year. I wouldn’t say I had a bad experience at Carroll, but it didn’t feel right. I felt like it was a better fit for me here and I had always wanted to come here,” Butera said.

The decision for Butera to come to Malvern was not a rash decision. “It was a pretty long process, it took a lot of of long nights thinking about it. I had always wanted to come here, and my parents came to the conclusion that it was the right decision [and] that it would all work out,” he said.

His brother pushed for him to go and experience Malvern. “He always wanted me to go here, and would always tell me how great of a place it is, and how it’s the best place next to Disney World. It’s something that he wanted me [to be] a part of just as much as I did,” Butera said.

Another bonus of transferring was baseball and playing under his brother’s former coach, Fred Hilliard.

“Baseball here had a little bit of an impact. I always wanted to play under Coach Freddy and growing up I would go to all of my brother’s games and watch. I think everything together just felt right,” he said.

Butera did know a few students to help ease himself in at the beginning of the year. “I have a group of friends from where I live in Oaks, Collegeville and I have known them since we were kids. I went to school with them growing up,” he said.

Still, coming to Malvern late means that Butera missed out on some things.

“I missed freshman year, I missed a year of baseball, I missed some of the service trips that I won’t be able to do. I missed having some of the teachers that my brother always spoke highly [of].  I feel like I meshed well with a good group of guys and I feel like I’m fitting in, and as of right now, I have no complaints of my transfer,” he said.

Freshman Ryan Durkan had a different experience since he came to Malvern after Christmas break.

“It was a lot different and a bit awkward not knowing anyone, but the kids were very nice and I felt welcomed. I met a lot of new people through the swim team and it didn’t take long until I felt that I had fit in,” Durkan said.

Coming from Westtown School, Durkan wanted something different than his start at Westtown.

“My brother already attends Malvern and I also wanted to swim under the coach that taught me how to swim, Jay Schiller. Again, I wanted to be at a Catholic school and an all-boys school, which would make everyone more relatable,” Durkan said.

His brother, junior Patrick Durkan, transferred at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year from Westtown.

“It was hard leaving some of my good friends but I am confident that I will find many new friends. I am still in contact with almost all of my friends and I am still spending time with them,” Ryan Durkan said.

Durkan’s parents saw the experience Patrick was having and made their choice based off of that.

“We felt that he would have a much better experience, and especially after seeing Patrick´s experience coming back to Malvern, we wanted to have both of them together, so it was very easy decision for us to make,” Mr. Niall Durkan said.

Mrs. Jennifer Durkan said that Malvern would offer a more well-rounded high school education for Ryan.

“I think it was a good time to make the move in terms of his high school transcript would look and in terms of his high school athletics,” Mrs. Durkan said. “I think that anytime you move in the middle of the year it’s difficult and a little bit stressful, but I think to be four years at one school is a good thing.”

When applying to Malvern, transfer applicants have to go through a very similar process as everyone else.

“They have to complete all of the requirements, recommendations, transcripts, and for tenth and eleventh graders if they have taken the PSATs or SATs we would like to have those as well,” Director of Admissions Mr. Sean Kenney said. “Then, it really just depends on the numbers of space available in each of those grades.”

According to Malvern’s website, the school expects around six new students in the sophomore class and two new students in the junior class.

“On average, since I have been here, there have probably been 15 applications for tenth grade and about ten [applications] for eleventh grade. In any year it can be a little more or a little less,” Kenney said.

The process is a bit different for incoming seniors transferring. “Our policy has been for twelfth grade transfer students, they have to be relocating to the area, and they obviously have to meet all of our admissions criteria,” Kenney said. The website indicates that twelfth grade transfers must also be “exceptional” students.

There are a lot of factors going into the selection process, according to Kenney.

“We are looking at the whole picture. First and foremost, we want to make sure a student is going to be successful in the classroom. We also want them to do some good things outside the classroom, so all the extracurricular activities that they are involved with are just the icing on the cake. But it [also] has to be a good fit,” Kenney said.

Although Butera and Durkan are both athletes, neither student was recruited to play sports at Malvern. Athletic recruitment in the Inter-Ac is not allowed, according to Athletic Director Mr. Kurt Ruch.

“I cannot speak for other league schools, but there is nothing like that. It just comes down to whether a student is interested,” Ruch said. “Like I know right now there are kids looking at next year to transfer in. I have not gotten a list from admissions. They usually send it to me and say here are the kids looking at Malvern, and if those kids play sports, great.”

According to Ruch, students who transfer to Malvern from schools that are not part of the Inter-Ac league are eligible to play sports right away, while a student transferring to another Inter-Ac school would have to wait at least one year to play on a varsity team.

“You cannot be 19 before you enter your senior year to be eligible,” Ruch said. “If for whatever reason a kid was to transfer in, and he turns 19 before the beginning of senior year, he would not be eligible for league play.”

Although athletic recruitment is not a factor according to Ruch, every student who comes to Malvern is recruited to come from the perspective of the Admissions Office. Admissions focuses on the improvement of the community.

“I think that we are trying to continue to have a community here that is as strong as it is, and by adding students in tenth and eleventh grade, we are really doing our due diligence to make sure that those students fit into that community that we already built,” Kenney said.