Transfer students have to adapt to a new campus environment concurrently with transitioning into upper-division coursework, while native students face this academic leap after two years at the same institution. This may lead to gaps in confidence and academic performance between transfer students and their native peers.

This study investigates differences in self-confidence between native and transfer computer science (CS) students at a public R1 university in North America. Using survey data from 152 upper-division CS students, we examine how students perceive their confidence over time, relative to their peers, and in connection with academic performance. Our results show that native students report a significant increase in confidence in their fourth year, whereas transfer students report the opposite effect. Specifically, transfer students report more positive early experiences and a sharper decline in confidence than native students, and both native and transfer students perceive native students as more confident, with native students reinforcing this perception through stronger self-assessments.

These findings highlight the complex role of confidence in academic success, and the disparities we observe may reflect systemic challenges in the transfer process, such as insufficient integration or social belonging. We advocate for more targeted institutional support that addresses not only academic preparation, but also psychosocial dimensions of the transfer student experience.