From Reddit Insights to Discord Support: Analyzing Computing Transfer Student Challenges and Peer Influence in Support Networks.

Authors: Donnoban Maldonado, Shebuti Rayana

SUNY Campus: SUNY Old Westbury

Presentation Type: Poster

Location: Old Union Hall

Presentation #: 39

Timeslot: Session B 10:15-11:15 AM

Abstract: Community colleges provide a crucial pathway to higher education, particularly for underrepresented computing students. However, transfer students often face barriers at four-year universities, from credit transfer issues to academic and advising challenges. This study examines these obstacles through survey analysis and social media data mining. A survey of 161 computing transfer students identified financial aid, career opportunities, and family influence as key transfer factors, while post-transfer challenges included credit transfer difficulties, demanding coursework, and limited advising access. To address self-selection bias, 20,000 Reddit posts from 628 academic subreddits were analyzed using sentiment analysis and topic modeling. Findings revealed that students frequently seek guidance on research opportunities, career paths, switching majors, health insurance, mental health, and online communities like Discord. Negative sentiment posts highlighted bureaucratic barriers, rigid requirements, and ambiguous deadlines. Notably, Discord has become a key peer support platform. Building on these insights, this study proposes a Discord-based support system that will function as both a peer network and a data collection tool. A Discord bot will be deployed in university-specific servers to capture institution-specific challenges and analyze peer influence. The findings will inform the development of an AI-driven advising system to improve the transfer student experience and help the transfer advisors. A pilot deployment at SUNY Old Westbury is currently under review.