Correction: In the print version of this story, The Daily incorrectly referred to Brown University in a section about East Coast colleges. The reference should have been to the University of Pennsylvania.

Fierce competition and few seats mean that just 25 transfer students were accepted to Stanford in 2008; an average of 30 make the cut each year, according to the Registrar’s office. Once transfer and new students get in, Stanford boasts a retention rate around 98 percent.

But what about the other two percent — those who choose to leave?

Koren Bakkegard, an associate dean in Undergraduate Advising and Research, is often the person to meet with those undergraduates who transfer from Stanford.

“The image I use when I talk to students is: it feels like we’re on one of those moving sidewalks at an airport with the railings, and once you’re on it, you’re on it, until you get off,” Bakkegard said. “That’s not at all the reality of the undergraduate experience.”

Not many students choose to transfer out; Bakkegard speaks with the majority of students who come to their academic advisers considering a transfer. During more than a year and a half as an associate dean, she said she has not spoken with more than a dozen freshmen per year about leaving.

Last year, she said, she spoke with fewer than 10 students interested in transferring. Of them, only three ultimately left for another university. Since then, one decided to re-enroll at Stanford.

But there is only anecdotal information about how many students seek to leave Stanford. Because there is not a required administrative process for students who leave, unless they choose to speak with their academic adviser, there is no way of keeping track, administrators said.

Then there’s the fact that leaving the Farm is not always permanent, as was the case with Bakkegard’s advisee.

Students can file for a leave of absence, which holds their spot at Stanford for two years in case they decide to come back, regardless of whether or not they enroll at another school.

Eighty-four students took leaves of absence this winter, as did 175 in fall quarter and 200 last fall, for reasons ranging from job opportunities to relatives’ illnesses.

While the percentage of students who choose to transfer is small, the question still remains as to their reasons why.

“A lot of it just has to do with feeling a sense of community or a match with the culture of the institution,” Bakkegard said. “Sometimes it’s about looking for a specific academic program and feeling that Stanford doesn’t have exactly the specialty area they’re looking for.”

For one student — who was granted anonymity because he felt the decision to transfer is a sensitive, personal matter — religion is the issue.

“There’s an irreligious attitude on campus, particularly in this unfamiliarity with Judaism,” he said. As a devout Jew, he has had trouble reconciling his strong religious beliefs with the lifestyle of his peers: many students go out on Friday nights, which are also the nights of the Sabbath.

“I don’t have that kind of social exposure I was hoping for,” he said. “I feel not embarrassed, but kind of afraid to openly wear the yarmulke or things like that as I walk around campus because I feel like people look at it funny.”

He is currently applying to several East Coast schools, including Yale, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia. He cites Columbia’s “unbelievably large, diverse and understanding Jewish communities” a reason for its appeal.

While Yale and Penn don’t necessarily solve the religion issue for him, their proximity to his East Coast home makes them both viable options.

“I felt closer to home in Israel last year than I did this year, so that’s kind of an interesting feeling,” he said. However, he is waiting until spring quarter before he makes a final decision.

“I am kind of an East Coaster at heart,” said another student who is considering a transfer, and was granted anonymity because of the personal nature of the decision. “There’s a very overwhelming sense of school spirit here that sort of transcends school spirit and ends up a kind of blind, feverish contentedness. It’s just a really — almost forced happiness, that because the sun is shining and we’re all wearing red, everyone has to be happy all the time. It just ends up kind of oppressive after a while.”

However, she remains on the fence about whether or not to stay.

“Maybe all of the things I just complained about are all in my head, and I’m just making myself miserable because I’m crazy,” she said. “And maybe I’ll see that and get really super stoked about being here at some point. But in the meantime, transferring is still an option.”

Kate Abbott contributed to this report.