Transferring Colleges

There are so many situations in college life that may prompt students to think about changing colleges. Homesickness, the environment at your current college, dis-satisfaction with the staff, and career planning are a few of them.

College Transfer Process

Anyone who has arrived at the decision of transferring colleges, for whatever reasons, must first make a list of colleges to apply to, if he or she hasn't selected one already. You may benefit from having a talk with a career and guidance counselor who deals with many students needing a transfer on a regular basis. His guidance may prove very important for you in how to choose a college or deciding on a major in college that you want to pursue in future. He may also guide you on how to transfer your accumulated credits effectively to your future college. The following are some issues that must be considered while changing colleges:

• While selecting the college, it is important to know, whether it acknowledges accreditation of your current college or not.
• Find out whether the college you are interested in, has a transfer agreement with your current college. Such agreements ensure transfer of certain courses, some include transfer of entire associate degrees and enables you to start as a junior.
• Send for the school catalog and course book of the college you intend to transfer to. Go through it and find out the requirements for the major and what criteria must be fulfilled for you to get accepted.
• Find out what courses from your present college transfer. It is also important to know what they transfer as.
• Know which of the credits you have gained at your present college are transferable to the college you are interested in. If it is needed, visit the admission officer armed with the tests records, notebooks and research papers to negotiate with him.
• Try your best to get the credits transferred for subjects, in which you have scored 'B' or better grades.
• Know about the programs that you are interested in and those that have high job placement rate.
• Find out the cost of education at the potential transfer college. Total the cost of credit hours, standard fees, parking and additional expenses to arrive at a figure.
• Get to know from the authorities about the policies and deadlines such as for application and financial aid such as grants for college students and scholarships.
• Before you apply for a transfer, it is important to have right degree with sufficiently high grades. A student close to finishing his AA degree should do so, because the potential transfer college may decide to waive a few educational requirements for him.

There are still more factors that must be considered before one opts for transferring colleges. As it happens, a large percentage (25%-30%) of students decide to transfer during their education. Some of these have genuine reasons such as access to career education so as to open career opportunities for them. There is no guarantee that the transfer will work for you. If there are some issues with the culture at the present college, solve them instead. Partying every-day-of the-week type culture or too strict an educational environment may affect one's efficiency. Making friends with students who really share your tastes may work as a solution for you. Transferring is indeed an unsettling experience, as it disrupts your social life. It may also add to the educational cost, if you have to retake some course because of the credits denied to you.