Transferring schools has become a common thing to do in 2016. With the prices of Universities going up around the country, many students are opting to go to a Community College or Junior College first. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 37.2 percent of college students will transfer at least once before receiving their diploma. Since transferring happens so often, schools have made it easier to ensure that it can happen without much difficulty. However, if done wrong, you could waste a lot of money and credits by the time you arrive on your new campus. Here are some tips to ensure you transfer with success.
Transferring as a Community College Student
- Associate degree matter! Studies show that up to 82% of college students transferring with associate degrees go on to finishing their bachelor degrees. You will have completed a lot of your core classes with your associates and already have specific experiences in the classroom and workforce related to your major. Even if your road to getting a bachelor degree doesn’t work out, having an associate’s degree will help you find a lot more jobs.
- The sooner you know transferring to a 4 year university is your goal, the better. You want to meet with your academic advisor as soon as possible. This way they can help you figure out which classes you need and don’t need. You will waste a lot less time this way. If you already have the mindset of transferring, getting in the credits you need will only make the transferring process happen quicker.
- If you don’t know what major you want to commit to during your time in community college, that’s okay! You can use this time to explore interests you may have. Just make sure you nail the core classes down and meet the credit requirements to transfer. This means it’s even more important to meet with your academic advisor!
Transferring to a different 4 year University
- There is a high chance that all of your credits will not transfer to your new university. You want to check very carefully how much money you will be losing by transferring to a new school. It will help to know you are transferring sooner than later so you can plan ahead with classes to avoid that won’t transfer.
- Transferring to a different university makes a lot more sense if you are doing it for a specific major. More than half of college students change their major at least once and your current university might not have the major you want to switch into. If that’s the case, talk with your academic advisor to see which schools would offer exactly what you’re looking for.
- Reverse transfers happen and there is nothing wrong with it. Sometimes due to financial, locational, or other reasons, you have to transfer from a 4 year university to a CC. If this is the case, make sure you are still on pace to receive a degree and learn about which credits transfer. There are even some cases when you can reverse transfer and practically have enough credits to get your associate degrees right away. Like I mentioned above, associate degrees are better no degrees. A lot of careers specifically look for associate degrees.