Transferring schools can be a big change but you can handle it
Nov 26 '07
The Bottom Line Transferring schools can be a little scary, but great too. Make sure you keep syllabi, try to stay with semesters or quarters exclusively, and find a school that fits you.
Before I got my BA in psychology I had changed my major several times and I had been to six colleges, four of them were four year universities.
The reason why I transferred schools was because of moving around. I started my journey at a four year college in Southern California. Then I moved up to Northern California. Fortunately both of the schools I went to were in the Cal State system and all my classes transferred. If you can, make sure to transfer to schools in the same system. While it won't guarantee your classes will transfer without problems it will give you a better a chance and will make it more likely that the transfer goes more smoothly. Usually advising offices have easier access to class transfer information from other.
I then moved back to Southern California, got my AA at a 2 year college, then went to a four year again in Southern California for 1 quarter before transferring to a school in Kansas City, Missouri. I absolutely recommend staying with a school that uses the same semester system. My quarter credits were for 4 credit hours each. When they transferred in they were only worth 2.66 credits at the four year university. Where requirements for graduation needed 3 credits that class was totally worthless, I'd still need to take another class to get my full credit at the new university.
One thing you will always want to do is SAVE YOUR SYLLABI from every class. When I moved to Kansas City the advisers didn't have any books to help them figure out if you my classes already taken were equivalent to classes they offered and required. They needed to see my syllabus from each class to make that determination. If I had lost those or simply thrown them out after each class I would have been screwed. Syllabi are essential for making sure you receive as much transfer credit as possible.
If you're transferring from out of state see if your new school has any grant programs for out of state residents (because that first year of establishing residency can kill you on tuition rates).
And, whenever you go to a new school, you will have the joy of learning the ins and outs of a new institution. I ended up liking the school I graduated from the best. I did have to fight with counseling a little to get all my credits for previously taken classes, but the university environment suited me well.
While there are lots of reasons to transfer, relocation, unhappy with previous school, change of major and moving to a school that offers that program, or even just moving from a two year up to a four year, make sure you are prepared and have done a little bit of research before you make the move. And good luck!
This is an entry in sleeper54's Lean-n-mean VI write-off at 471 words, and kamel622's EpiWriMo write-off.
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Member: Karyn
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