Transferring Colleges...

Mertzy

So I've been in a teeter-tottering deliberation since college started this September, and I've come to realize I want to transfer, but I just can't make up my mind.

I made a rather brash decision to start out at a private college, and it's registration time for spring courses. The tuition here is roughly 900$ per credit, and frankly I'm not at all convinced the quality of the courses offered here for generals is better than a community college I've been looking at, which is $150 per credit.

I started out with a major in mind and dived right into a four-year plan. It's a liberal arts college, so I thought I'd be able to take part in a lot of interesting and worthwhile courses, but there are so much more introductory courses required for the higher-level courses (obviously) than I had cared to notice before entering. I feel like it was a mistake to come here and I'm wasting my parents money. I can't stop wondering if it's really worth the tuition to be taking such "simple" courses for so much money.

My major isn't as clear-cut as I thought it was, but that's not a surprize to me since "everyone goes through it." Right now I more or less want to take a variety of courses to give me a better idea of what I may have ignored or overlooked in high-school, and the cost per credit at the private college kills me when I even consider doing it there.

How bad is it really to transfer? I wish I could just not think so much and get it over with, complete my generals, and move on to a state college after finishing generals at a community college, but I can't shake the feeling like it would be sort of "career suicide." I still have this feeling like I might still end up with my current major, but I can't lollygag around with the tuition here.

I'm only a freshman and thinking too far ahead, but what kind of credentials should I worry about creating by leaving a private college after only a semester? I just don't want to make another quick decision and have to lament about it later.

I also realize I'm worrying a lot about money, which everyone tells me not to. Comments on that?

CptKemzik

As a freshman who is also going to a private university (a rather small one at that), and thinking of transferring for sophomore year I can relate.

Private colleges (especially ones with a religious affiliation) usually have a strict core-cirriculum that you spend taking your entire freshman year. Unless you have a very specialized major, you don't start your major (or if you do its one or two classes) till sophomore year at a private university. It's also similar with any univeristy that has some core required classes for freshman students.

Honestly if you just want to get general classes done elsewhere, and get your feet wet with various subjects to see what you want to major in, finishing the semester in good standing grade wise should be fine enough if you want to spend the spring semester at a community college before transferring to a state school etc. Really since its only your freshman year you don't have to worry about "career suicide" unless you want to be in a program that is prevalent during your whole college career.

However sticking out a full year at the place may look better (maybe not, someone who's gone through the process is probably more qualified to talk about this) transcript-wise. I would recommend this route unless you're very tight financial wise.

Edit- When people tell you to "not worry about the money" it's usually when that is the sole factor you are looking to leave the school. They're simply suggesting to stay there for more than a semseter to see if you really end up liking it, rather than just quitting it because of a pricey yet lame first semester.

SniperGuy

I transferred to a new college for the semester I am currently at. It was One of the best decisions I have ever made. I was thinking alot of the same stuff that you did, especially money. I transferred to a college that now gives me instate tuition and it's loads better.

And I kept all my credits, so it's not like you're losing out on a ton of stuff. Don't worry about that.

Taximes

On the money:

Really, only you can decide what's best financially. How much are your loans, and will you be able to pay them off steadily? If you were going to be a doctor or engineer, you probably shouldn't let the money worry you. If you're not going to be making much money though, the money is probably an unfortunate reality you should consider.

On the process:

I'm in the process of transferring right now, and there's no doubt it's a pain in the ass. The schools I'm transferring are within an hour of each other and people transfer between them all the time, but it's still difficult. For the past two months, I've been driving to the other school once or twice a week to meet with people and take care of things. I'm changing majors along with schools, so I have to make sure I'm taking the right classes, that I'm on track to graduate, I wanted to see if I could get any scholarships, etc, etc.

That's not to say it's impossible or not worth it, though. It's definitely worth it for me, and I'm excited to start at the new college next semester. (So much so that I'm giving up a full tuition scholarship at one to go to the other )

Just make sure you know what's going on throughout the whole process. You're really taking your chances the more you count on the school to handle everything for you.

I've had people not return my calls, two (or three) people tell me completely contradicting things multiple times, and of course it wouldn't be any fun unless you get transferred around to different offices for twenty minutes. Hopefully you'll find a few people that are really good at helping students, and they can be invaluable (for me that's the Honors College Dean).

So, yeah: Make sure you cover all your bases and take care of everything yourself, and you can hope you run into someone really helpful.

DeathPrawn

First of all, your classes first semester of your freshman year are generally going to be easy. Unless you are indeed at a school at an academic level far beyond you, the difficulty will ramp up naturally.

That being said, you need to think about the underlying philosophy of the concept of a liberal arts school. You are SUPPOSED to be shopping around and trying new subjects and "lolygagging", so that you can get a well-rounded education - it's built into the system. If anything, a liberal arts school should be much more conducive to this than community college / state school. Rather than train you for a specific career and give you tons of specialized factual information, the idea is to teach you how to learn and how to think critically. Going to community college and then a large state school is more going through the motions and cramming the info into your head to get the degree, whereas a liberal arts school is more about the process. One isn't inherently better than the other (although I am clearly biased towards the liberal arts ideal), it's a matter of what you want to get out of college. Also to keep in mind is that your social life is an equally important part of the "college experience" - going to a community college is a completely different world outside of the classroom.

With regards to transferring: It should be less work than applying to colleges the first time, since you now know exactly what you want and probably aren't applying to as many schools, but there will be new pitfalls you will have to face. Keep in mind that many schools do not accept transfer students for the spring of their freshman year, but if you are planning on transferring to a community college I doubt it will be an issue. If you are looking for financial aid, however, your options will be much better if you want until the fall - admissions departments use up most of their allocated financial aid money at the start of the school year, not leaving as much for mid-year transfer students. Also, it's probably worth waiting until the end of the year just to make sure it's what you want - lots of Freshman start to think about transferring around this time of year. It's only natural, given the huge adjustment from high school. I know "everybody wants to transfer" doesn't do jack shit for you, but the point is that if you let things ride out to the end of the year there is a chance (not a certainty) that you may find yourself feeling differently.

tofu

I went to a public university my freshman year and decided to transfer back to my local community college for sophomore year. I decided I rushed into things by going to a four year school without having a clear idea of what I wanted to major in. My community college allowed me to really expand the topical breadth of classes which has helped me decide what I want to do; not to mention it's saved me a boat load of cash.