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Transferring Colleges
linksword
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm basically regretting my college situation.
Due to the way qualification for in-state tuition is considered, I ended up at a state university in a state I only resided in for one year, instead of my first choice in my home state. I thought beforehand I would like the school, due to my tour of the campus and recommendations from teachers the one year I spent out here, but I had no idea the reputation the school has for partying and drugs. I'm honestly just not into this sort of stuff, and what I really want out of my education is just that, an education.
So basically, I'm unhappy with where I'm at. I'm looking to transfer out. I've actually been considering just taking courses at a local community college and seeing where to go from there. Is it possible to transfer from a community college to a four year university out of state? Does anyone have any experience in transferring schools in general?
Due to the way qualification for in-state tuition is considered, I ended up at a state university in a state I only resided in for one year, instead of my first choice in my home state. I thought beforehand I would like the school, due to my tour of the campus and recommendations from teachers the one year I spent out here, but I had no idea the reputation the school has for partying and drugs. I'm honestly just not into this sort of stuff, and what I really want out of my education is just that, an education.
So basically, I'm unhappy with where I'm at. I'm looking to transfer out. I've actually been considering just taking courses at a local community college and seeing where to go from there. Is it possible to transfer from a community college to a four year university out of state? Does anyone have any experience in transferring schools in general?
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Have you spoken to your academic advisors yet? They're the ones who know how to go about this. The education system rules change in every state, so it's really hard to state that what works in one state will work in another.
The first step in the process is figuring out exactly what your Plan B is. If not here, where? What's your major? Would you change it? What do you want to do, and what do you see yourself doing in five years? These are decisions you need to make BEFORE you start thinking about a transfer. Any new college or institution is going to have different transfer application processes, so you need to decide where it is you're looking to apply.
If I were you and had my heart set on going anywhere that isn't your current school, the first thing I would do is withdraw for the coming term, if you're really positive. OR, another option is to get classes out of the way that you know will transfer easily while you wait. These are usually gen-ed courses with clear names, like Precalculus or Spanish I.. things that are very basic that you could take anywhere, and aren't part of your intended major.
That said, I would avoid transferring to a community college, instead making the leap to another four-year school as soon as possible. It doesn't sound like your major is in doubt here, so there's no reason to beat around that bush. Also, different institutions have different standards for the credits they'll accept, which is just another reason to decide where else you might want to go first.
In general, I'd suggest that if you plan to go to another 4-year university, the best thing would probably be to do it asap; plenty of people do go to community colleges as a stepping stone to a better school, but often it's either a) because without the courses at the community college they couldn't get into the level of school they can really handle, or b) to save money on the basic level courses that every student needs to take.
This is exactly what I did and now I'm halfway through with my masters. I went to UMD for journalism and halfway through the first class realized the dean was full of shit and that his journalism, which I would be learning for the next 4 years, was not the journalism I had in mind. So after one semester I transfered home (NJ) to CC (SP04). I worked full time and went there full time and took all of my basic core and explored some majors I never really considered before. I ended up finding the major I loved (econ, go figure) and in FA 05 I transfered to a private uni in Boston. I say if you're miserable transfer ASAP so you don't lose too much time. remember, you have to typically complete X amount of credit hours at the school your graduate from. Make sure you can do that before you start paying for classes you don't need.
I'm leaning towards going to community college for this semester to save a lot of money, and avoid going to a school I'm not overly excited about being at, and then transferring back home.
My only concerns are, the fact that I've already applied and been admitted to both schools as a high school student. I just didn't go because of my out of state status, which would have been waived had I scored a few points higher on my SAT. This scholarship only applies for incoming freshman though, and I'd be paying out of state tuition for a state I lived in for 16 years. I'm not sure if I'd have to apply again as a transfer student or reapply or what. And the school also requires at least 30 hours of credits to transfer, so I'm not sure if I have to wait until the end of next semester.
And yes, this is my first year of college, but it is already too late to do anything this semester.
You reapply again as a transfer student after you have the 30 hours of credit. If you qualified for a freshmen scholarship there might be a transfer scholarship you qualify for. Check out the schools finaid page and see if you can find a list of the school's scholarships. If you have to wait to have 30 credit hours to transfer you have a lot opportunity to excel at CC and transfer in with an impressive GPA that can get you more money.