A lot of the independence brought about by attending college is not about the literal independence — the moving out of your parents’ home, living on your own, free to make your own decisions for the first time. That’s the surface level independence. But the really exciting independence is the independence of choice. In your childhood and adolescence, you go to the school that is closest to your house, you work at the pizza place that’s in biking distance, and you hang out with the people in your age group that live in your neighborhood.
Once you graduate high school, you grab the reins guiding your life. For the first time, you get to choose where you live and where you go to school. You also get to choose what to study, no longer being forced to take whatever is on the curriculum that semester. It’s all very exciting, and very freeing. But despite how good it feels, this independence of choice is often granted to you too early. Just because you have the right to choose doesn’t mean you will make the right choice.
After spending a month, a semester, or a couple years at what you thought was your dream college, you may find yourself in a nightmare. That’s why transferring colleges is such a common and popular choice among college students. It comes packed with risk, but it is also the only move that makes sense if you find yourself unable to go forward at your current school. Whether you hope to transfer to Cal Poly Pomona or PSU Online, these 5 tips will help you make your transfer as smooth as can be.
1. Talk to Your Current School
Your current college doesn’t want you to transfer, obviously. It looks bad for them, and they want your continued tuition payments. But they aren’t soulless. Their counseling department will happily help you with your transfer.
2. Talk to Your Future School?
Unlike your current college, your future school very much wants you to transfer there. They will have a structure in place to assist your transfer, so take advantage of it.
3. Consider All Options?
Chances are now that you have some college credits and experience on your resume, you will qualify for more colleges than you did the first time around. So don’t run a limited search. Invest plenty of time into your search for your new college, or you may end up transferring again before long.
4. Make Sure Your Credits Transfer?
Before committing to go to any school, make sure your one hundred percent of your credits will transfer. Ultimately, keeping all of the credits you earned is just as important as picking a school you will like.
5. Assess Your Needs?
Concretely figure out what it is you don’t like about your current
school, and what you want out of a new school. If you don’t know exactly what you are looking for, you may end up at a college all too similar to the one you decided to leave.