Transferring colleges–what to keep in mind to maximize transfer credits

Many students may choose to apply to transfer after freshman or sophomore year for a variety of reasons–from how a school fits them, to wanting a major not offered at their current school, to ‘needing’ to be at a higher ranked university.  If you are considering transferring in any way, make sure to keep some things in mind.

Entering college as a teenager, students are often unprepared for what to expect. In particular, international students may not be fully prepared for college life and the school they attend as a freshman just may not be ‘right’ for them.  We have talked to students who have all had a variety of reasons for considering transferring:  their home school (this article will refer the their current college as their home school) may not have been their first choice (in fact, maybe it was their only choice), the home school may not offer their preferred major, the student may have misunderstood what the general education requirements are for graduation, or the home school may not be prestigious enough. These are just a few of the reasons why we see students coming to us to talk about their transfer application.  If a student is thinking about transferring, there are a number of things to keep in mind to make their transition (and likelihood of application success) smoother.

Transfer Credit

Make certain to keep this in mind when transferring: Not all courses taken at the home school will automatically be accepted for transfer at the destination school (the school the student hopes to transfer to).  The fewer credits that transfer from a home school to a destination school, the more additional classes a student will need to take at the destination school in order to graduate on time. Transferring may defer a graduation date and it is imperative that students understand this.  The top tier schools generally prioritize sophomore transfers and in fact, many will only accept sophomores for transfer given they want the majority of the students to be educated at their institution.

References

In applying to transfer, the student will need letters of recommendation and it is ideal to have these recommendation letters be from faculty at their current home school. High school recommenders at this point become significantly less useful because they cannot speak to the student’s ability to perform at the college level, and in fact, submitting letters from high school teachers and not from college faculty will be a bit concerning to admissions.  Thus, in every semester, students should ensure they have one or two smaller classes where the faculty member will know them by name. Of course, in the classes students should be proactive and engaged in class discussion but also, show initiative in attending office hours so that their faculty can write about them knowledgeably.

Coursework

Schools will vary in who decides what courses can be transferred to a new (destination) institution–in some cases it is admissions but in some of the more elite universities, specific departments will decide what credits will be issued for courses taken at other institutions.  For example, at Dartmouth College (one of the Ivies), students did not know what courses would be given transfer credit until after they had arrived on campus and met with various department Chairs to present their former course materials.

With this in mind, it is best to take more ‘general’ courses at the home school because they will be more likely to transfer — every college will offer Microeconomics and given it is a lower level course, there’s significantly less chance it would not be accepted for transfer credit.  However, an obscure course such as “Animation though the early 80s” would likely not easily be issued credit given how narrow the topic is and the unlikelihood that the destination school offers a similar course.  Similarly, higher level major courses may be less likely to transfer to a destination school since some major departments prefer students to take their upper level courses to train in the way they want to train students.

Record Keeping

If a student is interested in potentially transferring, it is important to be well organized at the home school. Students should keep a copy of their syllabi for every course taken at the home school, and also keep copies of the work they submitted for each course.  A destination school, in evaluating a course for transfer credit, may ask to see such materials and by staying ahead and keeping well organized while the student is taking each course at the home school, there will not be a frantic search for these items post-transfer.

Summary

While the admission rate may seem lower for transfer students than freshman students at many of the top tier schools, the percentages do remain low.  Being well prepared for the transfer application process means being organized, doing well in the home institution courses, and fully succeeding at the home institution to demonstrate an ability to handle and manage university life.  With a demonstrated record of success at the college level in all aspects of university life — from academics to extracurricular activities to co-curricular activities — and faculty who can attest to the student’s intellectual capacity, students will be more likely to prepare an application that ‘catches the eye’ of the transfer admissions officer.