Transferring to Another College

College is filled with tough decisions. Unfortunately, those tough decisions aren’t reserved for when you first start college. Every semester you’re going to have to decide which classes you want to take and then see if they’re only offered at certain times. There’s going to be times that you want to drop a class or switch to the same class with a different professor or different time offering. These are all tough decisions, but then it gets worse. Should you have a part or full time job while in college? Should you change majors? And then the hardest of them all – should you transfer to another college?

There could be any number of reasons why you would consider transferring to another college. Maybe you want to be closer to home and are having a tougher time than you thought being so far away from your family. Maybe the motivator of your decision is financial – maybe you went to an out of state or private college and want to switch to a college that is in state and cheaper, resulting in you having less student loans when you graduate. Whatever the reason for you considering a transfer to another college, one thing is for certain – it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

This isn’t the same as dropping a class or even changing majors. This is a decision that needs to be thought about for a long time. And by a long time, I don’t mean a day or a week. Think about it for longer than that – a month or longer, even. Finish out the semester at this college if you have to. In fact, it is recommended because you’ll be getting two birds with one stone – you’ll be getting credit for those classes and you’ll be getting some extra time to evaluate your decision. Don’t rush into your decision. Talk with your family about it and even your friends. Make sure you’re changing colleges for the right reason. Evaluate how the program you’re in is at the other college. Other than making a lot of decisions and evaluating your options, you’re going to have to go through a lot to drop out of your current college, transfer credits, and enroll at the new college. Make sure you know exactly what you need to do. Making a checklist is helpful in this situation. Make a checklist for your current college and the one you’re going to enroll in and maybe even create a folder or binder with your checklists and all the information you need for your college. Make sure you pay attention to deadlines. The new college will have a deadline for when you can transfer and enroll and you may have to do a lot of legwork with transferring your credits. It’s going to be a lot of work. A lot of stressful work. However, if you have come to the decision that it is the right path for you, it will be worth it in the end. Just don’t make a sudden decision and don’t do it for a simple, small reason (for example, you don’t like the dorms you’re living in). Arrange a campus visit at the new college if you can. You want to make sure that this is the right decision, and you may change your mind after you step on campus and talk to professors and other college personnel. Whatever you do, take the time to think about your options and make sure you are doing the right thing.