I first started my college journey at a University of Dubuque in Iowa. After spending no more than one semester there, I realized I needed to be closer to home. That decision eventually led me to Illinois State University (ISU), which is only about 30 minutes from my hometown. During my sophomore year at ISU, I lived at Cardinal Court with three other transfer students. Although transferring seemed like the right decision for me, that does not mean the process was easy. Between losing scholarships, dealing with credits that did not transfer the way I expected, leaving friends behind, and trying to find my place at a new school, I quickly learned that transferring colleges comes with challenges people do not always talk about.
Disclaimer
Before getting into my experience, I want to clarify that this article is based on my personal experience transferring from University of Dubuque to Illinois State University. Everyone’s experience is different, and I am not trying to discourage anyone from transferring schools. My goal is to share the things I experienced, including the good, the bad, and the unexpected, so other students can have a better understanding of what transferring might look like for them.
Why I Decided to Leave
The main reason I decided to transfer was my sisters. After missing my baby sister’s birthday and watching my other sister make homecoming court from a distance, I realized that I wanted to be closer to home to watch them grow up. I did not want to miss out on the little moments that I would never get back. Since returning home, I have helped with quinceañeras, helped pick out several prom dresses, and am now supporting my sister through her senior year of high school. Looking back, I know that transferring was the right decision for me. However, making that decision was not as simple as deciding where I wanted to go to school. There were financial concerns, worries about my academic progress, and the thought of leaving behind people who had become important to me.Â
Schools Hate to See You Go
One of the first major challenges I faced during my transfer experience happened before I even left Iowa. My first academic advisor told me that I would be wasting all of my scholarship money if I transferred. He also explained that transferring could put me behind academically. I want to make it clear that I do not believe he was trying to hurt me or make the process more difficult. I think he was trying to give me reasons to stay at the university. However, his words made me second-guess my decision and question whether leaving was worth the risk. When you are already unsure about making a major life change, hearing that you could lose money and fall behind can make the decision even harder. For a while, I wondered whether I was making a mistake by leaving a school where I was already comfortable. In the end, I still decided to transfer. Before I left, my advisor and I had a conversation, and he wished me well. Although the experience was not necessarily negative, it taught me that transferring requires students to think carefully about their own needs and goals, even when other people have different opinions about what they should do.
Leaving Friends Behind
One of the hardest parts of transferring was leaving my friends behind. The people I met during my first semester in Iowa were the ones who helped me get through the experience of being away from home for the first time. They became an important part of my college experience, and leaving them was much harder than I expected. Since transferring, I have only seen them once. It is strange to think about how close you can become to people in such a short amount of time and then suddenly find yourself living completely different lives. College is a time when everyone is growing, changing, and figuring out what they want their future to look like. Sometimes, that means friendships change even when nobody necessarily wants them to. Moving away made me realize that staying connected takes effort, especially when you are no longer sharing the same campus, classes, and everyday experiences. I do not regret transferring, but I do miss those friendships. Those people were a major part of my first semester, and I will always appreciate the role they played in helping me adjust to college life.
What They Don’t Tell YouÂ
If there is one thing I wish I had understood better before transferring, it would be how my credits and financial aid would be affected. Because of the cost of attending my private university in Iowa, I ended up losing all of my scholarship money when I transferred. On top of that, most of my credits transferred to ISU as elective credits instead of counting toward the requirements I needed for my degree. I also had to take additional gen ed classes, even though I had already completed a semester’s worth at my previous school. I was worried that I would fall behind and have to spend extra time in college because of the transfer. Losing my scholarships also made the financial side of the decision more difficult. Thankfully, things eventually worked out. I am now on track to graduate a year early, which is something I was not expecting when I first transferred. My biggest piece of advice for students considering transferring is to look closely at how their credits will apply to their new degree, rather than simply asking how many credits the school will accept. It is also important to ask how transferring could affect scholarships and financial aid. These conversations can help students make a more informed decision before committing to a new school.
Finding My Place at ISU
During my time at ISU, I also lived at Cardinal Court with three other transfer students. Looking back, I think all four of us needed time to adjust to life at ISU because the atmosphere was so different from what we had experienced at our previous schools. Being surrounded by other transfer students helped remind me that I was not the only person trying to figure everything out. Even though we all had our own experiences, we shared the challenge of adjusting to a new university and finding our place within it. Transferring can sometimes make you feel like everyone else already knows what they are doing while you are still trying to catch up. Other students may already have their friend groups, favorite places on campus, and established routines. As a transfer student, you have to find your own way into that environment. For me, getting involved in organizations, working, and meeting people gradually helped make ISU feel less unfamiliar. I started to build a life there instead of constantly comparing it to the school I had left behind. I think one of the most important things I learned was that adjusting to a new school does not mean you have to forget your old one. I could appreciate the friendships and experiences I had in Iowa while still allowing myself to create new memories at ISU.