Thinking about transferring? Surprisingly, the thought of transferring schools is more common than you would think. When I told people at my old university that I was transferring, many of them had either applied to transfer or had seriously considered it before. Transferring can be tricky and scary. A big reason why it was tricky for me was the lack of resources. When applying to college, you have an abundance of resources. With transferring, there are fewer resources for you to lean on! Hopefully, these tips and tricks from a transfer student will help with your struggles.If I could go back and do something different in the transferring process, it would be to directly admit to my new school. While I knew this was an option, I thought that if I didn’t get accepted into my specific school, I wouldn’t have been accepted into the university as a whole. I would highly recommend looking into this option when applying. Another thing that I wish I would have done was spoken to an advisor at the university I wanted to transfer to. This would have completely cleared up my admissions issue. It might be difficult to talk to an academic advisor because you might not be living in that city; however, most advisors offer phone meetings! Advisors are your best resource during the application process and answering all the “what if” questions once you’re in this new college! For example, I had no idea that my GPA would start from scratch.
My transfer process took awhile before I found out if I was accepted into my current university. The biggest issue was housing. At UW- Madison, most students sign leases in the early fall. Finding an apartment in late April was difficult. I toured ten places before I was even accepted into the university. This was a difficult process because it involved spending nearly a week in Madison just touring apartments. But, it ended up being perfect because then I could sign a lease right after I got accepted into the UW. However, a great option for transfers is living in dorms. While I chose not to do this option, it is a great chance to meet many new people at your new university and they typically have more openings than apartments do. I know that Madison has a whole dorm for transfer students.
For me, I had to wait about three months before I found out if I was admitted to my new school or not. This was hard on me emotionally. I am someone who loves planning and not knowing what university I would be attending in the fall was hard to deal with. Something that helped me with this was talking to my friends and family about it. I was so lucky to have people at my old university who would listen to my worries all the time and were so supportive of me and my decision. It was great to not have to keep my worries to myself.
Transferring college is a huge decision and lengthy process. I found it to be a stressful time waiting to hear back from colleges while also keeping up with school work at my current institution. With these tips and tricks from a transfer student, I hope your process can benefit from this advice!