Students should graduate from a college that they are happy to attend. There should be fond memories of the campus, classrooms and social life. Some decide that they can improve their morale by transferring. Others evaluate which school is right for them by looking into "U.S. News & World Reports" articles on top schools for their programs. Getting a degree from a top-notch program is the key to starting a career for many students. Students may find that they may need to transfer to a school that has a noteworthy program to help their careers.
According to Peterson's article "The College Transfer," most four year colleges will accept transfer students who have succeeded academically to that point. The average grade point average (GPA) and standardized test scores depend on the school. Highly selective schools expect students to have at least a 3.5 GPA and above a 27 on the ACT. Many private schools accept students that have GPAs above a 3.0 and have scored at least a 24 on the ACT. State schools and community colleges are significantly flexible with their admissions requirements.
Students need to make sure that they send the admissions department copies of all of their transcripts early. Students who transfer sometimes have already transferred from other schools. They need to contact the office of academic records at their prior schools well before the admissions deadline by faxing or mailing a transcript request form. Transcript requests typically cannot be made electronically. Some schools can take several weeks to process a transcript request. When students know they want to transfer, they should begin the transcript request process as early as possible. Many schools ask for students to send a written letter with a social security number and address to release the transcript. Although some will fax the transcript to the other school, others only send them via mail. Many schools also charge from $5 to $15 to send transcripts as of 2010.
The problem that many transfer students have is that they lose many credits in the transfer process.They should ask themselves whether going to a new school is worth it. Losing credits means spending time and money taking additional classes. Most schools adhere to a policy of accepting 100-level courses and classes with syllabuses that are similar to a course at their school. Although many general education classes typically transfer, most schools want students to take all of their major requirements at their school. Schools usually never accept over 75 credit hours earned at another school, which means that students will have to take around 45 credits at wherever they transfer.
Students should try to gather two to three letters of recommendation from their current college before they leave. Their new school might require a couple letters of recommendation for the admissions process. If students have made a positive impression and earned good grades, they should approach teachers for strong letter of recommendations. Letters of recommendation include information about students' strengths including organizational skills, competitiveness and academic achievement. They should speak high praise about the students' ability to succeed.