Transfer 101: Some info and insight

Image used from www.jcjc.edu

Through this blog we’ve heard from students, faculty and staff at Saint Rose. We’ve tried to give you a broad voice of students– different majors, interests, years, etc. Let’s take a moment to focus on a population we’ve missed- transfer students.

Inside Higher Ed posted an article recently about transfer students, “Invisible Transfer Students.” Essentially the article is about the growing number of students taking advantage of the opportunity to transfer. The article states “a third of those who were first-time college students in 2006 had attended at least one other institution by summer 2011.”

I personally did not take the transfer path in college, so I thought I’d turn to some people who know more about the subject. Who better to hear from than a student? I sent a tweet out via the Saint Rose twitter (PS- follow us), asking for students who may have transferred here, and, voila! Meet and learn a little about Ali Wickham, senior business administration major:

“I decided to attend Hudson Valley Community College after high school because I was unsure of what I wanted to major in. I thought that Hudson Valley would be the perfect place to help me decide. During my first semester at Hudson Valley I was a liberal arts major before deciding that business was the right choice for me. When I met with my advisor from the Business School for the first time, we discussed what my plans were after I obtained my degree. I told her that I was interested in continuing my education at another four year institution, preferably one in the Albany area, and we began planning my schedule and courses around those colleges.

After graduating with my Associates degree, I transferred to SUNY Albany to only discover that the large class sizes were not right for me (I had over 400 students in one class!).  After one year at SUNY Albany, my grades quickly reflected my difficulty to adjust to the learning environment and I decided that I needed to transfer.

After talking to one of my friends that was a current student at Saint Rose, I realized that I could benefit from talking to the admissions office. One week later, I received my acceptance letter, and I could not have been happier.  After my first semester at Saint Rose, I was back on the dean’s list with one of the highest GPA’s I have ever earned in my college career. I was finally getting the attention that I needed from my professors in a smaller class size environment (I have one class this semester with only 8 students!). Two years later, I am finally graduating in May and I am happy with the decision I made to transfer to Saint Rose.”

Of course, stories like Ali’s are awesome for us to hear and share (for the record, Ali emailed me this info without much prompting other than, “Share your transfer story.” Thank you so much, Ali!!). We love becoming that perfect fit for transfer students each and every student who comes to Saint Rose. 😉

Our Admissions Office has staff dedicated to ensuring a smooth transition for potential transfer students. Dan Capogna is one of those people, and to add to his street cred- he was a transfer student himself. Dan shared with me that transfer students make up a third of the College’s total population and that “they bring a strong sense of purpose and academic maturity to every classroom that they visit.”

Dan Capogna, Coordinator of Transfer Admissions at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY

I asked Dan what seems to worry prospective transfers the most, “The biggest concern that potential transfer students have is whether or not they can afford our College. However, they are usually surprised to find out how affordable The College of Saint Rose can be, especially after seeing the Transfer Scholarship money that they can qualify for just by having a B average at their previous institution(s).”

I’m going to guess another topic close to the top on the “worries” list is transferring credits. Dan addressed this as well, “We work extremely close with all of the community colleges in our region and have numerous articulation agreements set up with them, but we do allow credits to transfer in from any regionally accredited institution, whether it be a 2-year school or a 4-year school.”

It’s worth mentioning (not that it’s a secret) that transferring works both ways. Saint Rose is a liberal arts college that offers a wide variety of majors, so students looking to switch their major can often find what they are looking for. But, it happens, students don’t always spend all four years here. The Inside Higher Ed article mentions this and says colleges that students transfer from have simply helped students find what they really wanted to do. I like looking at it this way.

What about you? I’d love to hear some feedback from others that have transferred- did you have an experience similar to Ali’s, or something completely different? Did you transfer from a four year school to another?

If you are thinking about transferring to Saint Rose, take a look online for more info, or feel welcome to reach out to Dan in admissions.