College Transfer: Struggling With the Decision to Continue Onward
Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
As a stay-at-home mom to three handsome and influential young men, I struggled with the decision to return to school. Was this the best choice for my children? Could I give them the quality time that they deserved along with completing my assignments? I am grateful that I have been able to successfully juggle home and academic responsibilities without dropping the ball.
As I come to the end of this facet of my academic journey, I look forward to what comes next. Some classmates’ academic endeavors culminate with the achievement of his/her associate degree, while others press onward to a future that encompasses a bachelor’s or even a master’s degree. At the beginning, I resisted the idea of progressing onward to my bachelor’s degree. I fully intended to reenter the workforce and revisit the idea of achieving my bachelor’s degree later on. However, I am not getting any younger and I know that if I took a break from school I would find it difficult to get back on track. Instead, I am finishing one path of my academic journey and stepping onto another this fall.
In researching what my next step would be and what college to transfer to, I have discovered some information along the way that many classmates who are also interested in transferring may find helpful:
Decide on what format of schooling you would like to do.
Do you want to continue learning online or transfer to a physical university?
Research the various degree programs available.
There are many options available out there for undergraduate degrees. After picking one that interests you, discover what you can do with it. Research the average salary for a job in that field and what the continued growth rate will be. Discuss your options with other professionals. If you want to remain in healthcare, talk to your family physician or other administrative personnel that you work with to get their advice.
Determine whether or not the college is accredited.
This will make it easier to transfer credits to another university, should you decide to continue on to a Master’s degree.
Research the tuition and various options for financial aid.
Does the school offer aid that is different from loans and grants? What is the cost per credit hour? You may discover that there can be a vast difference in one college’s tuition when compared to another.
Request an official transcript from every college you’ve attended.
Even if you earned a certificate at a technical college, the school you are applying to will want those transcripts. You also need to be proactive when it comes to requesting official transcripts. Follow up and ensure that they received your signed request. Remember to ask when they expect to mail out your official transcript and follow up with the college you applied to in order to ensure that they received it. You can’t sit around and wait till someone calls you. Take action and follow-up.
Research how your prior college experience is evaluated.
Does the college consider your overall GPA from all of your previous college experience or only the credits that are transferable? I learned the hard way that if your previous college experience was less than stellar it may count against you.
Compose a list of pros and cons.
Once your list has been reduced down to two or three colleges that you’re interested in, make up a list of all the positives and negatives of each school. This will help you narrow down your decision further and allow you to choose the one college that has exactly what you’re looking for. I know that compiling a list of pros and cons, along with input from my family and my wonderful career coach, Jennifer Ruggiero, helped me to make my final decision.
Above all else, don’t forget to breath. Is the decision to continue schooling a hard one? Absolutely, but in the end it will all be worth it. Education is a valuable commodity and a degree earned is something they can never take away from you.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
As a stay-at-home mom to three handsome and influential young men, I struggled with the decision to return to school. Was this the best choice for my children? Could I give them the quality time that they deserved along with completing my assignments? I am grateful that I have been able to successfully juggle home and academic responsibilities without dropping the ball.As I come to the end of this facet of my academic journey, I look forward to what comes next. Some classmates’ academic endeavors culminate with the achievement of his/her associate degree, while others press onward to a future that encompasses a bachelor’s or even a master’s degree. At the beginning, I resisted the idea of progressing onward to my bachelor’s degree. I fully intended to reenter the workforce and revisit the idea of achieving my bachelor’s degree later on. However, I am not getting any younger and I know that if I took a break from school I would find it difficult to get back on track. Instead, I am finishing one path of my academic journey and stepping onto another this fall.
In researching what my next step would be and what college to transfer to, I have discovered some information along the way that many classmates who are also interested in transferring may find helpful:
Decide on what format of schooling you would like to do.
Do you want to continue learning online or transfer to a physical university?
Research the various degree programs available.
There are many options available out there for undergraduate degrees. After picking one that interests you, discover what you can do with it. Research the average salary for a job in that field and what the continued growth rate will be. Discuss your options with other professionals. If you want to remain in healthcare, talk to your family physician or other administrative personnel that you work with to get their advice.
Determine whether or not the college is accredited.
This will make it easier to transfer credits to another university, should you decide to continue on to a Master’s degree.
Research the tuition and various options for financial aid.
Does the school offer aid that is different from loans and grants? What is the cost per credit hour? You may discover that there can be a vast difference in one college’s tuition when compared to another.
Request an official transcript from every college you’ve attended.
Even if you earned a certificate at a technical college, the school you are applying to will want those transcripts. You also need to be proactive when it comes to requesting official transcripts. Follow up and ensure that they received your signed request. Remember to ask when they expect to mail out your official transcript and follow up with the college you applied to in order to ensure that they received it. You can’t sit around and wait till someone calls you. Take action and follow-up.
Research how your prior college experience is evaluated.
Does the college consider your overall GPA from all of your previous college experience or only the credits that are transferable? I learned the hard way that if your previous college experience was less than stellar it may count against you.
Compose a list of pros and cons.
Once your list has been reduced down to two or three colleges that you’re interested in, make up a list of all the positives and negatives of each school. This will help you narrow down your decision further and allow you to choose the one college that has exactly what you’re looking for. I know that compiling a list of pros and cons, along with input from my family and my wonderful career coach, Jennifer Ruggiero, helped me to make my final decision.
Above all else, don’t forget to breath. Is the decision to continue schooling a hard one? Absolutely, but in the end it will all be worth it. Education is a valuable commodity and a degree earned is something they can never take away from you.
Joseph is a success coach with Ivy Bridge College, and contributes to the weekly Strategies for Success column for The Bridge Blog.
