Like most high school students, I didn’t have piles of scholarship offers from various schools upon graduation. I was an average student throughout high school, and I didn’t come from a rich family. Plenty of schools would have admitted me, but without some sort of scholarship, there was no way I could afford a four-year university.
The only group offering any significant money for education was the military, so I enlisted for a term in the Army. Sleeping for weeks in the mud and cold taught me exactly why a college education is important.
After my term was over, I searched for two-year schools with good reputations and stellar journalism programs. To my surprise, one of the best schools was 30 miles from my home. On average, community colleges are a third of the cost of universities, a major reason why nearly half of undergraduates enroll in two-year institutions. Like many other students, saving money is what attracted me.
The key to getting transferable credits is finding out what four-year universities require.
I looked at the degree plans from several four-year universities and took courses I knew would transfer without question.
Most states have universal core curriculum courses, so they transfer easily. Many universities also rely heavily on recruiting community college students, so they make transferring as painless as possible.
I applied for several universities while in my third semester of school, and because I was a much better college student than I was a high school student, each school accepted me. Though their acceptance was great for my ego, it did not help me narrow my choices.
What did narrow my choices quickly was how the schools evaluated my credits. One school wanted me to take another algebra course (no thanks), and three schools accepted nearly everything. I applied for scholarships and financial aid at the three remaining on my list. Two offered significant scholarships and the third financial aid department never bothered to contact me (which made for another easy omission).
I visited both campuses, met with the communications department at both schools and toured the towns. Oddly enough, my final choice for a school was the school I cared about the least when beginning my search.
My transfer was amazingly smooth. I took the best route possible for me in receiving my bachelor’s degree by thoroughly shopping for the best university. Every school offers different students different opportunities, which is why I strongly suggest transfer students apply for many schools and scholarships to see what’s available. The transfer process may seem daunting in the beginning, but with a little diligence, it might just be easier than you expected.
Ryan C. Perry graduated Kilgore College (kilgore.edu) with an associate degree in general education and received his bachelor’s in journalism from Stephen F. Austin State University (sfasu.edu).
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