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What are the Pros & Cons to transferring from one university to another?

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Steven’s Answer

Hi Nasario! Great question.

I think it all depends on where you're coming from and where you're going. For me, I attended a community college at first and discovered a subject matter that I really wanted to become an expert in (Graphic Design). I ended up switching colleges in order to get a better and more focused education on it.

If you're looking to switch for reasons like mine, then the pros and cons might look like this:

Pros:

  • Your switch will hopefully mean a stronger education in your area of interest
  • You will likely be able to transfer many class credits
  • You took another important and thoughtful step toward something that feels better for your future (as simple and maybe obvious as that sounds, I think it is important)

Cons:

  • You might not be able transfer all of your credits. They did not honor some of mine, but I was able to make up for it pretty quick.

Cost could be either a Pro or a Con, depending on how much you will owe for your existing school and how much you would owe for the new school.

I hope this is somewhat helpful!

Steven recommends the following next steps:

If you know which college you want to transfer to: speak with their admissions department about the process of transferring and if they will honor the credit you have earned.
Compare the cost of your education at either school and consider if losing credit (as applicable) is cost effective. If you're considering transferring primarily for cost reasons, this may be the most important step for you.
[Difficult/Ambiguous] Compare the quality of the education at either school to consider if any loss of credit and increase in price (as applicable) is going to be worthwhile for you. Speaking with the new school's admissions department might be a good step in developing that understanding, but you could perhaps also try looking on LinkedIn to see what folks who bear the degree of interest from your that school are doing for work today.
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Alfredo’s Answer

Hi Nasario:

I faced this question at some point of my student life. It is OK to be unsettled with the prospects of change, but with advise and search for some facts, the process becomes rewarding. After attending your first college, you will notice some things that seem to be missing or not as available as you will like.

Once you spoken to your career advisor, senior student mentors and foremost, professionals that are "out there", you can draw firmer conclusions on what is really important if you were to change into a new college.

When I made my decision to change college, the objective was about fast job security and optimal starting salary and benefits.

The pros that I found to change:
1. Top 3 internship programs that will give me credits but will not cost as course credit
2. One year worth of experience at renowned brand employers making my early CV more powerful than just having a good GPA
3. More resources in school that balanced academia with real applications to work
4. Income from work

Some Cons
1. Cost of switching meant some higher costs of living and some credits that did not transfer - make the math and if not that significant you should be OK
2. Time to research and prepare applications and build your story on why you are doing this

I hope that this helps!

Best,
Alfredo
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