Be careful planning transfer credits

[klmama]

On Thursday I saw a nephew who went to the same CC where my oldest is attending a few classes this year. He was enthusiastic about a number of the classes he had taken and gave me names of some great professors he had had there. At the same time, he was extremely critical about the lack of guidance he had received regarding transferring credits, which ended up costing him a lot of time and money through unaccepted courses. Moral of story: even if the CC advisor says classes will transfer, it's worth checking with the admissions office at the final college before registering!

[Starr]

And the admissions officer won't know for sure only the registrar knows. I think credit transfers work better within a state system.

[8filltheheart]

Even with instate schools with articulation agreements, students may end up unprepared for how their credits transfer in. In major credits may end up as elective credit. You should really start off with the "end" and work you way backward to find out what classes are worth taking if the goal is transferring the credit. Out of state or non-publics are even more iffy about transferring credits from CCs. It is worth making contact with prosepective schools and asking.

[G5052]

Yes, you can't be too sure.  

 

I had a conversation with a newish counsellor at the community college that taught me how careful you have to be. Granted, I'm a professor there and have studied all of the transfer documents I can get, but I definitely knew more than he did and actually showed him where he was wrong.  As much as I love that college, they don't have some of the courses you need for transferring into certain programs at the nearest 4-year school.  Their transfer degree advising sheets are oriented towards a more distant 4-year school close to the main campus, not that campus for students planning transfer to the nearest 4-year there.  Thankfully the neighboring CC has a huge online component, and you can actually take the needed courses there and transfer them in for credit so that the transfer process does indeed go well.  So I showed him how you could still graduate from that school, but bring in just a few online courses to fully transfer.

 

When we went back again to register, he thanked me profusely from pointing the problems out.  He said that after our appointment, he spent a lot of time studying and comparing over the weekend, and he then went to the 4-year school and met with both admissions and the registar.  So now they're good.

[Mom22ns]

Yes, I always talk to the registrar at the destination school. I had an admission counselor argue with me that dd should take X course instead of Y course because it would be accepted for transfer. I had in writing from the registrar of the destination college that Y would be accepted and X would not. Ugh. 

 

Admissions at ds's school of choice was equally unhelpful. They told me twice that they accepted CLEPs that they do not accept, printing off a list from the College Board website but I was convinced I wasn't getting the whole story. When I insisted on speaking to the registrar instead, she was able to say they will take all CLEPs, but they only give elective credit for all but a handful. She was able to tell me which few would actually meet gen-ed requirements. 

 

I love registrars. I have found them to be knowledgeable, and more than willing to answer questions. They clearly prefer answering questions up front to having things come in messed up or having to deny credits because of misinformation. I never knew until the last year what amazing resources they are!

[momofkhm]

I have to agree with so much already here.

 

The CCs here went through the process of making sure everything transfers to the public colleges in state several years ago.  But how do they transfer is the question.  Oldest had to take Engl 111 AND 112 to count as English 101 at the 4 year college.  But the sciences transferred exactly over.

 

Middle dd will be going to a private school.  I talked to an admissions person there and he gave me the transfer booklet.  We've been cross referencing that book both semesters for dd.  She should have 6 general eds finished by the time she matriculates next fall.  

 

 

[Bootsie]

Transfer policies can change over time, also.  If a university says today that it is accepting Eng 101 at CC for Eng credit at its school, that doesn't necessarily mean that it will be the case three years down the road when the student wants to attend the university..  There are some 2+2 programs that a student can be accepted into that will guarantee that the credits will transfer down the road.  

[Gwen in VA]

We focus on choosing the right classes for high school. While it's nice to bear the transfer credit thing in the back of your mind, ultimately you can't control the college credits.

 

Your kid can decide to attend a different college or transfer to a third school.

The college can change its policies.

The whole thing can get tied up in red tape and never get straightened out (happened to a friend of mine)

 

And at least for our family the goal of dual-enrollment wasn't getting done with college earlier but challenging our kids, helping them explore subjects that they couldn't at home, and helping them to be more "desirable" to other colleges. Taking Music 101 as a teen future music major makes NO sense in terms of transfer credits, but it makes enormous sense in terms of personal growth and fulfillment. Taking Accounting 101 makes no sense for a future engineering major who will attend a college that doesn't accept any transfer credits, but it makes enormous sense in terms of helping develop entrepreneurial skills in a young man who founded his own company the day he turned 18.

 

So in our family we focus on selecting the right classes for maximum educational benefit in high school. That may mean a few more classes in college, but we can't really control that!