Transfer question--apply or wait?

[MerryAtHope]

My son will finish up his associate's degree this year, but he's still unsure of what he wants to major in for finishing out a Bachelor's Degree. Because of that, there's a good chance he might end up taking a gap year before continuing on. Should I have him apply to a few schools anyway, in case he might end up being ready to transfer? (I'm assuming that most applications are due in the fall if a student wants the possibility of a transfer scholarship or aid from the school). What's the outlook if he tries to apply in the spring? Are there any negatives to applying and then not going anywhere for a year and needing to reapply?

[Bootsie]

Will he be finishing his associates in May?  Is he looking at schools that have specific transfer agreements with the CC?

 

Many universities do not handle transfer applications for fall until the spring of that year.  For a transfer student, the performance at the CC is an important part of the application, so they prefer to have the fall semester's grades in (and be just one semester short) before handling transfer applications.  

[MerryAtHope]

He'll have 6 hours left after Fall, so yes, he'll finish in May. Yes, he would be applying to schools that have an articulation agreement with our cc. 

Edited July 22, 2017 by MerryAtHope

[JanetC]

Talk to your target school(s). Our competitive state flagship requires transfers to apply to a major, but branch campuses can be a little more flexible.

[G5052]

Talk to your target school(s). Our competitive state flagship requires transfers to apply to a major, but branch campuses can be a little more flexible.

 

Same here. Under some of the transfer agreements, they don't care if you have a major. But the "name brand" ones require a major and sometimes very specific credits toward that major.

 

Sometimes people just apply for general transfer if they don't know what they want to major in. That can be tougher to get admitted, but it depends on the school.

[JanetC]

I should add you also need to think about how the gap year would be spent. Is there a specific plan to explore careers or majors or is it just a hope that inspiration will come?

[MerryAtHope]

Many universities do not handle transfer applications for fall until the spring of that year.  

 

That's good to know, I assumed there would be a fall deadline (or at least for the first round of consideration if there are any transfer scholarships). That would help in case another semester helps him to know which way he wants to go.

 

Is there a specific plan to explore careers or majors or is it just a hope that inspiration will come?

 

Ongoing and ad nauseum with career exploration. It weighs heavily on him. More the plan is that it doesn't make sense to take on lots of loans if he really has no idea what to major in. CC has been a great, inexpensive place to explore but without a strong drive to pursue one field over another (and without a strong sense of what he'd do since his interests are mainly in liberal arts areas but he doesn't like writing or speaking or research...), I think it's pretty difficult to proceed. We'd expect him to work full time unless he had a drive or interest in some kind of special opportunity. Both DH and I did gap years (I did one in the middle, DH did one before going to college) and found that a year to mature was helpful in giving us focus (I actually decided my major after my gap year). I think a little perspiration helps too (nothing like working full time to help a student decide they might want to pursue something else). Maybe we're all later bloomers!

[Gwen in VA]

Transfer deadlines are often different from freshman application deadlines, so check them out. Many of the scholarship monies for transfers come from a different pot, so you are not necessarily competing against the earlier freshman applicants. (Again, check out your schools!)

 

Also, FYI it is possible to transfer mid-year.

 

The one thing you do NOT want to do is have your son apply to a fairly small school and then not accept it but hope to get in again at a later date. A large school might not have a problem with that (I don't know) but many smaller schools would have an issue with that. (Maybe check and see how heavily the school weights student interest -- applying AS A TRANSFER, being accepted, and not attending is a pretty good indicator of NOT being interested, regardless of why the student decided not to attend!)

[MerryAtHope]

Also, FYI it is possible to transfer mid-year.

 

I did know that, but ds doesn't like the idea of transferring mid-year.

 

 

The one thing you do NOT want to do is have your son apply to a fairly small school and then not accept it but hope to get in again at a later date. A large school might not have a problem with that (I don't know) but many smaller schools would have an issue with that. (Maybe check and see how heavily the school weights student interest -- applying AS A TRANSFER, being accepted, and not attending is a pretty good indicator of NOT being interested, regardless of why the student decided not to attend!)

 

Thanks!

Edited July 24, 2017 by MerryAtHope