Question about transferring colleges

[SweetPea]

So, have any of you had dc change colleges? I am curious about how their credits transferred.

 

A family friend's son is at a private school in TX on his 4th year and really wants to transfer to a state school, but says he'll be starting with zero credits :confused: I really don't see how that's possible.

 

Thoughts or experiences?

[renmew]

Unless his private college in Texas was some weird, unaccredited type of school, most should transfer. I wouldn't expect all of it to, but most. If his parents have been paying for all of this, I hope they are able to stop him. Regardless of how many units transfer, the last year of college is a ridiculous time to switch.

 

I was able to leave my well known private university for one semester, take classes at a state college, and then return, transferring all of the credits I took at the public school. This was in my senior year as well. Not all schools will do that type of thing, and if they do, it's with prior permission, not as the student wills.

 

The student should talk to the private school about options available before simply leaving the school.

[Bootsie]

Each school has its own requirements regarding what it will accept. The fourth year sounds a little late to be transferring rather than graduating. Is there more to the story?

 

I know of a student (at a private TX school) whose parents showed up at graduate after paying tuition for four years to find out that their child had only completed enough classes to barely be a sophomore. The child registered for classes and then would drop almost everything. The parents never looked at grades and assumed that everything was on track.

[A.Balaban]

I agree it seems unlikely. Most colleges have a transfer department, they may even give your transcript a cursory glance before you apply/get accepted to see what will transfer. Some of the larger colleges will list them on the internet as an unofficial guide for students.

 

Typically the rule is the class has to be a similar topic to one that is being taught. Sometimes they will assign elective credit for courses in special topics, sometimes they will not transfer the course at all.

 

If the courses don't transfer, he could look into departmental exams where he would take an exam for credit.

 

I am also confused, because transferring at the fourth year seems too late to be transferring. :confused: A lot of schools have residency requirements too, which require you take at least 30-60 credits of your degree in residence at the school. So, yeah, hope this helps.

[G5052]

I transferred from a private liberal arts school to a state all-technical school as a second-semester junior, and they accepted a lot of the credits. They gave me only elective credit on the science and math, and I had to negotiate on English because the second school didn't accept AP credits. The history, economics, political science, literature, philosophy, foreign languages, and such all transferred directly into my degree program. So I was done with that part, and ended up taking three more years of all technical classes to graduate with two degrees.

 

My parents were so horrified that I would transfer so "late," but it was the right choice. I was paying my own way by then anyway.

[QueenCat]

Most regionally accredited schools will accept credits for similar courses from other regionally accredited schools.

[PrincessMommy]

So, have any of you had dc change colleges? I am curious about how their credits transferred.

 

A family friend's son is at a private school in TX on his 4th year and really wants to transfer to a state school, but says he'll be starting with zero credits :confused: I really don't see how that's possible.

 

Thoughts or experiences?

 

that does not seem possible unless his college not an accredited college. I've had 3 kids transfer (out of 4 college students). 2 started out at cc and transferred to an in-state college. Most credits transferred - perhaps a few didn't... I can't really remember. My other dd transferred from an out of state state college to our local cc. I think just about everything transferred. She hopes to transfer again in the fall to another 4yr college. We'll see what happens then.

 

In all cases the basic 1st year stuff (English 101, etc.) transferred.

[SweetPea]

There is more to the story. The 4th yr college student is failing 2 classes and failed 3 classes last spring semester. So, his 5 year plan is now a 6 year plan. I'm guessing his other grades aren't high enough to transfer. I'd be stopping the gravy train (parents are spending $40K a year :w00t: ) actually it would have stopped already if it where my child.

[Tess in the Burbs]

well I have had a different experience than a few here. I went to college in NC at a state school. I transferred twice to other state schools and found many credits did not transfer within the system. I can't imagine how much worse it would have been with a private school.

 

My first transfer was to a similar school with science degrees. Everything transferred. My second experience was to a liberal arts school in the state system. Here they had their own system for humanities(history and art) and nothing I transferred counted toward their credit system. I had to take the 4 classes in their humanities series to graduate(ironically it was the 4 year history cycle :D). In fact this school didn't take all my science classes either.

 

The only way to find out for certain is to talk to the admissions people and get a firm answer on what transfer and what doesn't. Schools get to decide so be nice when asking. I was able to get some science credits to count after appealing but in the end I had to take quite a lot more classes to graduate from the last school. So much more that when I took a year off school I considered going back to the first school to make it easier on myself.

 

good luck. Transferring for the right reason is worth the trouble and extra classes :D

[Mama Geek]

In a lot of cases only classes with a C or better will transfer and then it still isn't guaranteed.

[G5052]

There is more to the story. The 4th yr college student is failing 2 classes and failed 3 classes last spring semester. So, his 5 year plan is now a 6 year plan. I'm guessing his other grades aren't high enough to transfer. I'd be stopping the gravy train (parents are spending $40K a year :w00t: ) actually it would have stopped already if it where my child.

 

Most schools will accept A's and B's, only a few C's.

[brehon]

There is more to the story. The 4th yr college student is failing 2 classes and failed 3 classes last spring semester. So, his 5 year plan is now a 6 year plan. I'm guessing his other grades aren't high enough to transfer. I'd be stopping the gravy train (parents are spending $40K a year :w00t: ) actually it would have stopped already if it where my child.

 

 

Yep. This would do it. If he failed 3 classes last spring semester how was he not placed on "Scho-Pro" (scholastic probation)? Do colleges even still have that? Am I showing my age?

 

I will say, though, that UT became very stringent about what credits they would and would not accept from transfer students beginning about 15 years ago. Many UT students would take gen ed requirements (Gov't, History, Math, whatever was required for the degree, but not specific major subject matter) at the local CC and transfer the grade over to UT. UT first stopped accepting the grade and would only list a credit for those courses and then stopped accepting even the credits. I don't know now what the regulations/requirements for grades/credits are for UT.

[gardenmom5]

how credits transfer varies by univeristy, what major has been studied, and what the major at the new school will be.

 

My 2dd wanted to transfer from one private school to another (same major), but the 2nd school refused because she would have been a senior when she started there. (it was a good experience for her to develop some appreciation for the perks of the college she was at - like the research projects with the professor she wouldn't have been able to do at the 2nd school.:toetap05:)

 

for your friend's son, he needs to find out if the state school will even accept a fourth year transfer.