College Gameplan: Transfer Student Guide

by Chris Rotolo

A college student athlete will inevitably have to put up with loads of fecal matter before they can walk away from their school with that coveted piece of paper called a degree. Attaining student loans with a crashing economy, tough classes weighing down your grade point average, maybe you and your coach do not see eye to eye. These are just a few of the problems that may be faced during your college career. These objects that block your way on the path to accomplishment are hard enough to overcome when you possess a clear mind. Do you really want to take on these obstacles when you are at a school you detest?

For those of you who are hesitant to pull the trigger on a transfer, let me toss some knowledge at you. Transferring from one school to another is not a sign of failure. If you feel a change of scenery is needed, fear not, you are in good company. In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 60% of college graduates who earn an undergraduate degree (Bachelor’s Degree) do so at two or more institutions. The NCES also stated that roughly 2.5 million students in the United States transfer to a different school each year.

So, now that you realize transferring is a very common occurrence, and not an incident to be frowned upon, the RateTheCoach team would like to provide you with some helpful considerations about the transfer process.

Create A List:
To get the process started you will want to create a list of schools that have the potential to meet your interests academically, athletically, socially, etc.

Make Contact:
Once you have compiled a list, it’s time for research. Go to the Web sites, talk to friends or relatives who are enrolled, talk with the coach and arrange a visit. Information is power. The more you have the easier your decision will be and the happier you will be with that decision.

Note: Going on visits is the best form information gathering available. When on campus you will learn things about the school that no Web site can show you and no representative can tell you.

Write A Review:
After you visit the Web site, talk to the coach, take a tour of the campus, and are satisfied with the amount of information you have stock piled, write a personal review of the school. This is important because when the time comes to make a decision, you will not have to rely on your memory alone. Notes are vital.

Here are a few things you may want to take notes on:

The Campus – Is it large or small? How far are the dorms from the classrooms? Can you walk to class or do you have to take a bus (Some schools have multiple campuses like Rutgers University, requiring students to take busses to classes)? Are the dorms well maintained? What type of eateries and stores are on campus? Is the campus nice? And most importantly, can you see yourself spending the next few years of your life living there?

The People – Part of college life is interacting with people (students, professors, teammates, coaches). When you visit a campus it is important to talk to its inhabitants, not just for information, but to see if you will be able to get along with these people for an extended amount of time.

The Surrounding Area – Being comfortable in the areas surrounding the campus is just as important as your comfort on campus. Can you handle a big city or are the suburbs the place for you? Will you go crazy out in the country or does the idea of no distractions around for miles make you feel good inside? You do not want to choose a campus because it looks nice, and the people are kind, and at night have to sleep on the floor to avoid gun fire because your campus is in the middle of a war zone.

Academics – Everybody is different. Thus, different people can handle different levels of academics. By now you know what your difficulty level. You need to be realistic. If you are currently attending West Virginia University (dubbed the top party school in the nation by the Princeton Review) you may want to think thrice about transferring to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). You need to find a school that you can realistically handle. Also, be sure the school offers the courses and programs you need to take.

Transfer Credits – Some schools do not accept certain course credits from transfer students. You need to be aware of this before submitting your final transfer documents.

Athletics – The RateTheCoach Team realizes that many student athletes would place this category higher on this list. However, to be fair to the mantra that has been repeated over, and over, and over again by the society we live in, the academics were placed ahead of the athletics. Anyway, once again this is an area where you need to be true to yourself.
You know what your ability is, you know what you can handle, and you know that it takes a special type of athlete to play football at the University of Florida. If you are an athlete, there is no greater disappointment than to be on the bench watching your teammates compete. Why transfer to a school you can not play at?

Break It Down! (Cue the D Generation X theme song):
When you have finished your research and all of the reviews have been written, all you have left to do is refine your list. Review the schools and discard any that do not meet your needs. When you have finished trimming the fat you should have a short list of contenders. At this point, if you have done the research, you really can not make a bad decision.