Pros and Cons of Transferring
Shakespeare famously said: To transfer or not to transfer, that is the question… or something like that.
One of the questions I hear most from students who are thinking of transferring: How did you make the decision to transfer schools? Long answer: a lot of careful thinking, touring schools, talking with my family, and researching what other schools had to offer.
Short answer: a Pro/Con list!
This obviously wasn’t the only thing that went into my decision, but it did actually help me finalize my decision. I’ve always loved Pro/Con lists, because I find it helpful to see my thoughts in a visual format. So when the idea of transferring schools began floating around my head, the first thing I did was grab a pencil and paper and start recording the positive and negative aspects of transferring.
Once I finished my list, I could see that the Pros of transferring outweighing the Cons, and this helped me ground myself in my decision to transfer.
***Important note: Choosing to transfer is a really personal decision, and no one is going to be able to make it for you — including me!*** There are even some reasons I didn’t include in this blog post because they’re personal, but I thought it might be helpful for potential transfer students to see some of the factors that went into my decision to transfer.
Potential Pros:
- Different environment
- Different size (possibly) — this was an important one for me
- Different majors or classes offered that previous school might not have
- Making new friends
- Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone — opportunity for self-growth
Potential Cons:
- Change is hard (duh)
- But also exciting :)
- Having to do the whole “new student” thing again
- (It's not so bad the second time around, though, because you already know what to expect!)
- Leaving friends behind
- A note on this: True friends will last through anything and can span any distance. It's cheesy but true! Some of my closest friends to this day are from the first school I went to, so keep that in mind.
- New location to adjust to
- Things to consider: Would you be closer to home? Farther from home? Would that be a Pro/Con for you?
These are just some things that I wrote on my list but I’m sure you can think of more. I ended up writing on a big sheet of paper and filling both sides, so make sure you get into every little detail! Think about classes, clubs, housing, weather, location, school pride, school size, the list goes on. Ask yourself things like: Do I care if this new school doesn’t have a football team? Do I like the idea of joining an a cappella group? Am I ready for snowy winters? Will I be excited to be closer to/farther from home? These are just some examples, but you get the gist.
Write out the answers to these questions. If there are things that are holding you back from transferring schools, take time to really reflect on them and write them down. If there are things about a potential new school that are making you super excited, write those down, too.
So, back to the question: Should you transfer?
I have no idea what your answer is — this is something only you can know. So, trust yourself. Try to block out anyone else’s opinions and focus on your personal Pros/Cons. Trust that you know what choice is going to be right for you.
If that choice ends up being transferring, that’s amazing! And if your choice ends up being not to transfer, that’s amazing, too! This decision is not going to make or break your whole future, even if it sometimes feels like it will. When in doubt, write out every thought on your mind when you think about transferring, then sort them into Pros/Cons. Hopefully it will help you as much as it helped me.