When to Know it's Time to Transfer
- Ella D'Addona
- Jan 31, 2023
- 6 min read
Last week we talked about how to pick the right school... but sometimes we don't always make the right decision. Let's talk about when to know it's time to transfer schools!
I have been a student at Sacred Heart since I was a freshman so I do not have experience with transferring schools. However, as a sophomore, I went through a bad social experience at college and strongly considered transferring. I spoke with a few of my friends who had decided to transfer and weighed my options, but ultimately my love for my sorority kept me at Sacred Heart. I ended up making new friends and working on my mental health and can now happily call Sacred Heart my home again. However, not everyone chooses to stick it out. If you are unhappy in your situation you should look at other options. There is no reason to be stuck in a position that is affecting your mental health.
As someone who has not transferred, I cannot give you my own experience. However, I asked a few of my friends to share their stories about what influenced their decisions to transfer schools.
"Penn State fall of two thousand and four... here I come. What should have been an exciting day was filled with tears, anxiety, and lots and lots of sadness. I had a new (younger) boyfriend that I was leaving behind and my family and friends...
Let's go back to my Senior year of High School in two thousand and three when I applied to college:
- American University (Washington D.C.): Got in
- Northeastern University (my first choice, my mom went there and in Boston): Rejected
- University of Miami (Miami): Can't remember the decision
- Towson University (near Baltimore): Got in and so did my best friend (but we were told you shouldn't go to school together)
- Penn State (quite far from Philadelphia): Got in
Northeastern was my dream school...my mom went there, it was in a city I loved and I fell in love with the campus when I went to visit. I was shocked and disappointed I didn't get in, especially since it was my safety school.
When I went to visit Penn State, I had a great night with my friend Nicole and the campus was pretty, but it seemed in the middle of nowhere surrounded by cows. Well... I get in and the guidance counselor is so excited for me and can't believe it, since it was my reach school. So I say yes, and my fate is sealed for Fall Semester two thousand and four.
The first day I got to Penn State was the hardest goodbye to my boyfriend, my mom, and my dad. My mom says all the time, one of the saddest days for her as she had to leave me behind in such a state of being so down. I somehow had to get myself together and get out before I was lost in a sea of sadness on my first night of college. I call an old friend from High School who was a grade above me that went to Penn State and she says come out with us! So I get dressed....walk my way to her dorm and the first thing I get offered is to snort a line of Adderal. I was dying on the inside as I was so uncomfortable but wanted to fit in all while holding back tears. I passed on the drugs and just tried to enjoy the night as best I could.
If the first night was any indication of how this year was going to go, I wanted OUT! I wanted to transfer the minute I got there. I felt trapped in a podunk "city" that had a whole lot of nothing going on with NO car and NO friends. I didn't allow myself to open up to any opportunities, I lived in a state of negativity and I just wanted to be home. I was a girl that went to sleep-away camp, barely called my parents when I was supposed to, and loved the freedom of being on my own, but here I was...alone, sad, and feeling regretful of my decision.
My mom told me, you made this decision, you will stick it out the entire school year, and in the meantime, you can apply to new schools. That is what I did. I stuck it out, I made the best of it, and I applied to Fordham University in NYC (the city I loved the most) and made the decision to be a commuter student.
If I were to do it again, I would have gone to Towson with my best friend OR a school in a city (which was one of the things that was on my MUST list). Instead, I went with the excitement of getting into a reach school, a school with all the rah-rah from the football team and a place I had one fun night when visiting. I didn't trust my gut, I relied too heavily on my boyfriend at the time and learned a hard lesson. I am thankful for the experience as it taught me a lot about myself." - Ariel McCreight (class of two thousand and eight)
"I decided to transfer after my freshman year because I felt like there was something missing in my college experience. It was such a gut feeling that there was something wrong, but it was hard to put into words. When I got to my new school (Sacred Heart University), I acclimated so quickly, went through recruitment and joined a sorority, became a student ambassador, and made the most amazing friends. It was such an immediate sense of peace and that hole that I felt my freshman year had been filled. I realized I needed a school that had a better sense of community, that wasn't cliquey and socially competitive. I couldn't have imagined such an amazing college experience for those three years, and although the transferring process was stressful and scary, it was completely worth it." - Mary Kaczmarski (class of twenty-two)
"I transferred mainly because of the coronavirus pandemic. I hated all of the restrictions and rules that made me feel trapped in my dorm room. Having to do everything from schoolwork, eating, hanging with friends, and sleeping all in one room became exhausting. I thought going back to school after quarantine would make life feel normal again but it was honestly worse than quarantine at home. It really ruined my mental health and I knew it was not healthy for me to live in that environment anymore. I stayed enrolled in the school I was at but moved home and switched online. Then I decided that being home was better for my health than going back there because I didn't know if things would be the same as they once were or if I was going to put myself back into a place of anxiety." - Caroline Haffner (expected class of twenty-three)
"I did not enjoy Marist because it was a very quiet campus. It also did not have the major I ended up wanting to do which was Finance. They only had a Business Administration with a concentration in Finance which did not cover what I was hoping. When I was a Freshman we were sent home for covid. After returning home I realized I did not want to go back. That's when I made the decision to transfer to Sacred Heart University. I applied to schools that were closer to home but realized I did not love the idea of being at a big school such as UConn because of the lecture sizes. Knowing this and that I wanted to commute my sophomore year I choose to go to Sacred Heart." - Maddie Papst (expected class of twenty-three)
"Going into Binghamton University I intended on becoming a lawyer and was a Political Science major on their pre-law track. After sitting in classes and shadowing a lawyer, I realized law was not for me. I realized that teaching was my calling, and being born and raised on Long Island, I knew I wanted to raise a family here myself. When looking for teaching programs, I decided it was best to transfer home in order for my connections and experience to be completed down here. Binghamton had an education program but it was only a master's program. I was looking for a five-year accelerated program that would allow me to establish connections and gain experiences all throughout my undergrad, which ultimately led me to the decision to transfer home to Adelphi." - Sloane Somerstein (class of twenty-two)
Although a lot of my friend's experiences were heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic, it is clear to see that the universities they were attending lacked something they needed or were affecting their mental health. If you are unhappy in your situation at school or being away from home is causing you anxiety, transferring schools may be the best option for you. It is totally normal for you to realize you might not have made the right choice of what college to go to. It is also normal to be nervous about all the change that comes with graduating high school and moving away. Every person adapts differently to new situations, but try to focus on the positives and don't be afraid to advocate for yourself if something is not working for you. There are so many students who say that transferring schools was the best decision they ever made.
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