Let’s face it–most students at Skyline don’t go to school for “personal enrichment.” Although one does tend to pick up new knowledge along the way, almost all students have grander goals in mind: earning an Associate’s Degree, learning vocational skills, receiving job training and certification, and most popular-transferring to a university. In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, over 71 percent of community college students intend to transfer to four-year institutions and earn higher degrees.
     With such a high rate of transfer to universities, one would think the process should be fairly straightforward; a student chooses the school he wishes to attend, completes transferable units, files and application, and before he even knows it, he is settling into his new dorm, partying on the lawn of Frat houses, and enjoying whatever else it is that university students do. All clichés aside, though, the process of efficiently transferring to a university can be exceedingly difficult.
     First there is the question of what classes are the best to take for a certain major. Let’s assume for the sake of simplicity that a particular student, unlike most college students, knows definitively what his future major will be. He needs to take certain classes in order to transfer to a university in that major, but it is often extremely confusing to ascertain which courses best fulfill the requirements. Resources such as Assist.com, college counselors, and the Transfer Center are often helpful in obtaining information, but often students find that if one obtains several opinions on the topic from different sources, the suggested courses will also be different.
     Part of this problem lies in the uncertainty of university requirements. Another contribution is the fact that some community colleges do not offer all the courses required for transfer in a certain major. There is also widespread perpetuation of transfer myths, such as the belief that every student should complete the IGETC prior to transferring. The IGETC is not required for transfer in many majors, and it is even discouraged for math and science majors, since most IGETC coursework is not required for graduation from a university in those fields.
     I, like many students, did not learn this fact until it was too late. Several counselors and transfer authorities had told me that I should complete the IGETC, and so I focused on it for four semesters. Upon inquiring at the university where I plan to transfer, I learned that much of my coursework was unnecessary, and some will not even count towards my transferable units. Since with my major-related work, I will exceed the limit of community college units. If I had known this information from the beginning, I could have transferred a year earlier.
     Many students are also unaware that certain classes are transferable at one college in a certain category, but the same class fulfills a different requirement or no requirement at all at a different college. Sometimes even within the same college district.
     If students take courses at more than one of the community colleges in San Mateo County, it is important to be familiar with the transfer agreements from all three colleges with the university of choice. While the agreement from CSM may allow you to choose between two different math sequences for a certain major, such as between the sequences Math 241, 242 and Math 251,252,253, the agreement from Skyline or Cañada may only allow the harder of the two. Upon transferring, most students must declare a “home” college, from which the transfer agreement is drawn. It is important familiarize oneself with the agreement from that college to a particular university, and only take courses at other colleges which are within the specifications of that agreement.
     Although sources such as the Transfer Center and Assist.com are helpful in identifying the general format to transfer to a four-year institution in any given major, it is unwise to plan one’s transfer solely on their advice.
     The best suggestion is to obtain as many opinions as possible, use resources such as the Transfer Center, then take out the information significant to one’s self, and always talk to several representatives of the actual university where one plans to transfer. Oh, and do all this as early as possible to avoid taking many unnecessary classes or starting the wrong sequence.
     With all the misinformation, confusing conflicts of opinion, and lack of concrete standards for every major, it is no wonder that the process of transferring confuses many students. It is very hard to work towards a vaguely defined goal, and even students who try hard to stay on the right track towards transferring are often, in confusion, led astray.