The Grass is Not Always Greener: The Case for Not Transferring
Sometimes, if you are having a challenging time during your first or second year in college, it can be easy to start to believe that changing your environment and transferring to a new institution is the best option. It’s a commitment to the idea that the grass is always greener somewhere else. While you believe you need a different school in order to thrive, I am here to tell you that may not be the case.
Sticking with our metaphor, it is important to consider that the grass is greener where you water it. What exactly does this mean? Where you provide water, nutrients, and care, your effort directly leads to healthier grass. When it comes to transferring, you should make the effort to make the most out of your current institution. I would suggest tapping into different resources, getting involved in student organizations, talking to faculty, and engaging with all available offerings to help you have a positive experience at your current institution.
Start this process by first taking time to consider your patterns and behaviors at your current school. For instance, you may say you do not feel a part of any community at your institution. This circumstance may lead you to stay in your room and not get involved in student organizations or seek new friends in classes. In this case, you should reach out to a few student organizations, talk to classmates before your lecture starts, and maybe even make a study group. Changing your environment to a new college is not going to change how you act. You need to examine your actions to determine if the field you are in needs to be altered at all.
I also want to share that the transition to a new school is not the same as the orientation and onboarding process for incoming first-year students. As you likely experienced yourself, incoming first-year students have orientation, programming, and activities to help them create bonds with other students seeking to connect with others. While many institutions offer orientation and programming for incoming transfer students, it is not as extensive as what is provided for incoming first-year students. The often lackluster support can also make the transition more challenging—this is like arriving at the new field with a shovel when your initial field came with a tractor.
The mental energy it takes to adjust to a new environment, navigate the resources, and connect with faculty and staff can also be overwhelming. While some people are more naturally adept at managing significant life transitions, I want to emphasize that this is not easy work for anyone. Just like any transition, transferring to a new school is stressful.
Also, as a new incoming student, you will likely be randomly placed in an open spot in on-campus housing. A family member who transferred to a new institution was placed in apartment-style housing with a group of three very close friends. This established group was not interested in becoming his friend because they had an established group in their first two years at this school. Most likely, you will end up in a similar housing situation. So, while the field might be better, imagine living in a barn full of people who ignore you.
Losing degree progress is another often-ignored consideration when deciding to transfer. You may assume that completing 62 credits at your first institution, means you only need 58 more credits to reach the 120 needed, even if you change schools. This assumption is wrong. Most of the time, your second school will not accept every course you have already completed at your initial college. And, depending on the exact courses that are not approved as well as your declared major, changing institutions can set you back 1-4 semesters. As someone who helped estimate this extra time for many students, I know this can be the case. This means instead of graduating in four years from your first school, you may need a total of five years or more to graduate with your degree from the transfer school. This extra time means a longer delay in obtaining a post-graduation income, and even if the tuition is lower, you need to pay for another year of a lesser amount, which could result in more being spent on tuition overall. Your current field might need a few months to bloom, but changing to a new field could mean you need to till the soil, plant seeds, and then wait for bloom, which takes time and resources.
Another consideration is that your financial aid package may not be as comprehensive as what was provided to you at your first institution. Most schools have a predetermined budgeted amount to use toward institutional aid or scholarships for students. These funds get distributed to incoming first-year students who apply and receive a response earlier in the academic year. Then, the remaining funds are allocated to incoming transfer students. Usually, this means that your financial package may not be as generous as the one you received as an incoming first-year student.
Spending time and energy on the application process means you have fewer resources to put into your current courses and yourself. Unfortunately, this could lead to your current course grades dropping and a decline in your own well-being. This is particularly true for students with ongoing mental health and physical health diagnoses. Imagine taking time to drive and begin taking care of a new field. You spend mental energy considering the next steps and physical energy on tilling the land and removing debris. You won’t have your full energy for your current crops.
So, let this article be an argument against transferring for students who believe a change in environment is the only way to have a better college experience. Remember, the grass is not always greener somewhere else; it may just be your perspective when you are looking without focusing on your immediate surroundings. Try to make the best out of the grass you have before making a final decision to leave.
Thanks for reading.
Image credit: Pexels.