With the school year soon coming to an end, many students at Bellevue College plan to transfer to a four-year university. Although their application process is complete and they already know where they’ll be transferring to, students should still be aware of some necessary steps in successfully transferring from Bellevue College.
“There are a lot of steps that tend to occur after getting accepted, which are mostly driven by each university,” said adviser and Transfer Fair organizer Audrey Fischer. For example, students should determine the dates for the university’s orientation. Additionally, students who plan on transferring should also figure out their financial aid status at the university.
“Finish strong in the classes that you are in,” advised Fischer.
With more than 50 percent of students transferring to a four-year university, BC aims to help students succeed in transitioning to another institution by offering a variety of resources, such as the Center for Career Connections, the advising center and the transfer fair.
“The transfer fair is a collection of admissions representatives from different universities. They’re mostly regional, but we’re going to have some schools from other states,” explained Fischer. Through the fair, students will have the opportunity to speak with multiple representatives from around Washington. Students should be prepared to ask questions to different admissions representatives. “Students can find important questions to ask on the Bellevue College advising website,” said Fischer.
The main advice for students who are applying to transfer next school year is to apply early. “You should know what prerequisites you need to take for your major,” said Seattle University’s
admissions representative Noelle Rollins. “Students tend to miss deadlines for their university application and their major application,” explained Fischer, “Some students miss the FAFSA deadline and don’t get access to a lot of the scholarships offered by the university.”
Additionally, students should actively contact the university’s admissions office and meet with them if possible. “If you can meet with us on campus or at a transfer fair, then it would really help us when making the decision. We really love to meet our applicants,” shared Rollins. Students should be diligent in their academics and be well prepared to study at a four-year institution where classes might be more rigorous. According to Rollins, “Seattle U has a rigorous academic program and we want our transfer students to be able to handle that.” Rollins also noted that, “Often times, students will stay in a class when they’re not doing very well in it. For Seattle U, we’d rather see a withdrawn class rather than a failed class.”
For students who were unsuccessful in the application process, Rollins suggests that they should try to contact the admissions office and figure out why they weren’t accepted. “One of the things that we do at Seattle U is to meet with any student that has not been admitted. We’ll specifically go over why you weren’t admitted and we can help you better prepare for the next admissions,” explained Rollins, “We try to be really hands on with that and we want to help students continue their education.”
The transfer fair will be held on May 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the cafeteria. Students will have access to 41 university representatives. “All the schools that work with transfer students love to talk to transfer students. Don’t hesitate to reach out and ask all the questions you want,” said Rollins.