Transfer Struggles

In Moves From School to School, Students Face Various Issues

By Briana Walton

Becca Coffey lost academic credits when she transferred from Slippery Rock University to the University of South Florida after her mother had an accident and had to move to Florida.

After family issues caused her to transfer to Point Park, Kidde Kokole had days of uncertainty because administrators constantly altered her credit status, which was extremely aggravating.

Fortunately for Ben Helinski, all of his credits transferred to Point Park from his local community college including the classes he took in high school, making his move from one to the other nearly seamless.

These are just a few students who have faced struggles to have their credits transfer from one school to another when life tossed them curveballs.  They found that despite some colleges claiming to be transfer friendly, students need to pay close attention to avoid errors or omissions that could be costly.

"I don't think a miscount is a reason to cause somebody so much stress," said Kokole.  "It's really disheartening."

Transfer Ease

After her mother’s accident, Coffey decided to move with her family instead of staying at Slippery Rock.

Becca Coffey poses for a photo in her living room in her home in Florida. Photo courtesy of Becca Coffey.

“Staying with my family is more affordable and healthier,” Coffey said. “I’ve suffered with an eating disorder and staying with my family helps.”

The easiest part about transferring for Coffey was making friends because she describes herself as a sociable person, but the hardest part was getting her classes to transfer.

Two of the classes that she took at Slippery Rock did not transfer to the University of Southern Florida. As a theater major at SRU, Coffey only had her major classes left. Unfortunately, she had to take another math and science class because they did not transfer to USF.

“If I was still up north I would have graduated already,” Coffey said.

Coffey changed her major to communications and now is minoring in theater. She feels that USF does not focus as much on the arts as SRU did and it shows in the career fair.

“The career fair is for all majors, but it felt more like it was for the sciences and teaching,” Coffey said. “What about the performing arts?”

Coffey said that she liked SRU better than USF because she learned a lot more at SRU for the short time that she was there.

SRU also helped with the transfer by making sure her resume was more professional and her admission letter for USF was well written.

"We try to be as transfer friendly as possible, if we can (help), we will," said Kim Tissue of the Slippery Rock admissions department.

Scrambling for Credits

One of the most difficult parts about transferring for Kokole was adapting to a small city as well as being told that not all of her credits would transfer. It appeared that they would at first, but then at the last-minute Point Park said otherwise, which caused major issues.

Kokole started her schooling at Hofstra University until family issues arose and she ended up taking a year off from school. She then visited Pittsburgh and decided that she wanted to continue her schooling in the city.

Transferring from a relatively large campus to a small one in the city was a challenge for Kokole, but the worst challenge that she had to face was having all of her credits transfer with her.

When she came to Point Park, it looked like all of her credits were going to transfer causing her to graduate on time. Then, the university delivered good news saying she would end up being able to graduate early due to a change in the credit evaluation system.

Kidde Kokole poses for a photo as she sits on a stone wall at Village Park at Point Park University. Photo by Briana Walton

During her final semester however, Point Park told her that she was missing three credits even though she was taking all the classes they originally told her she would have to take. To make matters worse, the university did not notify her of this until the last day to add or drop a class.

“We had that long weekend and then Tuesday morning came and I checked my email and saw my degree audit saying I would not be graduating on time,” Kokole said.

She spent almost eight hours that day searching for a class that she would be able to take, Luckily, she found an online class that she was able to attend.

Although she was about a week or so behind the rest of the class, she was able to email her professor and find out what she needed to do in order to catch up.

Plotting a Course

Helinski had college planned out to a certain degree. When he was a sophomore in high school he knew he wanted to study film at Point Park, but he also knew that it would be an expensive endeavor.

He made a plan to go to community college to not only save some money, but also take some general classes. He went to Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Somerset, where he was able to get help with the transfer process from a supervisor.

“The supervisor used to be in the screenwriting department at Point Park so he was able to tell me which classes would transfer and which ones wouldn’t,” Helinski said. That caused him to pay close attention when he signed up for courses at the community college.

Thankfully all of Helinski’s credits transferred to Point Park, but he has still faced some challenges.

In the first couple weeks in Pittsburgh, Helinski felt that the university catered more towards freshman. It took him a few weeks to find a group of friends.

Although Helinski has seen the perks of transferring like not having to take some of the classes freshman have to endure, he still sees the negative side of being a transfer student. Even though Helinski came to the school as a sophomore he may have to be at the university for an extra year due to him being at a freshman level in terms of the cinema department.

Sports Management Transfer

Tucker Schmidt had always wanted to have a job in the sports field in some form, yet he was not sure what specific job he wanted to do. During high school, he took some classes as a dual enrolment program. After high school, he attended the Community College of Allegheny County where he took basic course.

During his time at CCAC he discovered that he wanted to get a job in sport management, which was a program that Slippery Rock University offered. Having heard good things about the university, Schmidt met with a transfer counselor in September of 2013 where he learned more information about the program.

“He told us essentially that if I wanted to get out of college in 4 years then I should transfer after one year at CCAC,” Schmidt said.

Tucker Schmidt poses for a photo. Photo courtesy of Tucker Schmidt

The transfer counselor told him that even if he spent the two years at CCAC to get his Associates Degree, he would have to attend SRU for 3 years.

After the meeting with the transfer counselor, Schmidt went back to SRU’s campus about a month later for its Fall Showcase.

“Basically, what the Fall Showcase is, is where different majors are represented and one of the professors from the department is there and they will talk to prospective students,” said Schmidt.

He met with the head of the department at the time and learned even more about the program. After that, he knew this was the path for him. Shortly after the showcase, Schmidt applied and was accepted a few months later.

Schmidt was one of the fortunate students who had all of his credits transfer. The most difficult part about the transition was the adjustment from living in his childhood home to a suite with five other guys that he did not know.

Alternative to Vet School (For Now)

Calley Connelly knew for a long time that she wanted to be a veterinarian. While she attended CCAC she began volunteering and working at veterinary clinics. She knew that when she was finished at CCAC she would have to transfer somewhere, but veterinary school was a large investment.

“If it is going to be a big financial burden I figured I want to go somewhere that is close, that I can commute to, and somewhere that’s going to give me a great quality education,” Connelly said.

Pitt became the best option for her based on the tuition cost and the fact that it is relatively close to her house compared to some other colleges.

Calley Connelly sits at an old log cabin close to the Cathedral of Learning in Pitt’s campus in Oakland. Photo courtesy of Calley Connelly. Photo by: Courtney Brown (Connelly’s stepsister)

The process of transferring was an easy one for Connelly. The first step was the application consisting of a few short answers which was simple for Connelly. She then had to submit her transcripts from high school as well as CCAC.

Connelly, like the others, was able to have most of her credits transfer from CCAC to Pitt. The ones that did not transfer over she was able to make up relatively easily.

Even though taking the general classes at CCAC may have helped her complete some of the courses she needed to take, her grades began to suffer at Pitt.

At CCAC, Connelly felt the classes were simple enough and passed all of them, however when she began to attend Pitt, the classes she was taking were more challenging. Being a biology major did not help her situation.

As a bio major with most of her prerequisite courses completed, she was left with mostly science classes. In her first semester at the university she took three more science classes.

Calley Connelly poses with her horse, Rusty. Photo courtesy of Calley Connelly. Photo by Gracie Soergel.

“I’m working two jobs and commuting to school,” Connelly said.  “I was running myself thin basically and would burn out all the time.”

Now that she has become acclimated to the university and the way the classes work, she feels that she has a better handle on her college path.

Briana Walton is a photojournalist who graduated from Point Park University in April 2018. She focuses primarily in photography and creating documentaries.