Transfer Tips

As many of you know, Seattle Central Community College acts like a springboard to many of its transfer students. Many students (including yourself) may be looking to transfer by Fall of 2009.

If this is the case, you need to start looking for schools NOW! February 15th is the due date for college applications at the University of Washington. This is an average deadline for most 4 year colleges.

1. How can you narrow your choices down?
Be specific! Make your perfect school in your mind. Does it have small classes or big ones? Does it support Greek life? Are the dorms co-ed? Is it a research school? Do the number of undergraduates dwarf the number of graduate students? Does it support living off campus? Are the cafeterias good? Do they have child care? Do you want to move? Do you want to stay in Seattle?

The more specific you are, the smaller the pool of colleges you will have to choose from. Knowing what your dream school has and why you want to be a part of it will also make writing your personal statement much easier.

2. What about money?
As community college students, lets me honest, it is all about the money. A free ride to one school may just be the deciding factor for you, regardless of criteria. Thus, when you file your FAFSA, you should state as many reasonable college options as possible.

Sure maybe you did want to be a "husky" but that all might change when Western offers you a $30,000/year financial aid package. You will never know what colleges have to offer until you ask, so make sure you are broad in your FAFSA specification.

In addition, now is a good time to get involved with college clubs or associations. Nothing looks worse on a college/scholarship application then a blank space in that box that asks about your contributions to your community.

3. Test Requirements & Transferring Credits
I can't stress how important it is to meet/communicate with transfer advisers at your potential schools as soon as you have made up your mind. You need to know what classes you should be taking to transfer effectively, and which classes will be a waste of money/time because you may have to retake them when you transfer anyway.

You should also make sure there are no other oddball requirements such as SAT testing (for those of us that did not grow up in the US), specific SAT subject tests, placement testing, or admissions tests such as essay writing. These are all good things to know about in advance so that you can start preparing.


The majority of transfer students at Seattle Central Community College will be transferring to the University of Washington, and because of that I have included some relevant links:

Click here for transfer sessions (note the special student to student meetings at the bottom)
Click here for directions to UW (its only one bus from SCCC)
Click here for new student information

I know most of you students should be finishing up the first of your mid-terms by the end of the week. Keep up the good work!

Life after Seattle Central

Congratulations to the following individuals that have successfully transferred from a community college to a 4 year college (and with a little bit of extra pocket change too)!

Academic Achievement in Business Scholarship
Fawziah Al-Hlaly

Associated Student Council Student Leadership Endowed Scholarship for Transfer Students
Fawziah Al-Hlaly
Darren Branning
Mohamed Hassan
Taylor Losey
Stephanie Pham
Linda Witkowski

Richard E. Baldwin/Windermere Transfer Scholarship
Thuy-An Nguyen

Broadway High School Alumni Foundation Endowment Scholarship for Transfer Students
Taylor Losey
Linda Witkowski

Broadway High School Alumni Foundation Endowment Scholarship for Transfer Students
(In Memory of William Wilton)
Stephanie Pham

Margaux "Tima" Manzon Memorial Scholarship
Kim Ton

Phi Theta Kappa-Alpha Chi Zeta Chapter Scholarship
Rina Thi

Seattle Central Opportunity Transfer Scholarship
Nicole Garner
Mohamed Hassan
Hoa Le
Feuy Saephan
Kajsa Söderlund
Iskender Suleimanov
Rina Thi

Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium Scholarship
Jack Vorhies
Kami Zhong

Polly Schulz Whitehead Memorial Transfer Scholarship
Jamal Ahmed
Darren Branning
Partia Naghibi

Some schools that these excellent students are going to include the University of Washington, Washington State University, UC Berkley, and UCLA.

Do you know any of these students? It might be a good idea to renew contact if you do, especially if you have plans to go to any of the schools above in the future!