Transferring to a four-year institution is not as easy as it may seem.

Upon arrival, the student feels confident after completing so many credits elsewhere that the transition to a new college should be simple. There’s an illusion that every class you need will be readily available for you to sign up for.

This is not the case.

I came to this institution with almost all of my general education classes fulfilled, electives pouring off the pages of my transcripts, and even a few core classes already taken care of. Now I am forced to take all of my core classes at the same time. It seems like a daunting task, but having so much experience in college makes me feel as though it is a task I would be able to handle. There is one insurmountable problem though — prerequisites.

A student is not allowed to take upper level courses in their major without having completed the prerequisites, which is understandable if you are a freshman that needs to fulfill every course on degree works before graduating.

Being a transfer student and coming in with most classes already fulfilled makes this task much more difficult. I can’t sign up for any upper level classes that I need because I have to take two basic courses first. But if I do that, I won’t be able to enroll full time, which would prevent me from getting the financial aid I need. Also, the courses I need can’t be taken concurrently with my lower level classes.

The battle between future professors and myself is already unfolding. I have been in college long enough to know the type of course load I can handle. It should be on a student-to-student basis as to whether or not they are capable of taking more advance classes to save time lost in the transfer.

I refuse to go to school part-time next semester for I will lose my financial aid, and yet I cannot sign up to go full time without taking a handful of elective courses that have nothing to do with my major.

I understand that there are plenty of students here that are simply trying to get pushed ahead to rush through and see how quickly they can finish a degree, regardless of the grades they are receiving. I on the other hand, would just like to be able to take enough classes to be here for more than 6 credit hours a week.

I have tried to move ahead, and get a hold of professors to push me into their courses, but have come up short. They try to tell me that there is protocol and they cannot just push students into classes because they want to be in them. Even after explaining that I have fulfilled all my elective credits and general education credits that is still not enough to be considered for these classes. I cannot move forward without these courses, but I cannot take any filler courses, and yet I am expected to lie stagnant in the 200 levels.

Being a transfer student, even from another SUNY school, is not as easy as it could be.

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