By Casey Holder and Marley Malenfant

Many students attend TCC with the ultimate goal of transferring their credits to a four-year university.

Yet when that time comes, it can be rather confusing where exactly to get started.

A University of Texas at Arlington admissions counselor suggests transfer students start the process a full year before they plan to transfer. 

Raquel Daisy, who represents UTA on NE Campus, says students should work with counselors that early so they can plan classes that will be beneficial to their major.

Being the real world, though, many students don’t necessarily know what they want as their major.

“TCC offers many resources to help students who are not sure what they want to major in,” she said.

To help them select a major, students can use testing and other resources through the counseling offices on all five campuses.

Each campus also has university representatives that can help students with any transfer questions. TR Campus has a transfer workshop the first Tuesday of every month.

Once a student has decided where to transfer, that student should begin working through the application process with a transfer counselor at that university.

Upon acceptance, students should then begin to meet with an academic advisor in the department of their major. This advisor can actually look at a student’s specific coursework, can give students credit for work done in their major and  can clear students to actually register for classes.

Of course, there is another advisor to speak to when it comes to financial aid issues, such as applying awarded grant money. Financial aid counselors are available, and Daisy suggests students who are looking for money apply early as funds are given away on a first-come, first-served basis.

SE student Hoang Vu said the transfer center gave him advice on how to know what scholarships to look for when transferring. He plans to be at the UTA next semester.

“They tell you what financial websites to go check and other ways to find money,” he said.

NE student Brad Connolly is transferring to UTA for business management and feels as though the advising system in place for students seeking to transfer is inadequate.

“It was a waste of my time,” he said. “So, I knew I was on my own.”

Connolly feels the way many students do. He’s frustrated with waiting to meet with counselors who simply search the school’s website for answers — a task he can do on his own without waiting in line, he said.