Many reasons to transfer colleges aren’t good

Last week, Lee Bierer, a North Carolina-based college admissions expert, discussed reasons why college students should transfer schools. But there are many reasons students should stick around, despite the complaints. Here are some common but not great reasons that students want to transfer, Bierer says:

• Boyfriend/girlfriend issues: Either they have had a break-up and can’t stand to be at the same campus or they are traveling every weekend to their sweetheart’s college. Neither a broken heart at your home campus nor a romance elsewhere is a good reason to uproot your academic career.

• School is too hard: It’s very common for freshmen to struggle with time-management issues. Students who coasted through high school and now find themselves at very competitive colleges may be surprised at the level of commitment it takes to keep pace. Expectations are higher for students, and there are no moms hanging around reminding students that the project that was assigned two weeks ago is due tomorrow. Students need to face these challenges and figure out how to succeed.

• Horrible roommate: An unhappy roommate situation is challenging because it is something to deal with daily. Sometimes finding other friends on the same floor and spending as little time as possible in the room is the best solution.

• Large classes/bad professors: Big lecture classes with professors who don’t recognize students are common for freshmen.

• Being homesick: Don’t diminish their feelings. While these sad thoughts are very real, this will pass.

• Administrative red tape: Since most campuses now have online class registration, you can regale your students with the “when we went to college” stories of camping out the night before at the registrar’s office. If that doesn’t work, tell them to take a chill pill. This is not grounds for transferring.

• Generally, the above items are symptoms of students not connecting socially with their peers. It’s not that they aren’t valid issues; it’s just that many of them are temporary and most can be resolved. These are the perfect reasons students should talk to their academic adviser, resident adviser and even the counseling center on campus.