Resources available to help make transferring easier

For many students it can be hard to decide which university to transfer to, but there are many resources available that can help them find the school that suits them best.

With the application deadline for to transfer in the Fall of 2012 by Nov. 30 rapidly approaching, students begin to ask themselves; does the university offer the program I would like to take? Can I afford the tuition fees? What kind of extra activities does it offer that are of value for me? How is the campus life? These along with many other aspects should be taken into account during the decision-making process.

Career Transfer Center Coordinator, Judi Gould, stated personal research as the most important part in the decision-making process.  Gould recommends http://www.assist.org, which focuses on California and http://www.collegesource.org as valuable platforms to start the research.

She also pointed out that the counselors and the Transfer Center can assist students at Moorpark, Ventura and Oxnard College.  

"We are not finding the answers for a student," said Gould. "We are helping them to learn getting the skills, so they can find the answers themselves."

Another tip Gould has is to talk to people who study at the university of interest. She mentioned http://www.collegeweeklive.com as a good resource that offers online chats with counselors of the various universities.

Mario Vazquez, a 19-year-old communications major at Moorpark College, who started researching schools on the Internet, says he plans on transferring to UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, NYU or CSUN.

"I went to the Web sites to see what they were known for and what their rankings are," said Vazquez.

Transfer requirements vary from university to university and major to major, thus, the individual Web sites should be checked to be well-prepared, Gould said.

The list below shows the top ten universities where MC students transferred to last year.

                    University                        Number of students                     Website

1.            CSU Northridge                                355                         http://www.csun.edu/

2.            CSU Channel Islands                     171                         http://www.csuci.edu/

3.            UC Santa Barbara                            100                         http://www.ucsb.edu/

4.            University of Phoenix                         90                         http://www.phoenix.edu/

5.            UCLA                                                    81                         http://www.ucla.edu/

6.            Cal Lutheran University                     75                         http://www.callutheran.edu/

7.            UC San Diego                                     47                         http://www.ucsd.edu/