According to a federal study, as many as 60 percent of students attend more than one college before graduating with a bachelor’s degree. Hopefully, most do it for the right reasons. Here are some common but not great reasons that students want to transfer.

Boyfriend/girlfriend issues: Either they went to college with their boyfriend/girlfriend and have now broken up and can’t stand to be on the same campus with them, or they are traveling every weekend to their sweetheart’s college and they “might as well go there.” 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. Sometimes when students transfer because they felt swamped, they’re surprised that their problems follow them to the next college.

Just not feeling the vibe.

• 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. Make sure your students do their best to change it up next semester.
• 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. Rather than throwing in the towel, teaching students that they have the capacity to deal with and overcome these issues is an incredibly valuable life lesson.
 

Lee Bierer is an independent college adviser in Charlotte. Send questions to: lee@collegeadmissionsstrategies.com