Making a Life Decision: Transferring

When a high school senior makes that decision about which college he or she would like to attend, most do so with the idea that they will be completing all four years of their college education at the school that they pick. This, as many of us know, is not always the case.Students transfer into and out of schools all the time for a variety of reasons. Students at St. Norbert College are no different.

Brian Studebaker, senior associate director of admissions at St. Norbert College said, "We will typically see anywhere from 55 to 70 students transfer into St. Norbert in the fall with another 20-25 students transferring into SNC in the spring."

Michael Stubenvoll '12 transferred into St. Norbert College from Michigan Tech University at the beginning of the spring semester.

"I didn't like Michigan Tech," Stubenvoll said, "The atmosphere here is much better."

Stubenvoll, in addition to thousands of other students around the country made the decision to transfer from the school he originally decided to attend. His reasons are very similar to many other students, and he feels like he found somewhere he can stay at St. Norbert College.

"I didn't feel like I fit in at Michigan Tech. I feel like I fit in a lot more here." Stubenvoll said.

One of the toughest parts of transferring is the transition to a new school.

"I wouldn't necessarily say that transfer students are at a disadvantage, but they do face transition issues not seen by other students." Studebaker said.

People transfer into and out of St. Norbert College for many reasons. Kelsey Finke transferred out of St. Norbert College to the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point.

"I transferred mostly because Point was closer to home and I wanted to be closer to my family." Finke said.

"St. Norbert was also too expensive and I thought a state school would be cheaper. Two of my best friends go to Point as well and that helped sway my decision."

Personally, I have made the decision to transfer out of St. Norbert College and to the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.

I thought long and hard about whether it was really something I wanted to do, and in the end I came to the conclusion that it was something I needed to do.

I intend to be an archaeology major at the University of Minnesota, which is a field that I find St. Norbert College is lacking. The opportunities I feel are just greater at a larger school like Minnesota.

I love St. Norbert College and I love the people here. It is going to be extremely hard to leave, extremely hard.

There are things I don't enjoy as much about St. Norbert College as I wish I did, and I would most definitely stay here if only the opportunities were right. It's a tough and big decision, but I had to make it.

"Don't let anybody tell you where you should go to school. Not your parents, not your friends, not anybody. It's your decision to make." Stubenvoll concluded.