Please help, people familiar with NY public schools

Transfer Students
1

<p>I'm posting on behalf of my sister. Basically my question is: How hard is it to transfer to a SUNY after a semester/two semesters at a community college? What does this process entail/does it usually work out in the end?</p>

<p>The background story:
My sister applied to art schools but didn't get enough money from anywhere. She sent her deposit to Keystone college, which she applied to at the last minute, but doesn't think she will like it there. She hopes to transfer to a SUNY, possibly Purchase, after a semester or two. </p>

<p>She has noticed that the local community college, which she's also been accepted to, would be considerably cheaper... in fact probably free because of her significant outside scholarships. The contribution Keystone expects is still a significant strain on our finances, and my sister would be left with over $10000/yr in loans. </p>

<p>So, she is now considering the community college. Also, the CC's course offerings would allow her to help fulfill general requirements for SUNY schools. (At Keystone she would be taking mostly art courses, which would mean that if she transferred elsewhere she would be stuck with fulfilling general requirements instead of enjoying art courses at her new school.)</p>

<p>Parents are worried about her sudden change in mind, as if she is unable to transfer successfully then she would be stuck with a two-year degree at the community college. On the other hand, if she stays with Keystone and fails to transfer, she would still be on track for a Bachelor of Fine Arts. </p>

<p>Any thoughts/ideas would be greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>A lot of people from my high school/area go to BCC (our local SUNY CC) and then go on to transfer to various SUNY schools no problem. </p>

<p>I think as long as your sister gets good grades, she should be set for transferring.</p>

3

<p>The community college she's considering happens to be BCC, so that's great to hear. I would like to open this up to anyone who's had experience transferring from a community college into a state school. We want to know any stories, what it's like, etc...</p>

4

<p>She needs to make good friends with the transfer counselors at her community college so that she is on track to transfer into one of the state universities after a year or two. It will help if she has a general notion now of which university she might like to transfer to, and what her major there might be. Chances are that she will be able to take care of all of her general ed. requirements at the community college, but if she has a sense of what her longer term goal is, she may be able to get started on some of the coursework in her major.</p>

<p>Back in the last century when I was a Teaching Assistant in the New York State College of Ag. and Life Sciences at Cornell, I got to know any number of students who had done their first two years in the community colleges in New York State. They were great kids and came to us well prepared by their previous programs. </p>

<p>I have every confidence that your sister will do well if she decides to follow this route, and I wish all of you the very best.</p>