UTK Transfer Students

5 Tips for Transfer Students at UTK
==Whether it be from a small private school or a large public school, transferring to any other university is challenging for a vast amount of reasons. Navigating your way through a new University is difficult and at times even scary. Here are five tips that will hopefully make it easier for you to adjust to life at UTK as a transfer student.==

1. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help; You’re Entitled to it.
It's easy to transition through high school into college with the mentality that your schooling is not your own. In college, however, you become the customer. Since you are personally paying for an education, unlike something like state-funded public school, you are the client. You get to decide how you go about obtaining your degree. Therefore, OWN IT! If you truly take ownership of your education, you no longer should be afraid to ask questions. A great source for people to go to ask any questions is OneStop. This is a great source because people who work in OneStop are trained to answer any questions a student might have, in regards to the Bus Routes, to financial aid. They can answer the question directly for you, and if they do not know the answer they know who to transfer you to who can answer it. You are also more than welcome to pay OneStop a visit in person, too. OneStop is located in Hodges Library on the ground floor. The link to contacting them is here.

2. Always be One Step Ahead of the Financial Aid Game/One-Stop is There for You
Believe me: finances are stressful. Yet, as stressful as discussing finances can become, it’s always better to know the details of your financial aid statement than to be in the dark. OneStop was previously mentioned in the last paragraph, it is an easy, fast way to learn more about your financial and\or academic standing at UTK. If you have any questions at all regarding your account, one-stop is the perfect office to contact. To find out more about what scholarships or aid that you might qualify for as a Transfer Student, click here. (To find out more about how to apply for the Volunteer Transfer Scholarship, click here .)

3. Attend Transfer Orientation
Orientation for Transfer students is mandatory, so when you go, make sure that you soak it all in. Take notes, keep the goodie bags and pamphlets and listen to the speakers. Since UTK is a school with about 28,000 students, it can be very tempting to feel like a needle in a haystack while you’re on campus, but keep in mind that you bring something unique to UTK as well: especially as a transfer student. Joining the Big Orange family is a long process. With orientation, you have to pick up your VolCard, Meet with an advisor, visit your residence hall, learn how to use online university systems, and a lot more things to officially be a Vol. To find out more about this process click here.

4.  Get Connected
There are many reasons why you might have transferred to UTK, that being for financial reasons, wanting to be closer to home, or you didn’t like your previous school, etc. Whatever the reason, it’s important to remain connected in some kind of social fabric. This will help alleviate anxiety and will open doorways for you to ask questions to familiar faces who have been on campus already. Furthermore, chances are that if you are a transfer student, you are closer to graduation than others. If so, you probably should also be looking for academic programs to get involved with to bolster and strengthen your resume and to help you prepare for graduation.

5. Get an Advisor that Tailors Your Schedule to Your Transfer Credits
Most advisors spend the majority of their time with freshmen and sophomores because they need more guidance than upperclassmen. However, as a transfer student, you are in a unique position. Although you might be older and have an understanding about how universities work, you might be totally unfamiliar with getting credits and classes transferred over to your academic transcript. Your advisor can help you do that. When signing up for an advisor or requesting to meet with one on GradesFirst, in the notes section that you would like an advisor that can help a transfer student specifically. To find out more about how to meet with a transfer advisor, click here . To find out more about what credits might transfer to your academic transcript, click here.