Sometimes, things just don’t work out with a college. Maybe you decide to change your major to one that’s not offered at your school. Maybe you want to move closer to (or farther away from) home. Maybe you just desperately need something different. Whatever the reason, you may find transferring between schools. And while this can certainly be a big hassle, there are some things that you can do to ease the process of transferring to a new college.

The first thing that you should do when you’re thinking about transferring is to start sending your applications early. If you can get your transfer applications out well in advance of the semester that you’d like to transfer before, you’ll make the process a lot easier. The earlier you find out where you’ve been accepted and decide where you’re transferring, the earlier you can do the rest of the things on this list, and the less stressful the process will be.

Once you’ve confirmed that you’ll be transferring to a new college, you should speak with an academic counselor there and discuss transferring your credits. Chances are you’ll be able to transfer the vast majority of the classes that you took, but sometimes schools have different requirements and the credits will be lost. If you find out that some of your classes won’t transfer, you can take it up with the dean or the head of the department and try to make a case for transferring the credits so that you don’t have to retake classes.

Upon getting the academic things squared away, you can start focusing on the actual move. If you’re transferring before spring semester, you may find it difficult to get on-campus housing, so you’ll probably have to start apartment hunting. Use sites like Apartments.com and Move.com can be very helpful in determining which options you have. Finding the local Apartment Guide can make things a lot easier as well. Visit several apartments and get your application in early so that you can confirm your move-in before the semester starts.

After you get your accommodations figured out, you’re done with the most pressing things. Now it’s time to focus on preparing for class and getting to know people. To prepare yourself for class at your new college, make sure that you’ve correctly enrolled in the classes that you need. You should also make sure that your student email address or e-services account is functioning properly. After that, attend a new student orientation, and you’re ready to start calling yourself a student of your new college.

Transferring to a new college can be difficult—and frustrating—but if you think ahead and plan it out well, you should have few problems. Good luck!

As always, if you have any questions, comments or funny stories you'd like me to share about college or the blog, email me at stu@stuvu.com