Transferring how does it work?

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Hello everyone! I have a question about college, specifically community college. I have 9 credits so far and plan on taking classes for a few more years at a local community college. My question is how does transferring work? I haven't gotten a straight answer from anyone. Do I need to finish my associates (60 credits) or can I transfer before that? I could use some help with this so I can set goals. I would like to go to the University of Pittsburgh but am also considering the state schools (I live in Pennsylvania). Thank you for your time.

1. Apply to desired school.

2. Get accepted.

3. Have their "transfers" office evaluate your transcript(s) and determine what classes towards a degree with them will be considered "completed" based on coursework taken elsewhere.

Many community colleges do a good job of letting you know what classes in their catalog will or will not have issues transferring to local 4-year colleges/universities. Talk with your academic adviser if you have more questions.

Yeah, what zer0netgain said.

I was originally working on an associate's in design, concurrently with one in engineering, which would transfer to the college where I wanted to get a bachelor's in mechanical engineering.

I completed the associate's in design, but, was still a couple classes short of finishing the a.s. in engineering. I had to leave school for a few years, when I went back, to a different university and pursuing a degree in IT, it actually got me further to use the individual credits and classes than it would have to check me off as having an associate's degree. So, you'll have to speak to someone at the target school to know for sure which will be the most beneficial.

You will likely have better luck transferring college classes between schools within the same state compared to out of state schools. I switched to an out of state university as an undergrad and found that out the hard way. (I was a dual major at the time at a rather large university and decided to go only for chemistry at a smaller one that had hands-on training on instrumentation. The major I dropped had no equivalence classes in engineering at that university, so those particular classes did not transfer to that school.) Many states have articulation agreements within a cluster of schools, whereby classes from one school transfer into another school. However, they may not transfer completely at the same level. For instance, a 200 level class that you took at one school may transfer in at a 100 level course at the other school if that is what they rank it at, even with a degree in place. I would contact the college that you are interested in and ask them what will likely transfer from the school that you are at. There is a catch to that as well, since not all of the people in admissions are always knowledgeable about what actually transfers in. Good luck on your choices, I hope everything transfers for you.

You have a few options. You can finish your associates degree (A.S. degrees, not A.A.S. degrees) at the community college and transfer right into a Bachelor's program at Pitt.

You can also apply and transfer to Pitt prior to finishing your associates. You may have to take additional courses or repeat courses, if there isn't an equivalent transfer course at Pitt.

Most of the community colleges in PA have consortium agreements with the state schools (PASSHE), and the PA commonwealth schools (Pitt, Penn State, and Temple University), which means, that when you transfer, you can go straight into your major at the new school and have a better opportunity to get additional financial aid and other support services.

I hope this is somewhat helpful. If you would like additional information about transferring in the PA systems, please let me know. I recently graduated from a PA state school, but I have years of experience navigating the transfer process (I transferred quite a few times) and the PA higher education systems.

Take care!