Transfer101

“I don’t know if I could have transferred successfully without my parents’ support,” says Elizabeth Hils, “They helped me so much through the whole process. My mom went to look at the school with me. My dad helped me with the paperwork.” Now an elementary education major at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, who expects to graduate in Spring 2011, Elizabeth began her higher education experience at the northeast campus of San Antonio College, which became Northeast Lakeview College while she was there.

“My plan always was to go to college the full four years or more to get my bachelors degree,” say Elizabeth. “But my parents and I decided it was best to enroll in community college as a dual-credit student to get my basics out of the way. Also, I wasn’t quite ready to move away from home when I was 18.”

The most challenging aspect of transferring to TAMU-CC, Elizabeth says, was the paperwork. “Starting the process early helped,” she says. “It gave us time to get all the paperwork finished and sent in and it gave me time to mentally and emotionally prepare for leaving home. We first went to look at TAMU-CC almost a year before I would start there.”

She also says it helps to know what you want to do in life. “Don’t ever give up on your goals, she says. “If you know what major you want, look at schools that specialize in those majors or are known for that major. Going to a transfer fair helped me. I got so much information about many different schools. Decide what you want and then get information about different universities and decide which one is the closest match to your desires.”

For Derek Newman, the choice to attend community college was a family matter. His mother, a professor at Temple College, understood the financial benefits of Derek taking his core coursework at community college before transferring to a four-year university. And, Derek soon discovered there were other benefits as well. He excelled on Temple’s tennis team, finishing fifth and seventh in the nation during his time at the school. “I didn’t have the head to play tennis in high school,” says Derek. “I would flop a set because I would get so frustrated at the game. At Temple, coach Dick King whipped me into shape mentally and physically.”

The motivation he found at Temple also extended off the court. “Temple was a great school because of the teacher to student ratio,” he says. “In my biggest class at TC there were 33 students. I could create a much closer interaction with the professor and honestly understand the material better.”

As with any athlete, Derek understands the value of hard work and discipline. When asked what advice he’d offer to potential transfer students, Derek doesn’t hesitate: “Try your hardest at the community college because it’s difficult to transfer into a prestigious four-year university with a low-end GPA.” In May 2009, Derek’s dedication paid off. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a BS in sports management and a minor in business.

Born and raised in Tanzania, Zahir Poonawala had been in the United States about six years when he began his higher education at Brookhaven College in Farmer’s Branch. Today, after a brief stop at the University of Houston, he majors in business administration, with a concentration in management information systems, at The University of Texas at Dallas; he’ll graduate in May 2010. For him, community college made the most sense financially, because he understood the Texas core curriculum would transfer to any Texas public university. He was correct, and says that his organizational skills and advance research enabled him to transfer without a hitch. Indeed, when Tau Sigma National Honor Society for transfer students formed a UT Dallas chapter, Poonawala was one of 93 to win membership with a first-semester grade-point average of at least 3.5.

His smartest tactic, he believes, was visiting UT Dallas — not once, but several times — before applying to transfer. “I would encourage students to do campus visits during which they should see the campus, visit a classroom, spend time with a counselor and make new friends,” he says. “These aspects are not visible on any school’s Web site!” Such visits enabled him to question other students about the best classes and professors, as well as to look into career-related organizations he could join. (He settled on SAP Users Group, in which he’s currently an officer.) By the time he actually enrolled, he had a very clear picture of what he’d be doing the next two years.

Ask Jim Lehrer how many honorary degrees he has and he’ll pause, thinking about it, before he tells you “forty or so.” But ask him which degrees mean the most to him and there’s no hesitation: “I earned my bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and my associate’s degree at Victoria College.”

Though it’s been more than 50 years since the famed broadcast journalist and writer was a transfer student, his journey from community college to a four-year university is still vivid in his mind. “I went to Victoria College because we didn’t have money — my brother was already at UT Austin — but I went with the idea that I was going to transfer and get a college degree.”

He also knew he was going to be a writer and immediately signed up for the school newspaper, The Jolly Roger, to hone his skills. Working in the bus depot as a ticket agent at night, Jim fulfilled his core curriculum and served as editor of the paper for the next two years, writing and editing every story. “I was the first person who had ever volunteered for the paper,” he says. “I was a one-stop shop.”

Despite that fact, transferring to a prestigious four-year school proved challenging. After writing to 37 universities to find the best journalism program, Jim applied to the University of Missouri School of Journalism. “They sent me a letter saying they had never heard of Victoria College and that the credits wouldn’t transfer,” he says. “They said I would be admitted as a provisional sophomore.”

With encouragement and support from the dean of Victoria College, Jim protested the decision. “He was miffed,” says Jim. “He told me ‘We’re going to take them on if you’re willing to take them on.’” The dean wrote a letter on Jim’s behalf urging the university to “give him a test on anything” knowing full well he’d pass with flying colors. “The dean administered five exams and I aced them,” says Jim. “They actually admitted me as a high junior.”

Now the beloved anchor of PBS’s signature evening newscast, a frequent moderator of presidential elections, and a respected author with 19 books to his name, Jim has little to prove with regard to his exceptional talent or journalistic chops. Nonetheless, he remembers a time when that wasn’t the case, and he remembers the people who helped him along the way. “Everything that happened to me at Victoria College,” he says, “the encouragement, the opportunities, the nurturing — literally helped me become a practicing writer.”

He also remembers how difficult transitioning to a new school can be.“Nothing is scarier than walking into a new classroom all alone with everyone staring at you,” he says. “Journalism school is a tough place, very competitive. I went from top dog to copyboy. But you have to be determined. You have to be proactive. Life is full of steps, one after another. You have to think of community college as step one. If you have a dream you’re determined to fulfill, it’s a great place to test yourself and spread your wings.”

Jim Lehrer is the news anchor for “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” on PBS. He attended middle school in Beaumont, TX, and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas. He attended Victoria College before transferring to the University of Missouri School of Journalism. After three years in the U.S. Marine Corps, he began his news career in Dallas, first as a newspaperman, and then later as the anchor on a local news show. Lehrer started work with PBS in 1972, and in 1975 started “The MacNeil/Lehrer Report” with Robert MacNeil. Nicknamed the “Dean of Moderators,” Lehrer has been the moderator for ten debates among candidates vying for President of the United States of America. He is an acclaimed author of non-fiction and fiction, drawing on his life experiences and his interests in history and politics. He is also well known as a bus enthusiast. His father was a bus driver and also briefly operated a bus company. As a community college student, he worked as a Trailways ticket agent.