A Cover Letter Serves As An Introduction To Your Resume, Encouraging An Employer To: Fill & Download for Free

Which came first - the chicken or the egg? Which came first, the job or the experience? Ah, two of life’s greatest questions.From my vantage point, you're not in a catch 22 at all since we ALL at one point had to apply and interview for our first real job - from Zuckerberg and Gates, to Oprah and Madonna."I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes.” ― Charles R. Swindoll.Something that came through in your writing is your attitude/perception. To say that you studied a subject for three years and the course “was a joke” is telling.Another comment is your belief that you "have no skills, either.” My 5 year old niece has skills - albeit none that can earn her minimum wage at this point. But even she, at that young age, has skills. So I am convinced that you, at age 20, definitely have skills. Marketable ones, in fact!You say that “people who got jobs straight after school have a 4-5 year head start.” Maybe. Maybe not. Let’s focus less on what perceived advantages others have and focus on strategically presenting yourself as a desirable team contributor.I sense the tone in the writing is simply your frustration with the process, which is completely understandable. You are 100% correct in acknowledging the psychological affects of a lengthy job search.You ask, what chance do you have, which reminds me of another quote...“Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” -Ralph Waldo EmersonThe good news is - you can do more than post and pray - or as you refer to it, “applying for jobs and hoping [you’ll] get one.”Let’s start with the facts you mentioned.1) You state you have a good CV and have done mock interviews and have been told you did well.I would tend to agree with the former, since you’re getting interviews. "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” like the 80s song says. Keep using that version of your résumé, but be open to enhancing your LinkedIn profile with industry rich keywords that may help you “be found” by recruiters for jobs that aren’t posted online.As for the latter, who is conducting these mock interviews? Are they the types of people who have actual first hand knowledge of the recruiting/hiring process of the desired industry? If so, awesome! You're in good shape. If not, seek out a few trusted professionals who are willing to give you honest feedback. There are always areas you can improve upon. Be open to the idea that each interview is a learning experience, teaching you more about yourself and helping you sharpen your thinking/communication skills on your road to your first job.2) You are getting interviews.This is great. Be willing to seek out/receive constructive feedback that is not always positive.Consider:How do you prepare for the interviews?What questions do you ask your interviewer?How do you follow up after the interview?What could you do differently/better after your next interview to seal the deal?3) You feel your skills could be improved.If you were a student for three years at a career college or university, you should have access to a career center for leads, contacts, and resources. Utilize that center. Keep in touch with your professors. You had to have learned something (if only to fully research programs next time and talk to alumni before enrolling). If nothing else, maximize your connections and friendships.Reinforce your knowledge with free online courses. Udemy, Coursera, and even YouTube are amazing free resources. Pick up a marketable skill and offer your services online via Craigslist or Thumbtack for quick earnings until you get the job you’re after.Remember to include your soft skills when selling yourself to employers. Outside of technical knowledge what else do you bring to the table? Are you a strong researcher? Do you pick up new concepts quickly? Or are you the master of organization? Embrace your soft skills and know that even this job search, tortuous as it may feel, is enhancing your skills and developing your character. Your perseverance, resilience and resourcefulness, to name a few, are being put to the test daily.Uncover and rediscover those skills that may have become dormant as you focused solely on getting a job. Embrace the idea of becoming a lifelong learner. We never truly master a thing. There is always more to learn. No one expects you to be an expert in your first job. Being willing, teachable, and flexible are key.4) You are starting to feel the mental strain of not seeing your job search goal realized.Do yourself a favor. Take a break. Do things other than interview and search for jobs during the week. Get physical. Engage in your favorite outdoor activity. Sweat. It helps manage stress.And what’s that thing? You know, the thing you’ve always done for your friends and family for free and that doesn’t feel like work to you. For me, it was resume writing, going all the way back to college. Before that, as a young girl, it was word games. For you, maybe it’s painting, or cooking, or designing web sites, or tinkering with computers and fixing things. Do more of that to fill the time. Yes, that your hobby/passion/natural gifting. Maybe that thing could generate income for you during your downtime (and serve as filler for your resume).Let your friends and family know you’re looking for a job and ask them for a connection/introduction to someone who is working. Hang out with friends who inspire and encourage you. Be willing to take a job that is not ideal but may help you start building a work history."Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert EinsteinCreate a plan of action for the next few weeks of things you can do differently. Whether meeting with someone already in your ideal role for coffee, or attending a networking session, or taking a break from the search and volunteering to gain the exposure/contacts you need. Volunteering, by the way, is a great way to bridge the gap on your resume that you’re worrying about that may “affect [you] in the long run."Also, how have you been finding roles? If you’ve been using Indeed, switch it up and use SimplyHired. Been using Idealist? Try OpportunityKnocks instead. If you've been doing general searches, try a more niche/regional site for leads. Customize your cover letter. (I can't count how many times I received letters addressed to Disney when I was recruiting for E! Entertainment. Proofread much?)Instead of applying online to the roles you find, hand-select your top 2 roles of interest each week and research the company on LinkedIn/on the web. Send a well-written note to the recruiter or hiring manager directly via LinkedIn or email.Apply for/seek out different types of roles than the ones you've been targeting and not landing due to lack of experience. Skill based vs. title based searches can open your eyes to new possibilities instead of the same old stale ones. You'd be surprised how different the job search results are when you search for "Administrative Assistant" and when you search for the words 'Excel Word phones writing scheduling' within a job description. If you need more specific information on how to get started with any of the above, let me know.Thoughts create reality. -Michael ForresterA year is a long time to search for work. My longest search to date was 8 months, and it was discouraging some days, and devastating others, with glimmers of hope scattered throughout. It was also eye-opening.Around the four-month mark, I started doing the things I’m recommending to you. I made serving others with my talents, exercising daily, and focusing on networking in "out of the box" ways my focus. This, instead of my previous strategy of submitting resumes online 8-10 hours a day. I don't know that it turned my search around (since I still searched for four more months) but it turned my mind/perception/attitude around. Having a purpose other than looking for a job gave me clarity and energy to focus on adding value to someone/something. In truth, the things I did then (blogging on career related topics, helping others find work, asking people in my ideal position for 15 minutes of their time, listening, adapting) are still paying off several years later.Get creative. You know that love of word games I mentioned having as a young girl? It helped me win cash on a game show called Lingo during a previous difficult job search of mine years ago.En conclusion, as the French sayThe truth is, hindsight is 20/20. Don’t beat yourself up over what you should have done (i.e., securing an internship before graduation). Start from today. You will land your first job (we all did) and you will appreciate it even more knowing just how hard you worked just to find it. Hadn't you heard? Finding a job is a full time job.Oh, and one last quote:“If the road is easy, you're likely going the wrong way.” - Terry GoodkindSee also: How should one deal with employment gaps in their resume?, How do you get a job with no previous experience?, What is a strong career move in the ICT sector?

We need more information. What year in college are you? What is your SAT score? What college are you attending? What school do you wish to transfer to? What is your high school GPA? What is your major? What is your expected college GPA? What courses are you taking? How many credits? Did you apply to the school that you wish to transfer to and if so, were you wait listed or denied?The information may help decide whether achieving good grades in your present classes is sufficient to show that you can handle college level coursework, and therefore, not a risk in admitting you as a transfer student.You may need to do more if the school is highly selective in accepting transfer students.”Should you retake the SAT/ACT if you are applying to transfer? If your college grades are all A’s and your score is within the school’s 25th/75th percentile score, you do not need to retake the SAT or ACT. “How to Transfer Colleges Successfully: Complete GuideSAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and TipsPosted by Dora Seigel | Aug 29, 2015 6:24:47 PMCOLLEGE ADMISSIONSTransferring colleges can be a very difficult decision to make, but you need to find the college that is the right fit for you even if it means transferring. Whether you are trying to transfer from a 2-year school to a 4-year school or from one 4-year university to another, this article is to help you on your journey to transfer!Why transfer?There are many valid reasons to transfer, and before you apply to transfer, you need to figure out what your reason is. The school you're applying to transfer to will want to know why you are choosing to leave: Did you not fit in with the other students? If so, did you try to fit in? Did you join any clubs, teams or Greek life? Did you attend events?Do they not have your desired program of study? Did you decide to switch majors and your school does not have your new major? Did you apply undecided and realize you have a passion for a specific major your school does not have?Did you graduate from a 2-year program with an associate’s degree and now want to pursue a bachelor’s?These are all very valid reasons to transfer. If you are looking to find a college to transfer to, I recommend using the College Board College Search Portal to help you find the right college for you. This portal allows you to search by school size, location, major, diversity, if transfer credits are accepted, and by many more options. If you felt like your school is too small, search by school size to find a larger university, or if you want to be a fine arts major, search by major and find a school with a fine arts program. Whatever you are looking for, before starting your search, make sure you qualify to transfer.Do I qualify to transfer schools?Most universities require that you have completed at least 8 courses at another university to qualify as a transfer student; otherwise, you must apply as a freshman. So long as you have those credits, most schools will let you apply to transfer as either a sophomore or junior (some schools let applicants apply to transfer in either the spring or fall; others only let applicants transfer in the fall) to find out a school’s exact policy, search “[College Name] transfer policy” in Google.Note: high-school students, who dual enroll at a local community college during high school, still apply as freshman, not as transfer students.How hard is it to transfer?It depends on the school. If you want to know a school’s specific transfer rate, search “[College Name] Transfer Acceptance Rate.”At some schools, it is more difficult to be admitted as a transfer than as a freshman; while at others, it may be easier to be admitted as a transfer. Some schools only admit transfers if students admitted as freshman choose to dropout or take time off, leaving very few spots for transfer applicants. Other schools plan to take transfer students, holding spots for these students. Some schools may take more transfers because these applicants are stronger, having proved their academic prowess at a 4-year or 2-year college institution. Other schools have lower qualifications for transfer students in order to fill up their classes (and make the most money), since transfer students are not factored in to the school's freshman admit profile (or their overall admission rate) both of which are published and are typically used as a assessment of the school's prestige and academic rigor.Also, transfer applications are often need-aware such as at Brown University, meaning that a transfer applicant’s ability to pay for tuition, room and board is factored making an admission decision. Whatever the school's reason, the difference in freshman admission and transfer admission is striking.Check out the transfer admission rates for Harvard and Notre Dame: Harvard University takes about 15 transfers per year out of about 1500 applicants (1% admit rate for transfers vs 5.9% for freshman) while Notre Dame takes about 190 out of 500 applicants (37% admit rate for transfers vs 21.2% for freshman). You can check out transfer statistics on several schools from the 2012 fall class here.What is the transfer application like?Some schools may vary slightly from this format, but in general, the transfer application is very similar to the normal college application. The transfer application includesCommon Application including Personal Statement and SupplementTranscripts, High School and CollegeMid-Year Report *****different from the normal college applicationSAT or ACT Score (most schools)Letters of RecommendationMajor Specific Requirements: Portfolio, Resume, or Additional Writing Sample (only for certain majors at certain schools)To check a school’s specific requirements, search “[College Name] Transfer Application.” I will delve into more on each of these components below.Personal Statement and SupplementThese are two of the MOST crucial parts of your transfer application. As I said before, you need to tell your story of deciding to transfer and this is your opportunity. If you do not tell it in your personal statement and/or supplement, the admissions officer will not know why you should be invited to attend their school. Be open and honest about why you are deciding to transfer and why you NEED to transfer. Try to explain why their school is truly your perfect fit.If you don’t believe me, here's a quote from the Yale University Admissions Office: “Transfer candidates should also have particularly compelling and well-defined academic reasons for wishing to attend Yale. Wanting to leave one’s current school is not a sufficient argument for admission to Yale. Transfer candidates should explain in their application essays how studying at Yale would give them an educational opportunity particular to their interests that could be experienced nowhere else. The Admissions Committee also gives serious consideration to a transfer applicant’s motivation, curiosity, energy, leadership ability, and distinctive talents. The personal essays and evaluations from college faculty members, deans, and secondary school counselors provide a great deal of insight into these qualities. We hope to find students who have made significant contributions to their college and local community.” How do you explain how their school is your perfect fit? Well, here is a sample mini-transfer personal statement:“My reason for wanting to transfer arises from a desire to search for those people I really fit in with. I have had a fine experience at my college so far; I enjoy my classes and have made many friends, but something is missing. I yearn for that intellectual challenge surrounded by students who inspire me to be great. I have tried to make this school right for me and search for potential lifelong friends. I have joined the Cooking club, club softball team, and the Oscar Wilde fan club. My experience at my school has convinced me more than ever that your school is my perfect fit, not because I long for the prestige of your institution, but because I long to be with the people who will truly challenge and inspire me everyday.” In addition to the personal statement, most schools require a supplementary essay (usually much shorter than the personal statement), and in the supplement, you have to address a school specific question. Typically, the supplement asks, "Why Our School?"You really need to have a great answer for that question. These two essays (the personal statement and supplement) are very similar, but there is an important distinction between the two. The personal statement needs to show who you are through a story and explain why you, as you are, want to transfer or did not belong at your former school (as I did above in the example). On the other hand, the supplement needs to explain for what academic reason do you want to transfer.Here is the personal statement prompt for all UC Schools such as UC Berkeley and UCLA, "Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?" Again, the focus is on you and your uniqueness, why you as you are, don't fit in at your school. What personal reason do you have for transferring? Were you at a school that was too small for you? Too big? Did you not fit in with the students at that school? Did you visit a friend at Notre Dame and realize you fit in there? Here is the transfer supplement prompt for all UC Schools such as UC Berkeley and UCLA, "What is your intended major? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had in the field — such as volunteer work, internships and employment, participation in student organizations and activities — and what you have gained from your involvement." The focus here is more on the institute you are applying to. Why do you want to go to that school and study that major? What academic reason do you have for transferring? Did you realize your passion for fashion journalism and NYU has a top journalism program in a city where you could intern at fashion magazines? Try to answer both prompts as specifically as you can. Do not be general or vague.BAD for supplement essay: I want to attend Yale because your school is better than my school.GOOD for supplement essay: I want to transfer to NYU because I have discovered my passion for fashion journalism through my fashion blog that has 100,000 subscribers. My school has no journalism program, and NYU’s is the best program for fashion journalism in the country. I know NYU would help me achieve my dream of becoming editor of a fashion magazine.TranscriptsIn addition to the personal statement and supplement, you will need to provide a transcript from your high school (just as you did for college applications) and a transcript from your college. If you are applying from a 2-year school with a completed Associate’s degree, your transcript from college must show all of your grades and that your Associate’s was received. If you are applying after completing 1 semester at a 4-year university, you cannot send in your transcript until you receive your first semester grades, so that the school can take those grades into consideration. Hopefully, your transcript looks slightly more official. Note: Do not give up on your classes at your current school when you decide to transfer. These grades are EXTREMELY important. If you get B’s at your school and are applying to a more competitive and academically challenging school, the admissions officer may question how you will do at their school. You also cannot give up on your classes once you submit your application.Mid-Year ReportThe Mid-Year Report is a grade report you send to the schools you are applying to in the middle of the spring semester (typically April 1). From the UPenn Admission Office, “you will need to print out the form, available through the Common Application, and ask each of your professors to provide a mid-term grade (the grade they would give you if they were to give you a grade at that point in the class) and a signature.”In the report, all of your CURRENT spring semester professors fill out a paper predicting your FUTURE grade in the class and have to sign off on it. You read that right. You have to ask your spring semester teachers to give you a grade prediction and to sign off on it. This can be extremely intimidating, but again is another important part of your application.Again, this is why you CANNOT slack off in your classes at your current school. You need to get the best grades possible to better your chances to transfer. Try to form close relationships with your spring semester teachers. They will be much more willing to slightly inflate your grade (A- to A) on this prediction report if you are an active participant in class and if they like you. Trust me, these professors will be willing to slightly inflate your grade on this sheet to help you transfer if they like you, as this is not guaranteeing what they write will be your actual grade. Again, you cannot give up on your classes at your current school when you decide to transfer. If you got A’s first semester and B’s on your mid-year report, the admissions office may question how you will fair at their school. They do also consider SAT or ACT Scores.SAT or ACT ScoreSome schools may not require you to send these scores, but most universities do require transfers from other 4-year colleges to send their SAT or ACT scores. If you are applying from a 2-year school with a completed Associate’s degree, some schools require you to submit your SAT or ACT score while many others don’t.You should find the university’s policy on SAT/ACT scores for transfers when you search for the school’s application requirements. Again, to find a school’s specific requirements, search “[College Name] Transfer Application.”For students applying from 4-year universities, your SAT/ACT score will definitely play a role into whether or not you are accepted, but it is not weighted as heavily as in freshman admissions. When you applied as a freshman, the admissions officers didn’t know how you would do at a 4-year university, so they used your score as a measure of that. However, now they have your college grades and can see how you are performing at a 4-year university. If you have straight A’s in all of your biomedical engineering classes at University of Florida but got a 30 on your ACT, the A’s seem very impressive and make the 30 less meaningful. Should you retake the SAT/ACT if you are applying to transfer?You can, but I would only recommend it in certain situations. Your SAT/ACT score is only valid for 5 years, so if your score is older than 5 years, you will be required to retake it. To decide if you should retake the SAT or ACT, find out the 25th/75th percentile scores for current students at the school you are applying to. The 25th/75th percentile scores means that 25% of the students attending have a score at or below that number (this is below average). 75th percentile means that 75% of students have a score at or below that number. In essence, the 25th/75th percentile covers the middle 50% of all students admitted to the school.If you score at the 75th percentile for any school and have great grades from your current college, you have a great chance at getting in. If you're at the 25th percentile, you'll need to have a strong application to boost your odds of getting in.To find the 25th/75th percentile scores for current students at the school you are applying to, search “[College Name]” freshman admission profile” or “[College Name]” ACT” or “[College Name]” SAT”Let’s say, you are applying to transfer to an Ivy (most 25th/75th percentile scores between 34-36 ACT or 750-800 on all sections of the SAT). As I said, your grades are more meaningful than your test score on your transfer application, but that being said if your grades are not perfect (A’s and B’s) with a test score below 31 on ACT or below 2100 on SAT, I would consider re-taking the test to try to improve your score and improve your chances of being admitted.If your college grades are all A’s and your score is within the school’s 25th/75th percentile score, you do not need to retake the SAT or ACT.Letters of RecommendationMost schools require that you submit at least 2 letters of recommendation from COLLEGE professors or teaching assistants. Some schools prefer the letters to come only from professors and NOT teaching assistants such as UPenn, who said, “The Admissions Selection Committee prefers to review recommendations from professors. We encourage you to meet with your professors and ask for recommendations. However, we understand that some classes may be too large for a professor to write a detailed, personalized recommendation for you. If you ask a teaching assistant to write your recommendation, the class professor MUST sign off on the written recommendation.” Hopefully, your recommender is a little more expressive. You will find a school’s policy on letters of recommendation when you search for the transfer application requirements. You are NOT supposed to reuse your letters of recommendation from your high school teachers. You need new letters from college professors or teaching assistants.Make sure you are forming relationships with your professors and teaching assistants. You need them to like you enough to be willing to write you a letter of recommendation. Go to their office hours! Participate in class! Study! You need their help. If they don’t have a relationship with you, your letter will most likely turn out pretty mediocre. For more guidance on your letter of recommendation, check out our other article Who Should I Ask to Write My College Recommendation Letter?Major Specific RequirementsIf you are applying to a specific major or program (such as film, acting, dance, art, music), you may also be required to submit an additional application component such as a portfolio or do an audition. Find out by searching for the specific program you are applying to, search “[College Name] [program] Transfer Application” such as USC Film Transfer Application. Make sure to also check the deadline for your program. Oftentimes, arts programs (theatre, film, dance, music) will have earlier deadlines than the general university transfer deadline.For help with your major specific application requirements (if you are applying to film school), check out our other article, How to Get Into Film School by a USC Alum. Now that we have covered all components of the application, let’s talk deadlines:Application DeadlinesSchools have transfer application deadlines ranging from December 1 to March 1 for Fall admits or November for Spring admits. When you search for the school’s specific requirements (search “[College Name] Transfer Application”), you will find the deadline. Again, make sure to also search for the specific program you are applying to, search “[College Name] [program] Transfer Application.” Oftentimes, arts programs (theatre, film, dance) will have earlier deadlines than the general university transfer deadline.Make sure to create a schedule for yourself working back from the timeline. I recommend completing the first drafts of your personal statement and supplement at least one month before the application deadline, so you have time to review and rewrite. Ask teachers to write letters of recommendation at least 2 months in advance of when the application is due. Send transcripts and scores as soon as possible. Check the transfer requirements to see when the last available ACT or SAT testing date is. According to Yale, “Scores from the February ACT or the March SAT test date should reach [the admissions office] in time for consideration,” but this may vary from school to school, so check the schools you are applying to. Once you submit your application, your journey is not over.Decision Letters and Making the Decision to Transfer or StayYou will receive your decision letters typically in Mid-May for Fall Admission. You typically have only a few weeks to make a final decision. Before making the decision to transfer, consider thisWill transferring make you happier?By transferring, will you be more likely to achieve success in your chosen field?If you need financial aid, will you receive financial aid?Will you be able to complete your degree on time? How many of your units will transfer? How many of your units will count towards your degree? Will you need to spend extra time and money to complete your degree?Most schools only let you transfer up to 2 years of credit, so if you applied to transfer in your junior year, you will most likely be restarting as a junior at the next school. Are you okay with that?I also recommend creating a pros and cons list for your current school and the school your were accepted to. I know it may sound old-hat, but it works! Once accepted, you want to make sure transferring is the best decision for you. Remember that when you transfer, it may take time to make friends at your new school. Try to get involved and go to school sponsored events to help meet people and make your transition easier.Another PrepScholar writer transferred schools, and she said at times it can feel at first like being a stepchild or like being someone who married into the family. However, she and the other transfer students bonded; her closest college friends ended up being the other transfer students. She is so happy she transferred. Transferring can be a great experience! Just don’t be shy and get out and meet people!Points to RememberThink about why you want to transfer and convey that to the admissions office through your personal statement and supplement.Work very hard in your current classes (participate and go to office hours), so that you have good grades on your transcript and you have professors who are willing to write you letters of recommendation.Consider whether or not you want to retake the SAT or ACT (if you need to send your scores for your transfer application)Check application deadlines and set up a schedule to complete your application on time.When your decision letters come, really think about whether transferring is the best choice.What’s next?Get more help with your application:Who Should I Ask to Write My College Recommendation Letter?What is a Good GPA? What's a Bad GPA for College?What College Should You Go To? How to Choose a College.10 Tips For Prospective College Transfer Students12/30/2011 02:53 pm ET | Updated Feb 29, 2012Rebecca Joseph Associate Professor, California State University, Los AngelesDo or did you have an unhappy college freshman home for the winter holidays? Going away to college is stressful for many kids (and, yes, parents, too). Creating a new life away from home can be daunting, and stress is normal. Learning new academic and living norms is difficult for many. And it’s completely natural for freshmen to come home and regress. They may sleep a lot and ask you to do things you haven’t done for years. That is fine. You may be doing loads of laundry and taking them to lots of doctors’ appointments.And in that pool, some kids come home believing they made the wrong college choice. And that is entirely possible for 10 to 20% of them. The larger majority of others need some love and understanding.In Chinese, the word for crisis also means opportunity. So as you talk with unhappy your college freshmen, please remind them that no matter what you will help them make a plan. This crisis can turn into a great opportunity to think about what makes your student truly happy. A psychiatrist friend of mine who is an expert with teenagers said that parents (and counselors) need to be as supportive as possible but also try to distinguish between real depression and situational challenges. Some kids do need professional help and a visit to your doctor or therapist may be a great first step.I field several calls each winter holiday break from confused college freshmen. I listen to what is making them unhappy, and I often hear patterns. They didn’t like their original choices and are now attending what they consider to be a safety college. They did not like their fall classes and did not do as well as they could. They don’t like their roommates, or they are not very active on campus. Some truly dislike the type of college they selected, while others are bored.So after I listen, I begin to talk to them about the need to have short and long term goals. I remind them that unfortunately transferring during and after freshmen year means that they must be doing the best they have ever done academically and be involved on and off campus. It is often a junior-senior year of high school redux — often with much less support.That is often a challenge for an unhappy freshman. But tough words are critical. Also I remind them that as freshmen they traditionally can only transfer into schools that they would have gotten admitted to or did get admitted to as seniors. If they reject that option, I remind them that transferring may take two application cycles. Most colleges that accept larger numbers of transfers like USC and the University of Southern California take larger numbers of junior transfers.As I speak to kids after I listen to their worries, I help them develop short terms strategies which help them two ways: they help build up their transfer profiles and more importantly help them become happier. When the world is falling, small steps really help. When speaking to a young man who is desperately unhappy at his college, I realized he had higher expectations than reality. I reminded him that a low fall GPA would limit his chances of transferring and told him that colleges will look at his senior year grades and his active involvement on his current campus. No transfer college wants excuses, so I explained that the excuses have to stop.Listening to him, I felt his isolation. He had taken large lecture classes and got involved with a few clubs that rarely met. He wasn’t exercising and many of the friends he had met transferred out for spring. So I told him he needed to start over. He needed to take smaller classes, classes that counted as major prerequisites or GE requirements. He needed to get involved with some active clubs. I listened to what he liked to do and noticed he wasn’t exercising, so I recommended getting involved with intramural basketball or soccer. Many physically active kids in high school stop exercising in high school as they are no longer part of formal teams. Exercising often makes them feel so much better.I also told him about special service learning classes at his college, where he could get involved with community service activities with small groups of students. I also told him to go to office hours and to get to know several professors as he would need a professor recommendation.I also gave him several short term tasks to perform over the holidays. That gave him a focus and set him going. He needed to organize his transcripts — both high school and college so they could be sent out. He needed to contact his high school counselor to find out what he or she could do to help and how to get forms completed. I also had him collect all the transfer requirements of each college on his list — transcripts, letters of recommendation, high school forms, standardized grades, mid-term instructor updates, and required essays. I also told him to get an immediate internship over the winter break and to get think of how he was going to spend his summer. I kept him so busy that I felt his mood immediately improve.The longer term goals come out over time. They need to think about what happens if they don’t get into their desired colleges the first time they apply as transfer students. Do they want to take a leave of absence from their current college and return home sophomore year to take classes? Do they need to take summer classes to build up their GPAS? What courses do they need to take to prepare for transferring in as a transfer? What ongoing activities can they participate in and what internships, community service, or jobs can they get? Colleges expect engaged, active transfer students who can immediately begin their majors and get involved immediately on campus. One caveat I give them is that joining a fraternity or sorority is great for many reasons, but once they join a Greek society, they must join that Greek society at their transfer college (Greek rules).As I was speaking to one young lady last year, I explained that she needed to get high grades and take classes that prepared her to transfer. That got her involved in classes related to her major, and then she realized that she wanted to narrow her major focus. I also told her to meet her professors during office hours as she needed to get some letters of recommendations, and she began doing some research for a professor. I also told her to get involved in activities. She opted to join a sorority and write for the school newspaper. She two internships over the summer and winter breaks and built up a great resume. She spent the break doing an internship and her applications. She made a large group of friends and realized that she could be happy at the college, but she would outgrow the offerings for her major. Transferring, therefore, makes sense. And she is a much stronger candidate than when we first met.In conclusion, preparing to transfer is a bear and requires lots of upfront planning. Also while working with these kids, they often decide to stay where they are. Some discover becoming a visiting student at a campus, which can serve as a nice introduction to a campus they want to transfer to.The most important thing I do is provide a supportive realty check. I listen to what has made them unhappy, and I try to present a way for them to try one more semester. If they can’t, then I tell them we can try to help them transfer, and if necessary, take a leave of absence while returning home to go to community college. Then they need a really strong transfer plan as community college is a much tougher place to get required courses than ever. There is no reason for an unhappy kid to stay at a very expensive college, when he or she sees no reason to stay. But sometimes there are great reasons for a kid to stay and give a college a real chance.Crises often do turn into great opportunities for students. They can see what they really want from a college. They can see how to get involved in a new community, and they can learn so much more about what they are capable of doing. Most importantly they need to stay active and the short and long term planning lead to many happy outcomes.P.S. Boyfriend or girlfriend transfers are completely different. If a kid leaves a college for a partner, then something is truly wrong as partners should want the best for their significant others. So if your child wants to do a boyfriend transfer, I usually refuse to help, but I do tell parents to make sure their kids take a leave of absence because break-ups do occur.Below are the tips I give to students and their families with unhappy college freshmen if they can’t imagine staying any longer than necessary at their current college.1. Prior acceptances — Are you willing to consider a college you got into senior year? If that is the case, then contact the college and see if they will make you re-apply. Some won’t. Others will make you re-apply, but you have a good chance, especially if you follow these steps as well.2. Senior year grades — Your senior year grades must be top notch to transfer into any college as a sophomore. I hope your second semester grades were really high.3. Deadlines. Sophomore fall, Sophomore spring, Junior fall — These are the most common times to transfer. The closer to high school, the more high school and test scores count. Early applicants most likely will not get into any college you couldn’t have gotten in while in high school your first year. Transferring as a junior is much easier. Each college has different deadlines so keep track of them.4. Post senior year and freshmen summers — You need to have done or do something — work, volunteer, service, etc.5. Freshman and sophomore years of college — You need to do all of the following —a. Academics- You need to excel in each and every class. That’s hard to do when you’re not happy, but you must.b. Professors- You need to connect with one or two professors who can write letters of recommendation for you. You need to explain that you will outgrow major or need to be closer to home. Don’t blame your original college.c. Engagement- You need to get involved in activities on and off campus. So use your winter break to do volunteer or work. Go back second semester and get busy.d. Prerequisites- Each college has different transfer requirements. Some take sophomore fall applicants. Some only take juniors. Some have major prerequisites for GE and for majors. So check. Each has different requirements fori. Testingii. Units completediii. High school transcripts and counselor formsiv. College dean formsv. Instructor formsvi. Essays. You need to really write great essays about why you want to transfer. Be specific and contact us for essay tips.6. Applications — Applications vary but are critically important.i. Common Application- Many colleges use the Common Application which has one essay. But remember supplements-they have them too. The application is the only online portion. Everything is else is hard copy.ii. Other universities have their own applications.7. Visit colleges — You ideally need to visit the colleges to which you plan to transfer. Ideally visit during the spring or summer. But if you can’t, contact them via email. Talk with students there and really research the academic programs there — that’s the core reasoning for your transferring process.8. Research visiting programs — Many colleges allow students to attend as a visiting student. Barnard is one college that has a great transfer program (women only). Sometimes that’s a back door into the college. Then you apply to transfer. Some don’t allow students who applied before to apply. Some do.9. Give your original college a chance — If you can’t, you need to lead a double life and be as successful as you possibly can. If you can’t, then let us know about our transfer tips if you decide to come home and attend a community college. Never criticize your original college to officials at the original college. Tell them you need to move closer to home or have found a college that meets your major requirements.10. Leaves of absence — When you transfer, always take a leave of absence from our original college. You may just decide to go back.Follow Rebecca Joseph on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@getmetocollege

How to TeachTeaching well is an art rooted in practical, applied, behavioral sciences. There are definitely techniques that have been proven to work better than the typical "stand and deliver" lecture or presenting them with only linear or sequential information such as reading or listening to lecture. Pictures, maps and hands on efforts can teach several concepts simultaneously, instead of only receiving line after line to read or write. Successful teachers focus more on facilitating meaningful, expanded, multiple representations of information in learning experiences--and, all in all, that isn't so difficult to learn how to do. Read on to learn basic steps for becoming a good teacher in common teaching situations--from analyzing student needs, developing and facilitating meaningful learning objectives for your lesson plans, to following through on the learning design and giving feedback, with appropriate assessments.In a Hurry?To become a successful teacher, use music, pictures, and physical objects in your lessons to break up the monotony of a lecture. Remind your students during discussions that every answer, even if it’s wrong, brings the group closer to a new, exciting discovery. Encourage creativity with open-ended assignments like poems or songs, and provide positive emotional support to help their confidence soar! Read on for advice on earning respect from your students, and showing it to them in return.Part One of 11:Identify Needs1Identify crucial academic skills.These include reading and essential math skills used in many other subjects. Prioritize crucial lessons. Think about what skills your students will need to employ in order to make it through elementary and secondary school, be ready for higher education and progress onward throughout their lives. Think about the skills you use as an adult, such as good communication skills, including questioning and courageous speaking skills, and finding/looking up what you need to know. Plan and follow through on ways to build those skills in your students. These should be skills which students will need to function in various areas of life.2Identify complementary, life-improving skills. Encourage not only following learned processes and procedures, but also to find ways to use initiative, self-expression within guidelines -- without being unruly or disruptive. Once the crucial skills have been identified, consider complementary skills for happy, productive lives. Praise and place value on their using creative skills and problem solving, being opportunity makers and help them be providers of interesting questions and giving answers and information in class.Give them crucial emotional outlets including participating at their age level in arts, music and expression as a creator and a performer, not only being a spectator.3Identify emotional and social skills. It’s not just academic skills which make people more functional, self-actualizing human beings. Apply techniques in your classroom to help students develop self-confidence, overcome shyness/"stage fright" by many steps, building self-esteem one effort at a time, coping with stress and disappointment (not just taking the easy escape), learning to not be overly defensive. They need to learn to accept reality without embarrassment by encouraging their efforts and trying again, and not unfairly blaming others for difficulties. They need ways to interact, being inclusive of other students needs, and productive coordination with others.Part Two of 11:Set Goals1Determine overall goals. Once you’ve identified the major skills which your students will need to succeed in life, determine some goals based on those skills. If you have a bunch of kindergarteners who will eventually need to read, for example, you want them to know their alphabet, the basic sounds of some special letters, and also be able to recognize simple sight words (eventually you can get around to advanced ideas such as: c in cat sounds like "k" -- "keh", and an example of k might be "keep". But c in ceiling sounds like "s" -- "sss", an exciting example of s might be "snake"/pronounce the "sssnake" and show them the "ssss" of a "hissing snake" -- but do not mention it so soon as to confuse the idea of phonics).2Set specific goals. Once you know what your general goals are for the class, think of specific goals which will serve to show you that those overall goals have been met. Have your kindergarteners from the previous step be able to read and write the alphabet forwards and backwards and read basic three letter words, for example.3Outline how those goals will be reached. Now that you know what you want your students to be able to do, outline the smaller skills which be necessary to get them to those larger goals. These will be mini-goals and will serve as a road map. With the kindergarteners, an example of these mini-goals would be learning each individual letter, learning to identify compound sounds, and then learning how to string sounds together.Part Three of 11:Develop Lesson Plans1Outline each course that you teach to achieve education goals; the school may require each teacher to have a course syllabus or similar document. Now that you have your educational roadmap, make a lesson plan which specifically lists how you will get them to each step in that road. Every skill that will need to be mastered in order to get them between those mini-goals will need to be planned and written down.2Consider learning styles. When making your lesson plan, keep learning styles in mind. Every student learns differently and if you want your whole class to have equal opportunity for success, you will need to accommodate these. Plan to use sound, visuals, manipulatives, physical activity and the written materials along with your student centered lessons for facilitating, introducing, modeling, giving guided practice and periodic homework all for each subject, whenever possible.3Mix subject matter to build cross-curricular, multiple skills.If you are in an environment where you can interrelate subject matters, such as science and math or English and history, do some of that. This will help students understand how information is applied and is more related to the situations they will encounter in the real world. Life is not broken up into class subjects, after all. Find ways that you can collaborate with other teachers to provide your students with engaging, integrative lessons.Part Four of 11:Engage Students1Use visual aids and multiple representations of concepts.Introduce as many visual aids as possible into your lessons. This is not only for social studies, math, earth, physical, chemical, biological and social sciences. Social studies and many science related classes can use graphs, charts, maps, the globe, photos, movies and timelines -- such is true for their history and government studies. Certainly, math can involve grouping, recognizing changing patterns in sequences of numbers, contextual clues and shapes, with mathematical modeling often including formulas, graphic representations, diagrams, charts, "mappings of data" by various kinds of graphs. Also, collecting, organizing and presenting data can show the student how data is used in all kinds of subjects. Such things will give students more concrete experience, non-linear, multiple forms of applications/uses of data, visualizations, images and examples of the things which you are discussing. Complex concepts are often difficult to imagine and having a chart, an image to work, a choice of techniques, or an understandable formula will help many students stay engaged with the material, rather than tuning out because they can’t follow a dry, linear discussion.2Employ activities. Generally, it is better to never lecture for more than 15 minutes at a time. Besides reading, writing and written activities. You will want to often be getting your students active in the material and learning process. You can do this by having hands-on learning opportunities like learning activities (don't call them games), peer-to-peer discussions, or question and answer time (where either you ask the questions or they do).3Engage everyone. How? Create a variety of ways to use questions and answer/discussion sessions. One basic is keeping all students "on-deck" in the batters circle, so anyone may be the next one "up to bat". This will keep students from tuning out while others engage.One method would be to keep a jar with student’s names written on a popsicle stick. Pull from the jar at random and the student will be required to either ask a pertinent question or answer one.Wait for the answer. Count to four to remind yourself to wait, when you use open questions where anybody can volunteer to ask or answer them. Avoid giving in to the urge to jump in to answer your question or to finish their answer. Draw out important issues from them. Don't to quickly rescue the student, allow them to answer deliberately, not freaking them out by pressure or showing how smart you are. You defeat their motivation if you have to wow them as a genius/expert.Class wide actions such as getting quiet when asked, ready to go to lunch or putting away one/getting another kind of book and materials can be time to utilize a classroom scoreboard with positive and negative marks that can lead to a reward or penalty for the whole group.4Relate material to the outside world. Since the point of learning is to gain real-world skills, you will want to constantly relate the skills and information in your class to the student’s lives and things which will affect them in the future.[1]Students should never question why they need to learn the material they are learning and if you can’t come up with a real-world example then maybe you shouldn’t be teaching it.Math skills should be related back to things like paying bills, getting a good mortgage, and future work tasks, such as: choices of fields such as futures involving more and more technologies, and of course inspire dreams of engineering and architecture, etc. English skills can be used to write stories, books, business reports, personal and business letters, resumes, cover letters or grant proposals. Science skills can be used to understand electrical motors, electronics, the solar system and universe, chemicals, fix clogged sinks or evaluate illnesses. History and social studies skills can be used to understand civilization, community and government, determine political values and voting decisions. Sociology skills can be used to help hypothetical family, future children, friends, or strangers.Part Five of 11:Allow Independent Exploration1Get your students outside. This isn’t just about getting them active or getting them out in the sun (although those are good things!). The point of going to school isn’t only to build skills for passing some test, it’s important to teach people how to adapt, grow and live better in the real world. Get them out of the classroom to put their skills to use such as collecting information, going to the library to do research. Get students to interview someone for information about a profession or skill.Take a science class to the beach to identify animals and plant life or geological features. Take an English class to an early-stage play rehearsal, so that they can see how dialogue choices and changes affect perception of events and characters. Take a history class to interview nursing home residents or a sociology class to interview prison inmates.2Let them experiment. Allow for creative interpretations of assignments. Allow students to pose questions and follow other routes. Letting them guide their own learning will help them learn better and keep them interested in what they’re doing.For example, in a lab experiment about putting mice in mazes, if your student suddenly wonders what would happen, if mirrors were introduced into the maze, let them do that. An assignment does not have to be strictly adhered to in order for students to gain valuable knowledge from it.3Encourage innovation. Success fosters/breeds success. Let your students make new designs and create things. Give them broad assignments with specific goals and let them come to their own method of reaching that goal. This will let them create a relevant learning design and personal method which is best suited to their style and interests, keeping them invested in the assignment and encouraging daily progress (which is success).For example, you can have an occasional English assignment where a student must write a certain number of words on a particular, broad topic. However, tell them that how those words are arranged and presented is entirely up to them. They can make a comic, write a song, write and do a stand-up routine, write an essay, make a poster or a presentation... anything that speaks to and engages them in their interests, being relevant.Part Six of 11:Reinforce Learning1Interact during independent study. While students are working on assignments in class or engaging in other methods of independent study in the classroom, you will want to go around the room and engage them about what they are doing. Ask how things are going. Don’t just ask what’s wrong, ask what they feel they are understanding really well too. Get more out of them than “I’m doing fine” or “Everything’s okay”. You can even ask them to explain what they are doing or what their understanding of the assignment is.2Discuss weak points. After an assignment, look at the overall performance of the class. Identify common problems or potentially common problems and discuss these. Talk about why the mistake is easy to make and how to identify the problem. Talk about how it’s fixed or a better approach. Understanding a problem beyond “this is wrong and this is right” will give students much stronger abilities to problem solve later.3Occasionally revisit old material.Don’t cover something at the beginning of the year and never talk about it again. Constantly tie new material to the skills established in previous lessons. This will solidify and reinforce the skills that a student has gained, much like learning a language requires study every day.For example, an English lesson on writing argumentative papers may want to draw on the skills learned earlier regarding narrative works by discussing how one can use stories within argumentative papers to make emotional appeals or how voice can affect a reader’s perception of information.Part Seven of 11:Assess Progress1Construct well balanced tests.Have you ever had a test which was way too easy to fail or a final which was almost exclusively material covered in the last three days of class, rather than material covered over the whole semester? These experiences will help you understand why it’s important to balance your tests. Draw material as is appropriate for the significance of the test and weight it such that it will not make or break a student’s grade. Not everyone tests well.2Consider alternatives to standard tests. Standard tests can be a very inaccurate method of gauging student’s mastery of the material. Very intelligent, successful students can be terrible at taking tests and students who otherwise absorb material very poorly can be excellent test takers. Devise alternative methods which do not put so much pressure on students to succeed in very specific ways.Consider educative evaluation, rather than auditive. Ask your students to devise a real world scenario in which they would use the skills they’ve learned and ask them to write a paper or prepare a presentation explaining how they would handle the situation. This reinforces their skills and gives them the opportunity to show that they not only understood the material itself but that they also understood the significance.3Put a spin on presentations.Public speaking is an important skill, to be sure. However, not everyone learns this by being put on the spot. Work your students up to full-class presentations in order to not only evaluate the extent to which they’ve learned the material but also give them the ability to learn valuable public speaking skills. Once they’ve mastered these easier presentations, you can have full class presentations and see how they fare.You can have students give a presentation, individually, to just you, one by one while others are working on a written assignment that they can do without much help other than an introduction and example. This presentation can be conducted like an interview. Prompting will make them less self-conscious, which should allow them to build presentation skills much more efficiently than immersion into a comprehensive report. It will also give you the opportunity to ask key questions to gauge how well they’ve organized their understandings and learned to apply the material.[2]You can also have them give presentations to their peers, later in the course. They can go one-on-one with peers, as they just did with you, or you can have them go in front of a small panel of their peers, in an organized group process. Have the class students come up with a list of questions beforehand, which will also serve as a learning experience and way for them to demonstrate that they understand the material and evaluate fellow students presentations.Part Eight of 11:Reward Success, See Mistakes as Opportunities1Let students choose their rewards. Create a list of acceptable rewards for excellent performance, either for individual students or the class as a whole, and let your students communally decide how they want to be rewarded. This will help make sure that the reward is an actual incentive, rather than just something you’ve pushed on them that doesn't motivate them to work harder.2Teach advances by "trial and error". Build individual growth in "Ah Hah! moments" made through calm or exciting experience, deliberate organizing and sometimes by interesting experiments. Don’t see failure, see opportunity to advance by increments/steps. Don’t say “wrong!” Say “hey", "close” or “hmm, yeah, that's an idea”, "how about other ideas?", "who tried another way?". When a student has made a mistake, don’t portray it as a tragic comedy or failure. Don’t let them say it was bad but "a reason see what may work." Say and show that "this is a learning experience"; we want to see how "incorrect or correct results can be achieved". Gently show them how to do it correctly, and ask "now, try again.". Remember that a skill learned through trial and error will be much stronger than one which a student may simply get right by accident/guess -- through means they don’t fully understand.3Try community rewards.Promote the success of individual students to benefit the class as a whole and also teams within the class. Traditional learning environments tend to create a system where under-performing students are jealous of those who don’t struggle (the stigmatizing of nerds by envious comparison). You want to create an environment in which students want to work as a united whole and which does not stigmatize or over-blow obvious of success. Quick/sharp students can help others by setting good example, being patient and encouraging of the not so quick students -- . Sometimes more deliberate/slower students are strong as a big truck while others are like sports cars, but powerful trucks draw less biting remarks, not seeming as geeky. Rewarding the group will make your students much more functional adults and prepare them for real world work environments where developing as leaders and "strong" workers can help the team meet deadlines and achieve production goals.For example, create a system in which for each student that scores perfectly on a test, everyone is rewarded. You can give everyone a few points of extra credit or poll the students to find out if they’d prefer a different reward. This encourages them to work together to achieve better results and endears higher performing students to their peers.Part Nine of 11:Meet Emotional Needs1Make them feel unique and needed. Acknowledge and appreciate each student individually, for the qualities which make them unique and wonderful human beings. Encourage those qualities. You should also make each student feel like they have something to offer and contribute. This will raise their confidence and help them to find their proper path in life.2Recognize their efforts. Even if students make only occasional, small efforts, those efforts need to be acknowledged and appreciated. Tell them when they’ve done a good job, individually, and mean it. Don’t be patronizing, be appreciative. If they’ve worked particularly hard, reward them. A student who’s managed to raise their grade from a D to a B+, for example, may have earned the right to pump their grade to an A with “extra credit” for the magnificent amount of work that would have been required to accomplish such a feat.3Give respect. It is extremely important to respect your students. It doesn’t matter if they’re graduate students working on a doctoral thesis or kindergartners: treat them like intelligent, capable human beings. Respect that they have ideas, emotions, and lives that extend beyond your classroom. Treat them with dignity and they will extend the same to you.Part Ten of 11:Get Feedback1Ask your students for feedback.Ask your students for feedback to get their (often very astute) perception of what’s going right and what’s going wrong in the classroom. You can ask them personally or you can create anonymous questionnaires in order to get their ideas on how things are going.2Ask family members for feedback. You can ask your students parents for feedback as well. Maybe they’ve noticed an improvement in their child’s abilities, confidence level, or social skills. Maybe they’ve noticed a drop. Getting this outside perspective can help you make sure that the improvements you notice inside the classroom continue outside, as well as helping to catch problems that maybe you don’t get to see.3Ask your boss for feedback. If you are a teacher at a school, ask the principal or a more experienced teacher to come in and observe you work. Getting their outside perspective will help you, but remember to be open to criticism.Part 11 of 11:Keep Learning1Read up on your craft. Read the latest journals and papers from conferences to keep up with the most innovative methods and new ideas regarding technique. This will help keep you from falling behind in your methods.2Take classes to refresh your skills. Take classes at a local community college or university to keep your skills fresh. These will remind you of techniques you’ve forgotten or strategies that you tend to leave out.3Observe other teachers. Watch not only those that are known to be good at their craft but also those that struggle. Look for why the good things are good and the bad things are bad. Take notes and employ what you learn in your own classroom.4Reflect. At the end of a day/lesson/teaching cycle reflect on what you've done with your class. What you did best. What you didn't do well enough and can do better. What you should not repeat again.Community Q&AHow do I teach someone older than me without it being awkward?Answered by wikiHow ContributorYou are a teacher. It doesn't matter whether they are older, younger or of any age. Just take the fact that you are the teacher and they are the students, nothing more. You know something they need to know, so give it to them. Try explaining things in the same way as you would to your parents or grandparent, don't get overpowered and stay calm and focused.How do you make it fun for students?Answered by wikiHow ContributorTry to make whatever you're teaching interesting. Make them laugh, ask questions about them and engage them in the conversation.TipsShow enthusiasm, speak up, smile about and relish/love what you’re teaching. A teacher that cares strongly about the material and the students growth and improvement will be much more entertaining, interesting, and engaging for a student than one who recites and "lists" facts.The classroom is not the only arena of learning. Your teaching should motivate the students to learn from multiple arenas of learning like visiting a Nature trail, getting exercise on the playground, learning about the work and skills, discipline needed by different professionals (attention to detail, listening, not being bored).WarningsAvoid mechanical approaches such as reading your daily lesson notes as if you're making speeches about the course material. But, instead engage students by questioning and discussing or by activities.