FAMU admission office staff.
Princeton Studstill | The Famuan
The critical decision to transfer from one institution to another can be a nuisance for any student. Rather you have obtained your Associate of Arts degree from a community college or have experience at another 4-year university — the pressure of making the right decision, the desire to get involved with campus activities, and seeking comfort within the academic curriculum can cause an impact on any student.
Florida A&M has acknowledged the need and importance for transfer students to have a seamless transition for applying and receiving acceptance into the university.
“I remember being so stressed out trying to apply for FAMU as a transfer student,” said Aleah Hazell, a senior social work student. “Coming from Valencia college to FAMU was a major culture shock for me. I admit at first the process was confusing but with the help of current rattlers and the admissions office I was able to pull through it and got accepted.”
Traditional transfer students are generally defined as any individual who earned between 12-60 credit hours at a previous institution.
The requirements for a traditional candidate include but are not limited to: High school or college final transcript, 2.85 GPA, college level Math and English. If a candidate has under 30 credit hours a copy of the test scores from the ACT/SAT are required.
The fall 2018 semester transfer students make up about 15-16% of the student body. Within that percentile about 10.23% transferred from a community college in the Florida college system and the remaining 5.42% of students transferred from a community college outside of the Florida college system.
Within recent years FAMU has developed a new approach for transfer students to guarantee their admission after completing at least 60 credit hours or obtaining their AA degree from their previous college.
The ‘FAMU Ignite Transfer Program’ is an extension beyond the statewide articulation agreement between the university and the schools listed within the Florida college system such as Tallahassee Community College, Miami Dade College, Hillsborough Community College, etc. Although the program is continuing to develop it offers benefits to transfer students prior to enrolling into FAMU.
“We have a mix between traditional transfer students and the ignite students,” said Chabrea Martin, transfer student services specialist. “Ignite students get the most benefits because they’re set up already with counselors to assist in navigating them through the curriculum. This has been beneficial for transfer students to ensure each credit hour will transfer and keep them on track for FAMU graduation.”
The requirements for the Ignite program include but not limited to: AA degree or at least 60 credit hours, and a 2.0 GPA.
John Torens, Assistant Director of transfer student services shed light the on the speculations that transfer students don’t get accepted easily into FAMU and ensured that the office of admissions gives a fair and panoramic view of each student that applies.
When asked what advice you would give any transfer student having a hard time adjusting academically and would like more information of their field of study?
“Having that relationship or connection with your academic advisor is a key piece to it,” said Torens. “We do offer other services and resources on campus for transfer students to utilize for any additional help such as the student transfer services department, office of student success, transfer student association, and Tau Sigma National honor society.”
For any additional information students can find the student transfer services department in Dyson Building room 124 between the hours of 8am-5pm.