Wayne State College receives approximately 700 freshman each year, just out of high school, ready to soak in the traditional four year college experience. However, roughly 200 transfer students also come to WSC, with a greatly different set of expectations.

Director of Admissions, Kevin Halle, believes that Wayne State works hard to incorporate these students into WSC and help them take the “next step” in furthering their education.

A transfer student to Wayne State himself, Halle understands what these students go through. He, like many transfer students, wasn’t concerned with the traditional college experiences; he wanted to get in and get out with a degree as soon as possible.

The transfer process used to be a terrible headache for students, if not a nightmare. Dustin Kraemer, a Wayne State Alum made the transition from Northeast Community College to Wayne State in 1996, pursuing an education major. At the time he said communication between the two schools was terrible.

“They (Northeast) told me take this list of classes and then I got over to Wayne and they told me I should have taken different ones.” Kraemer said. “It sucked. Only, like, one semester’s worth of my credits actually transferred over.”

More recent transfers, like Nikita Rector, found the transfer process easier. She said though, that several of her classes had to be approved one on one with her department head and advisor. Jennifer Connell, another transfer, dealt with the same issues.

“It took some legwork on my part,” Connell said. “Getting the syllabi and coursework for the classes I’d already done together and taking it to the department chair for approval.”

The current process for transferring is simple and straightforward. The student applies, provides an official transcript from the other college and, as long as they have a 2.0 GPA, they’re in, and considered a Wayne State student. This process usually takes a month or so, but can be done in as little as ten days.

Halle said that it helps when the student plans out their classes to coordinate with a transfer.

Wayne State plans to renew its focus on the transfer process and work on recruiting more transfer students. So this fall, the college will review what is included in the transfer agreement (the list of classes which can be transferred) and plan to hire on a Transfer Admissions Representative to help in recruiting.

The experience for a transfer student is different and often difficult, but the Wayne State admissions team works hard to make that transition smooth. They want to make sure that for transfer students, that the “next step” in their education is an easy one.