With fall 2022 applications opening up, a lot of students are finding they have questions
about which type of application they need to submit. Many prospective students with extenuating circumstances
might see themselves in multiple classifications. For example, a veteran who has only
taken classes within the armed forces or a high school senior who has attended an
early college high school and is graduating with an associate’s degree might wonder
if they need to apply as first-year or transfer students.
Well, lucky you—we’re here to help!
The best way to determine if you are an incoming first-year or transfer applicant
is by asking a simple question:
Are you a graduating or recently-graduated high school senior who has not attended a different college after getting your diploma?
If the answer is yes, then you’re a first-year applicant! Even if you’ve taken dual
credit courses or will be bringing in college credits through some other methods,
you’ll still be applying as a first-year student.
However, you change into a transfer applicant the instant you take a course elsewhere after
graduation. Even if you are just taking a couple community college courses between graduation
and applying to TCU, or you graduated a year or two ago and took a random community
college course, you are a transfer student. If you are thinking of doing something along these lines, talk to your admission counselor and we’d be more than happy to clarify for you.
In order to apply as a transfer student, you will need to have at least 12 credit
hours at a different college or university and these need to be taken during a long
semester (such as the fall or the spring). Twelve hours is about one semester’s worth
of courses and a long semester just means that you can’t get all of your courses taken
care of during the summer or over winter break.
It’s important to note all of our veterans are automatically classified as transfer students. Many of our veterans will take courses during their time in the armed forces, but
even those who don’t will still need to apply with the transfer application.
I know all of this can feel a bit complicated, but just know that you do have admission
counselors who are here to help. If you have questions about your application or any
other part of the college admission process, please let us know! We want to support
you in any and every way we can.
Dalton Goodier is a Senior Admission Counselor at TCU. He knows everyone that works the smoothie
bar in Market Square by name!