How to Apply to Four-Year Universities

Suggested Timeline

One Year Before You Transfer	Identify the schools to which you plan to apply. Learn application deadlines. Preview the applications to get a sense of what they entail. Explore scholarship opportunities.
Semester Before You Transfer	Apply for graduation. Attend a How to Apply Workshop in the Transfer Center. Visit the schools and/or meet with admissions representatives here at 91��Ƭ��Pro. Ask instructors if they will write letters of recommendation for you. Complete your FAFSA for the following year. It opens on October 1.
Semester Break	Fill out your applications. Draft your application essays. Create a simple resume.
1-2 Months Before You Transfer	Attend a Paying for the Bachelor’s Degree in the Transfer Center. Make an appointment in the Transfer Center to get feedback on your essays. Submit your application by the deadline. Request your 91��Ƭ��Pro transcripts . If required, request your high school transcripts Pay the application fee or request a waiver.
After Submitting Your Application	Apply for financial aid by sending your FAFSA and maybe CSS Profile. Monitor your checklist. Write thank you notes to instructors who wrote your recommendations.

NOTE: Nursing and portfolio-based application deadlines are often earlier.

Detailed Instructions

1. Apply for 91��Ƭ��Pro Graduation

Applying for graduation is not just about the commencement ceremony or receiving your diploma, although those are both important. Applying for graduation begins the administrative process of recording the degree you have earned on your transcript, which your transfer university will require.

Apply for graduation in the semester before you intend to graduate. You’ll receive a graduation audit letter listing the remaining classes needed to graduate.

Students can apply for graduation through the Graduation Overview section in one semester before their anticipated date of graduation. There is no cost.

2. Where Should I Apply?

Do your research on the universities to which you will apply first. Make sure the universities to which you will apply have the major you want. You can find this information on the Transfer University Links webpage under Degree Requirements.

The university’s admissions webpages provide information about the minimum requirements to apply and the required minimum or average GPA for transfer students. You’ll find links to the admissions webpages of North Carolina universities on the Transfer University Links webpage under Admissions for Transfer Students.

Apply to at least two universities, one of which is a safe school you know you could get into and another that is your reach school. Keep in mind that UNC Chapel Hill and NC State should not be your safe schools. Admissions to both of those schools remain very competitive for transfer students.

NC Promise Schools

A big tip for lower college costs is to consider applying to an NC Promise Schools: Elizabeth City State University, Western Carolina University, UNC Pembroke, and Fayetteville State University. At NC Promise Schools:

Tuition for all in-state students capped at $500 per semester/$1000 per year.
Tuition for all out-of-state students capped at $2500 per semester /$5000 per year.

3. The Application

Links to NC universities and how to apply to them can be found on the Transfer University Links webpage under Admissions for Transfer Students.

Some schools, such as UNC Chapel Hill and many private universities, require students to apply using the . For others, such as NC State, NC A&T, and UNCG, the Transfer Common App is an option, or you can use the university’s own online application. Other schools, such as NC Central, use their own application, which can be found on the Transfer University Links webpage under Admissions for Transfer Students.

The Transfer Common App provides lots of on YouTube to help students complete the form. Here are some tips:

Answer every question: use all space available on the application to tell more about yourself. Avoid repeating yourself—tell something new about yourself in each box.
For Community Standard or Conduct and Judiciary Information questions, answer honestly and fully, explaining your story. You will be asked to complete a criminal background check when you enroll at most four-year universities, so it’s important to be truthful on the application.
Some schools may ask for a College Report. This must be requested from Dr. Holly June, Dean of Student Services, juneh@durhamtech.edu.

4. The Application Fee

You will be asked to pay an application fee when you submit your online application. Application fees range from $40 to $90.

Requesting a Fee Waiver

Colleges and universities do not want the cost of applying to be a barrier, so most offer fee waivers. The most common reason transfer students are eligible for a fee waiver is because they receive Pell Grants.

Students can through the National Association of College Admissions Counselors. The student fills out page one of the form, and our financial aid office signs the second page. After you have completed page one, e-mail the form to 91��Ƭ��Pro’s Director of Financial Aid, Ms. Nadine Ford, fordn@durhamtech.edu.

If you are using the Transfer Common App, you can choose a fee waiver and indicate the reasons why you think you qualify on the application itself. The university will require you to submit the fee waiver form after submitting the application, usually through their online application portal.

If you are not using the Transfer Common App, at the end of the online application form, select “mail check” when asked to submit the application fee. You will be be asked to submit the fee waiver form separately, usually through their online application portal.

5. Letters of Recommendation

Many schools do not require any letters of recommendation from transfer students, but some request one or more.

Academic recommendations from instructors are more valuable to your application than personal or professional recommendations, so ask instructors in classes where you did well if they would write the letter for you.

Submitting Letters of Recommendation

Usually, the transfer application form will ask you to provide the name and e-mail address of the recommender. When you enter the e-mail address, a request for a letter of recommendation with instructions for submitting it will go directly to the recommender.

Here are some tips for requesting letters of recommendation:

Give your instructors lots of time, at least three weeks, and ideally longer, to write the recommendations.
Be sure to ask your recommenders if they are willing to write a recommendation before you send an online request.
When you ask instructors to write a letter for you, it’s helpful to include a resume if you have one and share the following information:
- Colleges/universities to which you are applying
- Deadlines for the letter of recommendation
- A little bit about you: your planned major, your long-term academic and professional goals, jobs you have held while attending school, hobbies or interests or extracurricular activities, and any challenges you may have faced during your time at school
Send your recommender a thank you note when you are done applying.

6. Submit Transcripts

You will usually have to send your transcripts at least twice, the first time when you apply—usually you’ll still be taking classes--and the second when you have finished your 91��Ƭ��Pro classes and/or degree.

Submit transcripts from every college you have attended. Colleges will check to be sure that they have transcripts from all colleges you have attended using the National Student Clearinghouse.

Requesting 91��Ƭ��Pro Transcripts

91��Ƭ��Pro official transcripts can be requested online and cost $5.65 each. When you request transcripts, here are the answers to some questions in the online form:

Select School: 91��Ƭ��Pronical Community College
Are you ordering an Adult High School transcript: NO
Recipient: College or University
Department: Undergraduate Admissions
The reason for sending them is transfer or admissions.
When do you want your transcript processed?
- Current Transcript—Process As Is: This will send your current transcripts. Any classes in which you are currently enrolled but have not yet received a final grade will not show up.
- At End of Current Semester: Your transcripts will not be sent until final grades are posted for the current semester.
- After Degree Is Awarded: Transcripts will not be sent until the awarding of your degree is posted on the transcripts. This usually happens about three weeks after final grades are posted at the end of the semester.
What type of transcript? Curriculum (credit)
Why are you ordering your transcripts? Admission

Sending Transcripts to the Common App or NursingCAS

If you are a nursing school applicant using the NursingCAS or a regular transfer student applying via the Transfer Common App to more than one university, you can have your transcript sent directly to the Common App so all schools to which you apply using that application can see it. This can save you some money on ordering transcripts. Here’s how:

In Academic History>Colleges Attended, click on the blue Order button next to 91��Ƭ��Pro.
Under the tab Order Electronic Transcript, select National Student Clearinghouse.
A dialogue box will open with 3 steps. Next to Step 3, click on Copy to copy the Transcript ID number. Then click the blue Visit National Student Clearinghouse Now button.
You’ll arrive at the 91��Ƭ��Pro transcript request page.
You are NOT an adult high school student.
Recipient: Education Organization, Application Service, Scholarship, or Professional Licensing
Select Organization: Common App for Transfer (or NursingCAS or other)
Enter CAS Transcript: Here’s where you’re going to paste (Control-X) the number you copied
Complete the rest of the form following the instructions for regular 91��Ƭ��Pro transcript requests above.

High School Transcripts

Some colleges require high school transcripts. If you graduated from a public NC high school, you can request your high school transcripts be sent to 91��Ƭ��Pro through . In CFNC you’ll use the same login you just used for your 91��Ƭ��Pro application, not your 91��Ƭ��Pro login.

Go to Application Hub>Request Transcripts. If the form that opens up doesn’t auto-populate when you log in, you will need to enter your public school student number. Some students remember this as their Power School number or their lunch number.
If CFNC doesn’t work or you graduated from a high school out of state, you can often make an online request through the school system’s website. Here are links for , , , and .

If there’s no transcript request link on the school system website, you can call your school directly.

7. Apply for Financial Aid and Scholarships

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

The is an online form that colleges and universities use to determine your eligibility for financial aid. If you complete the FAFSA as part of your application for admission, the university will use that information to create a financial aid package for you.

The FAFSA for the next academic year usually becomes available October 1. Even if you think your income is too high to be eligible for financial aid, fill out the FAFSA, at least for the first year of university. On the FAFSA, list all of the universities to which you are applying so that they will receive your financial information.

Some private universities and UNC Chapel Hill will also require you to complete the . This is like a more detailed version of the FAFSA, and it will be used to determine what university-based aid you may be eligible to receive.

Where to Find Scholarship Information

When you are admitted to a four-year university, you’ll have access to the scholarships that are only available to their students. But you can also apply for external scholarships:

Transfer Scholarships on the Transfer Center webpages (look especially at )
Scholarships Regardless of Immigration Status
Research your network—your or your parents’ workplaces, places of worship, voluntary organizations in which you or your family are involved.

Applying for scholarships will usually follow the same steps as applying for transfer universities: online application, letters of recommendation, transcripts, FAFSA. You can re-use essays you may have written for transfer universities, adjusting them to the question, since different people will read these essays.

8. Monitor Your Checklist

Either before you apply or after, the universities to which you are applying will ask you to create an online account or web portal.

In this web portal, the universities will create a checklist of missing documents or additional steps in the application process. This is also where your admissions decision will be posted.

Keep checking this checklist regularly. Keep in mind that most processes are not automatic, so universities may take a couple of weeks, for example, to connect your transcripts and letters of recommendation to your online application.

The Transfer Center is Here to Help

If you have any questions about the application process, feel free to contact the Transfer Center. You can e-mail questions to transfercenter@durhamtech.edu or you can book an appointment below.

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