On Wednesday, February 7, MCC - Penn Valley’s Campus Center was populated by forty other colleges from the Kansas and Missouri areas. The ground and first levels were taken over by four-year universities from both sides of the state line.

It was Transfer Day here at MCC - Penn Valley. Students had the opportunity to meet with representatives from prospective colleges, obtain information, and pick up free swag, all in the form of one big college fair.

"It’s a good day," said Jim Hoffman, Articulation Coordinator for Missouri Western, of the event. "It more than equals the business that we do individually when we come here on any given day," he said.

"We’re at the main entrance and the cafeteria. We’re in the highest traffic areas, which is nice for our exposure," Hoffman continued.

Even smaller schools that students may not have heard of, such as Drury University, Great American Nazarene, and Avila, were represented, leaving schools to compete for students' attention.

The purpose of Transfer Day was to give students an opportunity to research potential colleges before transferring. With that in mind, the recruiters came prepared to win students over with information and facts about their respective colleges.

"As far as Northwest goes, I would say that we're the right size and right location for students in the Kansas City area," said Brett Lind, Assistant Director of Admissions at Northwest University. "We're about an hour and a half north of Kansas City, which is just far enough away for you to kind of get away and do your own thing, but still go home to do laundry and get a home-cooked meal."

Pamphlets, pens, and course catalogs were not the only things being shared with prospective students. The college recruiters also wanted to help students make transferring as easy as possible, no matter where they transferred.

"My advice to community college students would be, when you are here at Penn Valley, to challenge yourself," said Lind. "Sometimes we get students who have not challenged themselves. They’ve basically just taken the easy way out, if you will, and when they come to Northwestern, or Missouri Western, they’re surprised.”

Lind continued, “When you just jump through all those general education classes and you start on your higher or upper-level classes, those are pretty challenging. Sometimes, if you haven’t prepared yourself well, you’re going to be miserable. So challenge yourself. Make it worth your time and effort here. Don’t just do the simple basics and just slide through, but really challenge yourself," Lind said.

"I would really encourage transfer students not to underestimate the opportunities for transfer scholarships when transferring. Many times we’ve had students who actually transfer and they’re not paying that much more in tuition than they were paying at Penn Valley. There are opportunities like that now, and if you’re looking at flagship universities, sometimes transfers can definitely be a financial increase,” Hoffman explained.

According to the recruiters, the goal of the day was not to force their schools on students, but to let them know that they were there.

"Ultimately, if you pull off our name tags, we want to help a student get to the right spot," explained Lind of the campus camaraderie witnessed during the fair. "Obviously our goal would be to get you there; we are getting paid by our universities that we work for to get you there. [However], I will tell you: if it's not a good fit for Northwest, don't come to Northwest. If you come to campus and don't like it, don't come to Northwest, plain and simple."

Copyright 2007 Metropolitan Community College