Recent Pre Med Transfer Question

Here is a recent question sent to NOVA:
The following message has been forwarded from the Virginia Education Wizard's "Contact Us" tool:
"I'm currently attending northern virginia community college toward an assoicates of science, but I would like to transfer to a Pre Med program in the Fall of 2010. What do I need to do to accomplish this?"

Here is our response from Dr. John Thrash, Special Assistant for Advising:
Preparing to transfer is an important job, and it is good that you are thinking about this now. I have the following suggestions:

1. Choose the top five colleges or universities that you would like to attend and obtain their catalogs (online or write to ask that you be sent a hard copy).
2. Read the section of the catalogs pertaining to transfer admission very carefully, and then read about the school's pre-med programs.
3. Narrow the five down to three.
4. If possible, visit the institutions just to take a look around and talk to some of the undergraduate students there.
5. Make your interest in the school known to the admission office through a careful letter showing interest and asking for information about the college, the academic department(s) that house pre-med majors, and the requirements for graduation. You might also ask about the success of graduates in being accepted to medical schools.
6. After you have done some of this research and are prepared to do so, visit a transfer counselor at NVCC. If you are at the AN campus, Ms. Kimberly Wright and Ms. Fran Troy are excellent.

As you can see, transferring requires work on the part of the student. And, it is important to understand that the "receiving institution" is the controlling institution. That said, NVCC and the VCCS do have a number of transfer agreements. To learn more about the resources available to you at NOVA, please go to www.nvcc.edu and type "transfer agreements" in the search engine. There you will find such pages as:

a. Transfer to Bachelor's Degree Programs
b. Successful Transfer Planning
c. Articulation Agreements
d. Transfer and Articulation, etc.

Additionally, there is a specific transfer webpage at: www.nvcc.edu/current-students/transfer/index.html, which I highly recommend.

Guaranteed admissions are listed at: www.nvcc.edu/about-nova/directories--offices/administrative/offices/academic/guaranteed-adm/index.html.

You're on the right track. Put in a little work and you'll get there! Thanks for your inquiry, and I wish you well.

John Thrash, Ph.D.
Special Assistant for Advising