Does transferring 3-4 times look bad to graduate programs?

[jacqlynn_pvlr]

Long story short, I've moved around the country a lot. Mainly for family issues, personal reasons, etc., and everytime I've moved I've still wanted to go to school. I've been in school for around 3 years now, I'm at 60 credit hours, been to three different schools (1 cc, 2 universities) and I am transferring again for school in my new city. I just have to wait until next August to start at that university due to in-state residency, and in the mean time I was thinking about taking languages classes at the local community college to get a head start, as my last school didn't require language courses but this one does for my major, and the university will accept all general courses from the local community college. If I did this that would put my number of transfers up to 4. But my main concern about all this transferring is how graduate programs will look at it. I'm more than confident that every other aspect of my application will be strong once I graduate, as I have a 3.4 GPA now and expect to have around a 3.65 when I graduate. I'm an anthropology major and plan to go to field school, do research, etc., which will boost my relationship with my professors and get me good letters of recommendation (I hope). I'm more than confident that I can pull everything else off. But I'm just so worried that graduate schools will look at all of my past colleges and think that I can't commit to anything since I've been to so many, which really isn't the case. Many times I've had to move for reasons outside of my control, and the fact that I've kept going to school in all of these places probably says more than if I were to just quit school altogether because of outside circumstances. It should be worth noting that I was at my last university for a solid two years, took 12-15 credit hours every semester, and made good relationships with the professors. And this new school I will be at until I graduate, so another solid two years, taking 12-15 credit hours, getting good grades, etc. It's just my first two schools that I left quickly from. Any thoughts on how the admission committee will view this? And also, if they view it negatively, would it be wiser to just skip the community college courses all together to keep my transfer number at least a little lower than it would have been? I've really been pulling my hair out agonizing over the possiblities, so if someone could please help me out, that would be great.
Thanks

Edited November 11, 2014 by jacqlynn_pvlr

[Admissions Advice Online]

Absolutely! The more prestigious the graduate program, the harder your chances for admissions will be with so many transfers under your belt. Top graduate programs simply cannot afford for students to not finish their programs. Unlike undergrad, the vast majority of graduate programs have very strict residency requirements. This means that you will need to take almost all required courses at the school you graduate from. This means you will need to stay put for the entire program. It will be hard to show that you have all the intentions to do this when you have moved around so much at the undergrad level. - Admissions Advice Online

[shadowclaw]

I don't know if your goal is a master's degree or phd. However, I transferred more times than you (I went to 4 different schools with a total of 6 transfers... I went to transfer orientation at my undergrad school 3 times). Aside from bouncing between schools, I changed my major many, many times. I also got some poor grades in my previous majors and there area few full semester withdrawals.

So my undergrad history is mess. Nevertheless, I was accepted into every masters program I applied to, and rejected from every phd program I applied to. It's unlikely that I was rejected for attending multiple schools, it was most certainly the low gpa that got me. However, bouncing around schools could be considered negative and if your application is weak, it would probably weaken it further. However, I don't think it would really have an impact on an otherwise strong application.

I do suggest that you consider the possibility of doing a masters before a phd in case it is a problem. However, I think that if you addressed the issue briefly in a SOP or had had a LOR writer mention it, you will be ok.

[jacqlynn_pvlr]

My goal is a Master's degree, so I feel that they would be less strict on this than a PhD program would. Thanks so much for your reply shadowclaw, it really does help to see someone have a similar situation as mine and still get accepted! And to the Admissions Advice Online commenter, are you speaking on mostly PhD programs or Masters programs as well? 

[juilletmercredi]

I think it could potentially be a problem, but if you are an otherwise outstanding application they may overlook it.  Besides, you could always write a supplemental essay explaining that your transfers were mostly for family reasons/outside of your control.

[Crucial BBQ]

One of my profs mentioned having attended seven different undergraduate institutions before going on to a Ph.D. Not sure where she did her Ph.D., or if she had a Master's as well, but she was fairly young, in her early 30s, so I would guess she did not do a Master's first.  

 

I believe it depends on why you transferred to be honest.  I went from a community college to a university, which is an obvious step.  However, I left that university because although some of the profs were awesome, the biology department itself sucked hardcore.  

 

Of course I would never tell that to anyone in graduate school admissions and there were other legit reasons for why I left (including financial and better opportunities).  

[Crucial BBQ]

Here is something else to consider:  I've often heard that it is a good idea to do undergrad, Master's, and Ph.D. in different locations.  Nepotism is a reason normally stated followed by it is good to experience different academic cultures.  However when you look at the state of academia and the very high probability of having to relocate across the country, numerous times, or perhaps even out of the country for those academic positions I think the "ability" to pick up and go--if the reasoning is sound--looks pretty good to academics.  And of course the adcoms are academics.  To them, no matter what your true desires may be, your Ph.D. is conditioning for the life of an academic.

Edited November 26, 2014 by Crucial BBQ

[12345678900987654321]

It sounds like you have a great story to tell about how you stuck with college despite challenges/moving. My committee eats that sort of stuff up. I've seen people put it in their SOP or sometimes they'll just email me about it. I usually discuss my interactions with applicants during admissions meetings and I bring it up there.