July 21, 2008

Welcome to our new blog!

Are you wondering what we’ll be talking about?

We will be posting information about admissions for transfer students. We plan to share the information that you might be interested in and need to know. From time to time we’ll include reminders about the application deadlines, invitations to attend one of our information sessions, and we will also share our experiences. Forgive us if we digress every now and then…

The USF Sarasota-Manatee campus is an upper-level campus. What does that mean? We do not offer freshman or sophomore level courses. Students who plan to attend USF Sarasota-Manatee need to have at least 60 transferable credit hours or their A.A. from a Florida public community college.

We refer students who don’t quite have the 60 transferable credit hours to Manatee Community College. USF Sarasota-Manatee has a great relationship with MCC and both institutions want to see you succeed.


You should be aware that the advisors at USF Sarasota-Manatee specialize. So, if you are a business major, you should talk to one of the business advisors. If you are an education major, you need to talk to one of the education advisors. The USF Sarasota-Manatee advisors are happy to meet with future students!

I’m about to jump on my soapbox…
My personal and professional opinion is that ANYONE considering earning a degree (whether it’s the A.A. at MCC or a bachelor’s degree at USF Sarasota-Manatee) should meet with an academic advisor at both schools every semester and, the earlier the better. Please don’t wait! I’ve met with many students who think they are ready for transfer and are not – that is not the news you want to hear. Meeting with academic advisors at both MCC and USF Sarasota-Manatee can help prevent those situations.
…Getting off my soapbox


Rocky’s Rules

Rule 1: New posts may take approximately 24-48 to show up in the blog.

Rule 2: Play nice with others.

Rule 3: If you have a sensitive question that you want to keep private – do not post to the blog. Contact one of our advisors at (941) 359-4330.

Rule 4: We will do our best to respond with as much information as possible but there may be times when we will refer you to a specific advisor.

I’m sure all of us have had someone come up to us at some point and say – “I just have a quick question.” Sometimes it really is a quick question – a lot of the time it is not. A lot of questions have answers that are more complicated than you may expect. Since every student’s situation is unique we want to be careful to give advice that fits your situation but will also benefit others.
We will not be addressing super detailed transfer questions in this blog. If you have a question be sure to post it – just don’t be upset if we have to respond more generally than you would like. In those situations we will direct you to the person who can best help you with your question.