Hello! Congrats and good question. It all depends on what major you were before and what major you plan to transfer to. I was a business major and a communications minor prior to transferring into Howard University’s School of Communications. I was able to transfer approximately 40 credits. The credits were a combination of communications credits from my prior minor, general electives, and AP credit from high school. 

Fight for every credit you can get. Here’s a pro tip for getting your credits:

Howard wants to know that the classes you have taken are comparable to their courses. Make a list of every college-level class you have taken (and, what to transfer) and write the course descriptions from your school’s official website below each course. This will help you when you meet with advisors to discuss credits because they will be able to compare to Howard courses right quicker. It takes out some work for them and helps you prove your case. 

Congrats! The transition of course is a culture shock at first. I grew up in a fairly diverse suburban area and then started off in college in a fairly diverse university. So, to go from that to a place where black people represent the majority was a shift for me, but still the best decision I’ve ever made. I wish I could give you advice about the dorms, but I’ve never stayed on campus. I tried, but getting housing is super difficult at Howard. Good news is that they are building new dorms, bad news is that I have no idea when those projects will be completed. I’d say try to stay in the “Towers” off Georgia Ave because it’s close to campus. A lot of people like Meridian, but that’s on 15th street and I’ve seen students get frustrated when the shuttle doesn’t come in time for them to get to class. A good amount of students also live in UTC which is an apartment complex in Hyattsville, MD. UTC provides a shuttle to campus, but not very often and remember it’s in Maryland, not DC. If you can’t find housing try http://howard.offcampuspartners.com/. I found my place there and have stayed in the same house for the last three years. In fact, if housing doesn’t work out, contact me because there will be some available rooms at my house since a few of us are graduating in May. 

I was able to use my AP credit. They helped me a lot!

Try to stick with whatever word limit they give you. If there isn’t an established limit then write on, but keep your message focused.