Career Services offers several interest assessments such as the Strong Interest Inventory, The Self-Directed Search and Discover. These services are free to CSM students. For more information, you can access their web site at www.csmd.edu/current/advising/career.htm or contact Career Services at (301) 934-7569 (La Plata), (301) 475-8799 (Leonardtown), (301) 855-1211 (Prince Frederick). You are encouraged to take Career Decision Making and Life Planning, CAP 1010 for three credits. This class is designed to help students in choosing a major.

No. You don't have to choose a major right away; however, it would be helpful in selecting courses that are transferable. If you do not choose a major right away, and you have no clue what you should take, all majors have certain general education requirements. Consult with an academic advisor or the college catalog for general education requirements for your specific degree.

Knowing your major will assist you in selecting the courses that you should take. Although courses from CSM will transfer; however, the courses that you take may not apply to your specific degree program at the transfer school. ARTSYS, mdtransfer.usmd.edu will assist you with obtaining the recommended transfer program at most Maryland schools. If your school is not listed, you should contact the transfer coordinator at the receiving school to obtain this information.

It is okay to change your major; however, not all courses for one program will be applicable to another program. This is the risk of changing majors. For example, if you are taking classes for an engineer major and you decide that you prefer the nursing program, your engineering courses will not transfer to the nursing program. However, your general education courses may. In order to officially change your major, you should contact an academic advisor.

State residency differs from one state to another. You should contact the transfer school for a more accurate answer.

CSM offers Associate of Arts Degrees in Arts and Science and General Studies. These degrees are pretty much the foundation for many majors. There are three components of a degree: general education courses, program specific courses and electives. Rather than enrolling in unnecessary courses to fulfill the electives requirement, you should take the program specific courses for transfer. ARTSYS, mdtransfer.usmd.edu will assist you with obtaining the recommended transfer program at most Maryland schools. If your school is not listed, you should contact the transfer coordinator to receive this information.

The state of Maryland is one of sixteen southern states that participate in the Academic Common Market (ACM). ACM gives students the opportunity to enroll in certain out-of state bachelor's and graduate programs that are not offered at public in-state schools at a reduced tuition rate. For more information on ACM, please refer to www.mhec.state.md.us/AcadAff/ACM/acm1intr.htm.

From the very first day that you start CSM, you should be thinking about what your plans are for transferring. It is important that you take courses that are transferable. Talk with an academic advisor who can provide you with accurate transfer information. You should also attend the Fall and Spring Transfer Fairs and Transfer Workshops. Contact the advising office to obtain the latest dates and times.

There really isn't a best time to transfer. It really depends upon your goals and time restrictions. However, most transfers take place in the fall semester. One of the advantages is that the student orientation is much larger and that more freshmen and transfer students are new to the school. However, this does not rule out spring transfers. Whether you transfer in the fall or spring, you should be able to receive the same quality service.

Connect to career.utk.edu/students/majors/.asp. This web site lists several majors and how they connect with various careers.

CSM's Career Services can connect you with resources that will assist you in exploring careers that match your major. Another resource is faculty members. Schedule an appointment with a professor in your major. Faculty members will be a valuable source to careers within your major.

There are thousands of schools in the United States alone. It would be impossible to tell you which school is best for your major. To assess which school is best will require research on your part. You can start at U.S. News and World Report's annual issue. This report is accessible at www.usnews.com.

You can also contact the accrediting organization for the major to receive their recommendation, such as Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs for business majors, the American Bar Association for law majors or the American Psychological Association, Committee on Accreditation for psychology majors. This information is accessible through the internet.

Schools generally accept credits through non-traditional learning which includes CLEP, DSST (DANTES), AP and departmental exams. You should contact, the receiving school to determine what courses are acceptable and the minimum score required for transferability. Please note that there may be some restrictions on the amount of credits that can be transfer through testing.

Web sites like www.applyonline.org, www.petersons.com, apply.usmd.edu and www.collegeview.com have some college applications online. If these web sites do not post the application that you are looking for, you should connect to the school's web site directly. You can find them there.

The advising office carries some in-state and out-of-state applications. Another source of applications will be the Fall and Spring Transfer Fair. College recruiters and transfer coordinators from in-state and out-of-state will be present to talk with students in person. Contact the advising office to obtain the schedule of the fairs.

ARTSYS, artweb.usmd.edu will allow you to search by major, schools within the University System of Maryland. For a more national search, log in at www.collegeview.com and www.petersons.com.

Because college catalogs can have hundreds of pages, you may not want to download it. However college catalogs can be viewed at www.collegesource.org. This web site has both national and international catalogs. Also, the advising office has some in state and out of state catalogs available to students.

One on the many myths of college transfer is that when one completes a degree that the degree will transfer as a package. Although schools recognize the associates degree, courses are evaluated separately for equivalency. That is not to say that obtaining the associates degree is useless. Earning an associates degree is a milestone in many lives and it ought to be pursued. However, receiving schools are more concerned with course compatibility. An exception to this is in the case of articulation agreements. Contact an academic advisor for particulars.

If you are transferring to a University System of Maryland school, if CSM accepts a course to meet its general education requirement, the receiving school will also accept that course to meet its general education requirement. However, you still need to send a transcript from each school attended.

CSM accepts credits from regionally accredited schools as well as schools that are approved by the American Council on Education. Although CSM may accept a course as transferable, when you transfer to another school, the receiving school will conduct its own evaluation of all of your transcripts.

In general, the Associate of Arts (A.A.) Programs, the Associate of Science (A.S.) Programs and the Associate of Arts in Teaching (A.A.T.) are designed to transfer. The Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) Programs are career-oriented programs. Under some majors, CSM has an articulation agreement with another school such as the University of Maryland University College where many of the A.A.S. degrees will transfer as a package. You should consult an academic advisor to inquire about the transferability of A.A.S. degrees.

Your financial aid does not transfer. You must have the new school added to your FASFA report so that it can receive a copy of your Student Aid Report. Once received, your eligibility will be reevaluated by the financial aid office of the receiving school. This information applies to loans, also.

Generally, if you transfer with at least 30 transferable credits, your high school transcript and your SAT are not required. There are some schools that require as little as 24 transferable credits. The amount of credits you transfer with will determine if other admissions requirements are needed such as the SAT. You should contact the admissions office of the receiving school to find out if the SAT or other aptitude testing is required for admissions.

If you are applying for the fall semester, you should apply for financial aid by February 1. If you are applying for the spring semester, you should apply no later than September. Keep in mind the sooner you apply the better. This will allow you to receive a reply prior to the start of the semester.

In addition, never assume that you don't qualify for financial aid. Family income is not the only thing that qualifies you for financial aid. However, one of the first steps to receiving federal and state aid is completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). You can pick up an application in the Financial Aid office or administrative office at the other campuses or you can do it online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. In addition to the FAFSA application, some schools have their own financial aid application that must be completed. You should contact the Financial Aid office at the school you plan to attend for more information.

In the event that you do not qualify because of financial reasons, there are many transfer scholarships available. Some are designed for a particular group of people such as minorities, students with disabilities, students pursing non-traditional majors, students pursing degrees where there are shortages, i.e. nursing, teacher education and many of the science and technology fields. A couple web sites that you want to consider are www.fastweb.com and www.mhec.state.md.us.

Most schools require a minimum of 2.0 GPA. However, a 2.5 GPA or higher is preferred. The more admission applications that a school receives, may cause the school to become selective in their admissions process. The minimum GPA may not be sufficient. Competitive majors and limited enrollment majors will require a much higher GPA. You should consult with the transfer coordinator of the receiving school to obtain specific information.

If you are transferring to a University System of Maryland (USM) school, recommended transfer programs are listed on ARTSYS, http://artweb.usmd.edu. You are strongly encouraged to make a copy of the recommended transfer program that you are following, and present it to the transfer coordinator of the receiving school when you transfer. However, if you are transferring to a school outside of USM, you should contact the transfer coordinator of that school to receive a list of recommended transferable courses. Should you need assistance, contact an academic advisor.

Yes. Course requirements differ from one school to another. CSM offers most of these requirements; however, knowing the recommended transfer courses is helpful. Most of the recommended transfer programs offered at Maryland schools can be accessed at artweb.usmd.edu. For other schools, you should contact the receiving school to obtain a list of acceptable courses.

There are many factors that go into selecting a transfer school. Most of them depend upon your needs and limitations. A few factors to consider are the cost of the school, the location, whether the school offers your major and what support services are available.

You may have several schools to choose from. Obtain as much information that you can from the schools that you are interested in attending. Consider the school's strengths and weaknesses. Most students make their choice simply from a campus visit.

If necessary, talk with the transfer advisor from the receiving school who may be able to assist you with your choices.