by Diana Scott

Shelley Warfel

For Shelley Warfel, it was a cinch transferring the credits she earned at Carroll to American University, a private college located in Washington, D.C. “I started with 10 colleges
on my list of possibilities and narrowed those choices by asking questions of those who were attending or had graduated from these schools. My decision was easy because no one told me anything negative about AU. I received word in February 2004 that I was accepted with Junior standing.” Shelley, who has 74 transferable credits, could only take 60 with her, the normal amount of credits four-year colleges accept from two-year colleges.

“I had so many credits because I changed majors,” explained Shelley. She started at Carroll as a concurrent student in her senior year at North Carroll High School. She then took two years off and worked as a graphic artist for Record and Tape Traders in Owings Mills. Upon returning to Carroll in 2000, she took print design courses and received a Letter of Recognition in Computer Graphics-Print Design, but was unable to take a Graphics Internship because she was working as a full-time secretary at Carroll in the President’s office. “Failure to complete that internship meant no degree, so I went back to my adviser and she suggested that I could still graduate in Spring 2004 with a General Studies Associate in Arts degree. That meant a lot of research, soul-searching and speaking with professors about other career possibilities.” She discovered that Political Science 101 held wide appeal for her. “Throughout the course I thought about possible career paths with a Political Science major. That’s when I began researching for a four-year college to transfer to.”

She chose American University because of its reputation in political science and government, its location in the nation’s capital, and the fact that it loomed so positive in the minds of her contacts.
She’ll be entering AU this fall, living in the dorms on campus, and majoring in International Studies.

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