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Students are taking increasingly complex pathways through higher education, yet mobility patterns other than one-to-one vertical transfer have been largely neglected in the research literature (Taylor & Jain, 2017). This paper draws on semi-structured interviews with 27 students majoring in STEM fields from three universities to explore why they undertake non-traditional transfer patterns during their undergraduate studies. Students exhibited various dynamic transfer patterns such as summer swirling at community colleges, co-enrollment at multiple institutions, or lateral transfer between two-year or four-year institutions. Rationales for dynamic transfer varied by type of enrollment pattern.. Students often received benefits from their enrollment mobility (e.g., stay on track toward degree, maximize chances for success, affordability, etc.) but dynamic transfer was also prompted by unmet needs at their home institution. Students who attended more than two institutions or who exhibited discontinuous enrollment patterns experienced the most academic, personal, and financial duress. Students’ creative and dynamic transfer patterns in their higher education studies highlight the pivotal role that community colleges play in the degree persistence of university STEM majors. Additionally, students’ dynamic transfer patterns illustrate the resourceful ways that they navigate higher education and suggests the need for institutions to reexamine how they support students.