Do you wonder what will happen to your credits when you transfer to another school? Maybe you are attending a community college and need to transfer to a senior university, or perhaps you simply want a change of scenery or major. If you are a transfer student within the University System of Georgia, I can help you stop wondering. I work as a transfer evaluator in the Registrar's Office at Clayton State University, a senior unit of the University System of Georgia.
The University System of Georgia has a common core curriculum. I do not use the word "common" to mean "identical." There are slight differentiations for each institution. The core curriculum consists of about 60 credit hours and is divided up into six sections, areas A-F. Generally, students spend their freshman and sophomore years satisfying core curriculum requirements.
According to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, if students complete an area of the core curriculum at one USG school, they complete it at another even if the requirements are different. For example, if you complete area D at Gordon College by taking one course in biology, one course in chemistry, and one course in computer science, then you transfer to Clayton State where we require a two-course science sequence (biology I and II, chemistry I and II, etc.), you would not be required to take the second course in either subject.
This rule can be bent if your change your major after transferring. If you get an associate's degree in English, then you transfer to a senior university to pursue a chemistry major, chances are good you'll need to take some extra math and science classes to satisfy prerequisites for your new major. However, if your new major is not radically different from your first, such as switching from sociology to psychology, you may not have any deficiencies in your core.
My last advice is to use the catalog. Look at the course requirements for your major, be aware of prerequisites and policies, and be prepared to ask your advisor questions instead of simply allowing him/her to tell you what you need to take. In a perfect world, advisors are always right. In the real world, they may be inexperienced or unfamiliar with your particular program, so it is up to you to be informed enough to meet you desired graduation date.
Katherine Tippins
11 comments:
This can be so helpful to students! What a great idea!
How did you get into this work? What is your background? Thanks!
I never transferred schools as an undergraduate, so I'm not quite sure how much work goes into transferring credits and applying to other schools. From those I know who have transferred; it was a very painful, stressful, and exhausting process. It seems like a common stress is that credits don't transfer and students have to re-take classes. What are the preliminary steps students should take when considering transferring to another school? Are the first steps as simple as doing your research?
You list the catalog as a resource for students, but more and more, schools are going to internet-based systems that aren't necessarily user-friendly. Is there any way to get easier access to school information? Can you still get a print catalog on-demand?
When I was an undergraduate, I took one course at another school over the summer. Trying to get credit for that course was a nightmare; a nightmare I don't want to relive. The major issue for the transfer was I was attending a private school with their curriculm, and going trying to get credit from a state school, with their curriculm. A number of issues arose, such as, what course is equavilant, getting paperwork from both schools to verify the credit, permission from my school to attend, and applying at the state school for acceptance. All I wanted to do was take a course for the summer. It all eventually worked out, but it was a lot of work. It would have been nice to have somebody helping the students with this chore. I would love to hear more about how you help students overcome this stressful process.
I transfered schools as an undergrad. From Oregon State to Kennesaw State. Difficulties were compounded because I went from quarters to semesters! I feel sorry for whoever had to evaluate those transfer credits!
Are there transfer rules for graduate students? I seem to recall that most schools will only accept about 6 transfer hours of course work at the graduate level...
What can you do to ease the pain if you have to trn?ansfer out of state? Do all universities have someone in your position to help students salvage as many credits as they ca
Is the course transfer criteria different for graduate programs? With the large number of online schools, I wonder if the universities will treat these classes differently when it comes to transferring the credit in.
I attended four universities, so I’m well acquainted with transferring credits. My final transfer to UGA was after two years worth of classes. I was able to get 61 of 64 credits to transfer, albeit after much leg-work. I spent the first half of fall semester tramping around the entire campus to different colleges seeking department heads to approve the credits I wanted transferred. I would visit the registrar’s office and speak to a transfer evaluator who would inevitably tell me the class couldn’t transfer for credit. Not one to be easily dissuaded, I would then traipse off to the appropriate college, speak with the department head, and get him/her to approve the transfer. While I did get almost everything to transfer, the process was incredibly arduous. My question is this: are there really hard and fast rules as to classes that can transfer, or does it ultimately depend on what mood the person who is approving the transfer is in? In my experience, it seemed to be fairly arbitrary.
Greetings, Katherine.
Hey, I teach high school at Mt. Zion High in Clayton. I'm sure you've processed some of my former students as they became yours. Cool. Anyway, great information here for transfering students. Back in college, I often thought about making a move out of the state and wondered about transfers going the other way. Just to ease my curiosity, how does transferring out of Georgia compare with other states? What are some things that a student could do before attempting to transfer?
I know that a lot of people make mistakes when they are transferring or have an overall difficult time. Having the experience that you do, what are some of the biggest mistakes you see from transfer students? What advice can you give to students that would address these specific problems?
Also, do you usually follow the same steps if you are transferring colleges for your masters or doctorate?
What advice would you give to a student who wanted to transfer from a school on the semester schedule to a school on the quarter schedule? Would you ever advise a student to transfer to a different university (other than your own) to maintain the similar schedule (i.e. semester school to another semester school)?
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