Transferring to a Quarter Schedule, Explained

You are ready to transfer to Drexel University. You've looked at the major you're interested in, and you've determined what classes you plan to take to prepare for this program at your current school. You may have already applied and received your decision. Then, you receive the start date for your entry term and you pause. How can this be the start date? September for the fall term? April for the spring term? What's going on?

Drexel University follows a quarter schedule, which means that we have four terms in our school year. These terms follow the seasons: fall, winter, spring, and summer terms. These are 10-week terms with a finals week and small breaks in between. The classes are meant to be 10-week classes, but they do feel faster paced, so students should be ready for this transition. Week 5 of the quarter will already be midterm, so it is important that you are attending each class from the beginning.

Because of our quarter schedule, this means courses have quarter credits. I know your next question may be, "How will my semester credits be able to transfer in?"

The good news is that semester credits can be considered for transfer credit into the quarter schedule.

If your school has regional accreditation, these credits will be considered for transfer by your academic advisor at Drexel. Up to 60 semester credits may be eligible for transfer. If the advisors determine credits can transfer in, they will translate them into quarter credits. Sometimes this is a 1-to-1 ratio. For example, if you took English Composition I and this course transfers in as English Composition I at Drexel, it will come in as our 3-quarter credit English Composition course. If you take English Composition I and English Composition II and these transfer in as our English composition courses, this will transfer in as all three of our English Composition classes for that entire sequence, or 9 quarter credits.

This is why you may see that our bachelor's degree requires over 180 credits to complete. These are quarter credits, and 180 credits equals approximately 120 semester credits. So you will complete the same amount of class hours, just split up differently over our four terms.

And now, your final question, "Does this mean summer term is required?" Yes. Students are either in classes or out on their co-op experience during the summer term, so this is considered a normal term just like any other. You will have a small break between the spring and summer term, and again between the summer and fall terms, but you will not have the long summer break you are used to on a semester schedule. We cultivate that summer experience for you, with required classes or appropriate professional experience in your co-op to help you move further toward your ultimate goals.

Have even more questions about our quarter schedule? Check out our academic calendar for the 2019–2020 school year. You can also feel free to reach out to our Transfer Team at transferadmissions@drexel.edu with any questions.