Simplified Guide to Transferring Credits
If transferring schools is what you're interested in, you've come to the right place! Whether you're coming from a community college or a four-year institution, Drexel offers many ways to help students find their way here, whichever way your journey has begun.
Transferring credits doesn't have to be difficult! If you're starting this journey with a clean slate, meaning you have no college credits under your belt, I recommend contacting the admissions office at the institution you're looking to transfer to earlier rather than later. This allows us all the benefit of time. Time for you to gather all the required materials, maybe take courses that are required, and time for us in admissions to review your materials and potentially work with you to create a plan for admission. At Drexel, we have a dedicated transfer admissions team (see our smiling faces here) ready and waiting to assist and answer all your questions. Typically, we will recommend students start out by taking very basic, general education credits. We strongly recommend doing some research prior to applying to ensure you have all of the required prerequisite courses that are needed for your particular major. You can find a list of required prerequisites, broken down by major, here on our website. While we aren't always able to guarantee certain courses can transfer, in some cases we are able to offer a list of each of the courses that are needed and suggest you complete those prior to applying. Prerequisite courses allow the admissions staff to see how you have done in courses that you will be taking once you transfer to determine admission to the university and if this major is a good fit for you.
If you have already taken courses at a school, and maybe realize that institution isn't for you, have no fear!
If you have already taken courses at a school, and maybe realize that institution isn't for you, have no fear! We are here to help you, too! It is all too common for students to finish up their first or second semester at an institution and seek out some transfer options. Again, we recommend researching your major to make sure you have the requirements prior to applying, but as long as you have attended a regionally accredited institution, we will accept your transfer credits.
When it comes to the actual transfer of credits, Drexel sends out a transfer credit evaluation within two weeks of a student's acceptance to the university. To put this into simplistic terms, your academic advisor will send you a list of what credits transfer and how they transfer into your specific major. This is a course-by-course list of what courses you are transferring in and what courses count toward your overall degree through this process. It's also helpful to compare this to the Degree Requirements found in the Drexel University Undergraduate Catalog to see what you'll still have left to complete your degree here at Drexel. In some cases, your academic advisor may reach out and ask you to submit a course syllabus. Not to worry — this just means that your advisor is trying to make sure what you have learned previously matches up to what is taught in the courses here, to hopefully award you transfer credit. Trust me when I say you want to be adequately prepared, especially when the course in question is a prerequisite to another course that will only build on already-learned information. It's important to keep in mind that we only accept up to 60 semester credits (or 90 quarter credits). Also, for a credit to transfer, you must have earned a grade of "C" or better in the course.
We know this process can be daunting, and sometimes you don't even have a clue where to start. That's absolutely okay! The transfer team at Drexel is here to help you from beginning to end (end being the start of classes, but we do like to hear of your successes after too!) Each member of the team works with different academic departments on campus to act as a bridge and assist in any way we can. Hopefully, after reading this, transferring doesn't seem so scary anymore!
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