Transfer Credit

About Receiving Transfer Credit

If you are a current UR student planning to take a course at another college while abroad or during the summer, you MUST get approval ahead of taking the course. Do not register for a course at another college until you have secured approval from the UR Math department.

  • Courses eligible for transfer must be at least five full weeks long. 
  • A course eligible for transfer must match an existing course at UR in terms of content.
  • Summer courses taken online have the additional restriction that at least 50% of the grade given is based on proctored exams.

The student is responsible for providing links or other evidence that these requirements have been met.

  • A link to a course catalog is rarely sufficient.
  • A schedule of topics or syllabus is usually needed.
  • Sometimes it is necessary to reach out to the department giving the course directly to establish that exams are proctored.


How to get approval to transfer a course:

  • Before opening the course approval form, be sure you have the information you will need. This includes links showing course content, start and end dates of the course, information about proctoring for online courses, and how grades are determined. If you provide inadequate information on your form submission, delays will ensue.
  • If you are not able to supply the links requested in the approval form, but you are able to attach a document to an email, send this email to to  mathdugs@lists.rochester.edu with "course approval-form submitted" in the subject line after you have filled out the course approval form.
  • Please use the math-specific form found HERE. This replaces the registrar's course approval form. You do not need to use the registrar's form for a math course.
  • Your course approval request will be read by a member of the math faculty. If it is approved, the information will be sent by us directly to the university registrar. When your course is approved or declined, you will get an email from our department secretary. You should retain this email. You will not get an email from the university registrar even if it is approved.
  • AFTER YOU TAKE THE COURSE, have your transcript sent to the university registrar. Instructions can be found HERE. (See #6 in the list.)

Transfer students interested in a math major are encouraged to attend math advising hours as soon as possible. We will help you with the course approval process and with identifying appropriate courses to take at UR.

Restrictions

  • No more than 1 core course may be transferred for the math major.
  • No more than 4 courses at the 200 level may be transferred for the math major.
  • Math 235 may not be transferred for the math minor.
  • Math courses less than 5 weeks long are not eligible for transfer credit. Winter-session courses are not eligible for transfer credit even if they are five weeks long.
  • At least 50% of the grade must be based on exams.
  • Online courses must have proctored exams comprising at least 50% of the course grade.
  • Exceptions to these restrictions are only made with special permission from the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Math.

IB and Cambridge A-levels

  • IB students who scored 4 or higher on the IB-HL are awarded credit for Math 161. No paperwork is needed.
  • Students who took the Cambridge A-levels should use the math transfer credit form and also send their transcript to mathdugs@lists.rochester.edu.