Transferring Credit from Another Institution

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Course Eligibility

The Mathematics Department will approve courses under the following conditions:

  • The course is offered by a mathematics or statistics department.
  • The course is highly comparable (in both content and level) to a course offered by the Cornell Mathematics Department1 for academic credit towards graduation, or the course is taken through Cornell Abroad and is of comparable or greater depth and degree of difficulty to courses offered at Cornell.

Courses are not eligible if any of the following are true:

  • The course is taught in a high school to high school students (even if the college provides a transcript).
  • The course is used to satisfy high school graduation requirements.
  • The course is labeled “college algebra” or “pre-calculus.”

Student Procedure for Requesting Transfer Credit

  1. Submit information2 about the course using the form below. A faculty member will contact you with a decision.

If the course is approved:

  1. Bring the email approval and a transfer credit form (see table below) to the faculty member’s office, or leave them at the front desk (310 Malott Hall) and you will be contacted when the form has been signed.
  2. Return the signed form to your college office.
  3. Upon completion of the course, arrange for a sealed transcript to be sent to your college registrar.
Transfer Credit Forms, Procedures, and Policies
Student’s College Forms Available at Procedures and Policies
Arts & Sciences Academic Advising Center
55 Goldwin Smith Hall		 www.arts.cornell.edu/stu-adv/ProcedforTransf.php
Agriculture &
Life Sciences		 Student Services
140 Roberts Hall		 www.cals.cornell.edu/cals/current/registrar/current-students/
transfer/non-cornell-credit-policy.cfm
Engineering Advising Office
167 Olin Hall		 www.engineering.cornell.edu/student-services/academic-advising/
academic-information/transfer-credit/index.cfm

Good Advice

  • Have courses evaluated in advance to avoid wasting time/money on an unsuitable course.
  • Read your college’s transfer credit policy (see table above) before taking the course or applying for transfer credit.  Some colleges place restrictions on the use of transfer credit.
  • MATH 2930 is almost impossible to replace because very few universities have a course that matches it. Try replacing MATH 2940 instead. The two courses can be taken in either order.

Submit Your Request

Please do not submit multiple courses for the same requirement. Instead, submit your first choice and wait for a response. Submit your second choice only if your first choice is denied.

Personal Information

  • Name:
  • Email:
  • What college are you in?
  • When do you expected to graduate?
  • What is your (anticipated) major?

Course Information

  • When did/will you take the course?
  • At what university?
  • What do you want to use the course for? (For example: prerequisite for another course, or for a major's requirements)
  • What is the course number and title?
  • How many credits?
  • Please paste here the official description of the course from the university's course catalog or from a course webpage.
  • What textbook was or will be used?
  • If additional information about this course is available on the web, please provide the address:

Do you have anything to add?

1 The Mathematics Department will approve an introductory statistics course only if it is a satisfactory equivalent to MATH 1710 (Statistical Theory and Application to the Real World). Statistics courses taken from social science departments (such as psychology or sociology) must be approved by the corresponding social science department at Cornell.

2 The burden is on the student to provide sufficient information for the course to be evaluated, including a detailed course description or syllabus (i.e., topics covered) and the textbook that will be used for the course.  If this information is not available through the university’s web site, the student is expected to contact the school to request it.

Last modified:June 9, 2009