Students frequently request transfer credit for mathematics courses taken at other institutions. Current CWRU students should obtain approval IN ADVANCE before taking a course elsewhere; this policy is in place to protect YOU, so that you don’t mistakenly take a course that will not be accepted for transfer credit.
Contact the Office of Undergraduate Studies in Sears 447 to obtain the forms you need or look at the web site http://www.case.edu/ugstudies/forms/. The Off-Campus Study Request form is normally used to request approval in advance to take a summer course elsewhere. Instructions for getting the form signed are included at the end of this posting.
There are several general policies that influence the Mathematics Department’s decision on whether to grant transfer credit. YOU need to provide DETAILED information about the class that you want to transfer. Ideally, you should obtain a syllabus that describes the textbook used and the topics covered. Simply sending along the name of the course is not sufficient since the same name, say Linear Algebra, could apply to a high school, introductory college, advanced undergraduate, or graduate course.
IMPORTANT CAVEAT ABOUT THE APPROVAL PROCESS FOR MATHEMATICS TRANSFER CREDIT: Our department’s role in this process is limited to assessing whether the course a student wishes to take elsewhere is equivalent to a course we offer or might offer in the CWRU Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics Department. There are many other school and university rules that might have an impact on a student’s ability to take a course elsewhere and transfer that credit to CWRU. According to the CWRU Office of Undergraduate Studies, students may use no more than 15 credit-hours of domestic off-campus study towards their degrees. It is up to the student, with assistance from an academic advisor or navigator, to make certain they don’t run afoul of these and other policies.
CONTENT & HOURS:
To be considered for transfer credit, the off-campus course must meet for roughly the same number of total hours and cover roughly the same material as the CWRU course. An exact content match is not necessary, but an overlap of 80% or more is expected.
An approximate match of hours can be complicated for universities that operate on academic calendars based on quarters rather than semesters. If the institution at which you plan to study operates on quarters, then most likely you will need to take three of their courses to obtain credit for two CWRU courses (or two courses to get credit for one). Some universities offer 5 credit math courses on a quarter system but this translates into only 3.33 credits on a semester basis, rather than the 4 credits normally associated with first year courses at CWRU.
ONLINE COURSES
The Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics Department does not accept online courses for transfer credit.
TRANSFER CREDIT FOR CALCULUS
The department offers two calculus sequences. Students are much more likely to find an off-campus course that will transfer as Math 121 or 122 than to find a course that will transfer as Math 125 or 126. Remember the 80% content-match guideline when looking for transfer courses.
ADVANCED MATHEMATICS COURSES – 200 level and above
These courses vary a great deal from institution to institution. Students who wish to take an advanced mathematics or statistics course from another institution should obtain a course syllabus from that institution and arrange a meeting with the academic representative of the CWRU Dept. of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics.
SIGNATURES: Contact the academic representative of the Department of Mathematics (Prof. C. Butler, chris@case.edu ) for more information or for approval of your Transfer/Summer Credit form.
You may stop by Chris’ office, Yost 327, for a signature at any time without prior arrangements if you have all the documentation described above. It is preferable, however, to first send an email with attachments or links for all the relevant information, including a syllabus.