Transfer of Undergraduate Course Credit
New Students Transferring to Boston University
Credits and course work of incoming transfer students are evaluated by
the Office of Admissions. Prior to matriculation, the Office of
Admissions answers questions about transfer and credit evaluation (see
www.bu.edu/admissions/apply/transfer_credit.html). Your past
computer science course work needs to be evaluated by the Director of
Undergraduate Studies in the Computer Science Department. With her
help, you need to file the CS Department's Petition for Approval of
Undergraduate Course Credit Transfer (www.cs.bu.edu/ugradprogram/CS-course-transfer-petition.pdf)
and the College of Arts and Sciences Transfer Credit Approval Form
(available at CAS 105, 725 Commonwealth Ave).
Current Boston University Students
If you are a student enrolled in a day-time degree program at Boston
University that requires computer science course work, you should do
this work in courses offered by the Computer Science Department in the
College and Arts and Sciences. In rare cases, computer science
courses completed at other accredited colleges or universities may be
credited towards your Boston University degree. To avoid
disappointment, you should discuss your plans with your academic
advisor before you enroll in an outside course. You also need to
submit a petition to the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the
Computer Science Department before you enroll. Use the CS
Department's form "Petition for Approval of Undergraduate Course
Credit Transfer" that you can obtain in room MCS 138, 111 Cummington
St, or by downloading
www.cs.bu.edu/ugradprogram/CS-course-transfer-petition.pdf. You
need to fill out the College of Arts and Sciences Transfer Credit
Approval Form and attach it to your petition, which is available in
the College of Arts and Sciences Academic Advising Office (CAS 105,
725 Commonwealth Ave).
Approval should be requested before the outside course is taken. It
can also be requested after the course has been taken, but in this
case, additional documentation about the student's course work and
performance is required.
Computer science course transfer can only be recommended if
- the course is taken at an accredited four-year college or university,
- the course is not a correspondence or distance learning course,
- the content of the course is sufficiently documented,
- the course is not a duplicate of a course that the student has taken
at Boston University,
- the course is equivalent to a course in the Computer Science
Department at Boston University.
The equivalency condition is most important - courses taken at other
institutions may not require course work with the same depth and
breadth as courses in the Computer Science Department at Boston
University, even if they have similar titles and course descriptions.
This is particularly relevant for courses taken during the summer.
Evening courses for working professionals are generally not equivalent
to courses in the Computer Science Department at Boston University,
for example, Boston University's Metropolitan College, or Harvard
University Extension Program (Harvard College also does not award
credit for this program). According to university policy, summer
course work within the metropolitan Boston area must be at Boston
University (see below for exceptions). Summer course work that is
accepted for transfer is given CAS elective credit only (see below for
exceptions).
The Computer Science Department will inform you by email if your
petition was approved or declined. If approval was given, you need to
collect the signed CAS form in MCS 138 and file it in room CAS B-3.
If your petition was declined due to a lack of documentation, you may
re-apply and provide the documentation. You may see the Director of
Undergraduate Studies in her office hours to discuss a declined
petition. If you have already taken the course in question, come
prepared to demonstrate your mastery of the appropriate course work.
For additional information see:
-
http://www.bu.edu/bulletins/und/item12.html#anchor19
-
http://www.bu.edu/bulletins/und/item12c.html#anchor06
- http://www.bu.edu/cas/questions
