My child is a freshman who wants to transfer to a new college for fall 2023. She just finished her first semester at college, earning 13 credits so far. She is enrolled for 15 credits this spring. Her college gave her 24 AP credits based on test scores. So on her college transcript is says she has 37 credits, the 13 she just took first semester, plus the 24 they awarded her for her AP scores. When filling out the Common App for transfers application, when they ask her how many credits she has completed and what her GPA is, she should only list 13 credits, correct? This is so confusing.
Correct. The AP scores are evaluated separately. Just because she got 24 credits from the current college doesn’t mean the future college will give 24 credits.
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Having been there with my ds20, I would make sure she does her due diligence about what will/won’t transfer and what transfer credits will count towards at other schools, as part of the application process.
My ds was able to transfer all of his AP and dual enrollment credits. However, some of them counted towards gen Ed requirements at his original school but were considered electives at the school he transferred to. This didn’t change his mind about transferring, but knowing whether or not he was going to have to take more/fewer gen eds at the schools he was applying to mattered to him. It makes a difference in terms of having flexibility for balancing requirements vs electives in the long run.
He also found that for some of his courses at his original school, he was initially denied credit at one of his preferred schools and had to appeal. He did so by finding what he felt an equivalent course in the the new school’s was and making an argument for why he should receive equivalent credit. In some cases he had to provide the syllabus or even a statement from a professor from his original school to support his claim. He did this after acceptance but before committing. It was really worth it, but time-consuming, so best to start early.
One thing she has lots of control over right now is what she takes in the upcoming semester. If she’s currently registered for 15 credits and some potentially won’t transfer to the school she wants to go to (or won’t count towards what she wants them to count towards), it’s better to know now so she can revise her schedule for spring 2023 asap.Then she can assure that not only will all 15 transfer, but that they will also help her in the long run by fulfilling what she intends them to fulfill (gen ed, major/minor requirement, etc.)
It’s fairly easy to figure out which AP scores will = credits and what classes they will count towards at most schools on their websites. Dual enrollment classes taken in high school will be treated like college credits, and lots of schools have databases letting you know what course equivalent they might give credit for.
In the end, what you want to avoid is having too many credits either not transfer at all, or transfer as elective credit, ultimately limiting her to taking mostly required courses at her new school.
Lots of luck to her!
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What a helpful, insightful post. Thanks so much!
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