Convincing a college to accept a biology course as . . . biology?

Parents Forum
1

<p>Well, I was not sure which board to put this on, but I am hoping some of the parents here have had experience with this.</p>

<p>There's a school I'd like to apply to that requires transfer students to have taken two previous biology courses for a particular major I'm interested in, in the biology/ecology/life science college.</p>

<p>Due to my CC focus in natural resources, I have taken MANY biology courses. In fact, I have finished four and am taking a fifth this quarter. Most of them are intended for my school's natural resource AAS major and therefore have course codes like "ENV 121" (Environmental Science 121) or NRS 225 (Natural Resources 225) and such. I've also taken General Biology, which has a code of BIOL. Regardless of course code, ALL of the biology courses had labs attached. 24 quarter credits biology in total.</p>

<p>I asked the university to which I'm interested in applying if these courses would cover their "two biology courses" requirement. They said no. These course "aren't in the Biology department", so they won't count them (except General Biology.)</p>

<p>I necropsied deer, I dissected fish, I put on hipwaders and used a "fish shocker", I can draw a plant cell in my sleep and explain photosynthesis, but because "Plant Biology", "Fish Biology", and "Wildlife Biology" have "NRS" or "ENV" at the front of their class numbers, they apparently don't count. Ironically, the only course that the university will count, General Biology, was the least challenging biology class of the bunch.</p>

<p>Anyway . . . my teachers have emphasized that transfer students should "push" and negotiate to get courses to transfer . . . Basically, don't knuckle under if you feel your course legitimately covers a subject. However, I am not sure "where" or who to push. Like, should I reply back to the general biology/life science college? (They were the ones who told me they would only accept General Biology.) Should I contact a biology professor at Desirable University and explain my situation and show that I'm knowledgeable in areas X, Y, and Z? Should I fax my syllabi to show that the courses covered this and that? Should I ask one of my CC biology professors to e-mail them?</p>

<p>I will not be weeping and sobbing if I can't apply to this college because I do have other options, but nonetheless I would LIKE to apply because they have a very good program. Does anyone have any experience/advice with convincing a college to accept a transfer course? I don't care about transfer credits for these classes (though that would be nice too), I just would like a shot at this major.</p>

2

<p>Each university has its own ideas of what topics to cover in biology courses. Perhaps it might help if you could obtain the syllabi of the biology courses that are required at your Desirable College and compare them with the syllabi of those courses you have taken. If there is substantial overlap in the coverage of topics and reading materials, then you could make a case.</p>

3

<p>My son had a similar problem when he transferred. You probably will not be able to get an answer in advance, but may be able to work things out after you transfer by following appropriate school procedures for documentations.</p>

<p>In my son’s case, it was very helpful to have course syllabi from the classes he wanted to transfer – so I would suggest making sure you have your documentation together - that should include a reading list, detailed course description, syllabus – anything that shows what you actually did. If you wrote papers or have copies of lab reports, problem sets or exams for the classes – get them all together. (I’d suggest making a folder or binder for each class). I believe that my son was also able to document what he had done via emails from some of his profs – so of course that wouldn’t hurt either.</p>

4

<p>I’d concur with getting comparing syllabi, as well as comparing course descriptions. One challenge you might be facing is if the school to which you’re trying to transfer has a more mollecular/cellular/biochemical approach to biology. That might not have a lot of overlap with your background which seems to be more environmental and organismic. </p>

<p>Or it could just be the college being difficult. </p>

<p>In Colorado, applicants for teaching licenses in secondary mathematics were being turned down because many of their upper division and graduate level math courses were actually taught in the engineering school.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the advice so far! Comparing syllabi is a great idea.</p>

<p>Arabrab, the university I want to transfer not only has a lot of very similar sounding (from course titles and course description) classes, but some are named EXACTLY the same thing! I took a course called Plant Biology . . . They have a course called Plant Biology. In fact, as I looked through their biology section in their course catalog, I saw many where the course descriptions were analogous to other classes I’d taken, classes I hadn’t even tried to submit as biology courses (because they didn’t have “biology” in their titles).</p>

<p>I was very surprised by their e-mail, where the only reasoning given for not counting them was “the ones you submitted aren’t in the Biology department.”</p>

6

<p>You might also want to find out who actually makes the decisions at your transfer school. The person who told you “no” may work in the admissions department – but the actual determination may be made by an advisor in the biology dept., or the prof who is head of the department, etc. </p>

<p>Here’s something else funny: my son’s transfer school had a foreign language requirement. He had taken Japanese at his first school… with an A - but the transfer school only offered German, Spanish & French – so the first thing he was told was that he needed to fill the language requirement. Japanese didn’t count because, of course, it wasn’t listed as a foreign language at the transfer school! Of course, once my son was talking to a real human being instead of a mere form-filler, it was quickly acknowledged that Japanese was, indeed, a foreign language and that no more study would be required.</p>

<p>I don’t think its likely that anyone at the transfer school is going to make any promises before you get there – but I do think you could send some emails and figure out exactly what the procedure will be and who the responsible people will be – and then talk to them about the procedures you will need to follow to get credit. </p>

<p>Be prepared, though, that you might be required to repeat a course with the same title if the actual course content is markedly different. This could be an issue if you are transferring from a college with lesser academic standards to one that is more rigorous.</p>

7

<p>You might also want to check text books. If a class has a similar outline and uses the same text book, that would further strengthen your case. Text book info is often available either on the campus bookstore website (if they have an order on line option) or on the class website (typically under the professor who teaches it).</p>

8

<p>Your experience is very similar to my son’s. I was going to suggest comparing the syllabi, because that made a huge difference. He also showed some work from the classes (assignments, writing samples, etc). It occurred to me that the school was trying to be sure students had the same foundation. I also think the school had a limit to the # of credit hours, and wanted to be sure my son had attended the new school for at least the minimum # of hours and semesters. </p>

<p>In the end, he worked with the Head of the Department, who was extremely helpful and got everything in writing, so there wasn’t any question about fulfilling his major/minor. I suggest the same for you: be sure to work with someone at the school and get it in writing.</p>

9

<p>I was able to appeal things like this to my general academic adviser at the new school for general requirements, and to my concentration adviser for major requirements. It involved faxing a syllabus and being persistent.</p>

10

<p>One of the subtle things I think you are hearing is that it may not be possible to get this resolved BEFORE you apply, are accepted, and enroll, but that there’s a good chance that you can get them resolved in your favor AFTER you enroll (and have better access to actual decisionmakers who will be sympathetic). But there’s risk, no guarantees – you could enroll and then face a bureaucratic stonewall. </p>

<p>You probably shouldn’t give up on applying to this college because you are getting a bad answer now, because there’s a good chance that you could change the answer after you show up. But you may have to decide later whether you want to risk going there and maybe not being able to change the bad answer.</p>