Credit Transfer From US College to European College

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hello everyone, I was looking for some advise.

Basically I am very frustrated right now because I can’t find any information regarding transferring credits from a US college to a european university.

I just finished my sophomore year at college and have decided to move to Europe (study there and live there after I finish studying). I am currently in a bachelors program at my college. My plan is to finish this fall semester (fall of 2015) at my college because I think it is to late to apply for european college) and then move to europe to start the spring semester there. I wanted to know if it is possible to transfer some of the credits I have here in the USA to european colleges, so I dont waste these two and a half years I did here in the USA. I have searched countless times without any luck in finding this information. I appreciate the help. Thanks in advance.

2

General information is probably useless.

If you know where you are moving, you should find a few colleges in the area and call them. Speak to admissions, and they should help you.

Do your own research:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/08/08/go-to-college-outside-us/

and so on.

And “I think it is too late to apply”? Do you know that? Again, if you know a few possible universities you have in mind, it will make your life a LOT easier. There are certainly US universities that are accepting applications for the fall still.

3

apply by June 30th for fall 2015 undergraduate admission at UK schools

if you apply after that, you can still get into schools through clearing. clearing is when schools show what available spots they have left for any particular courses/majors.

the deadline to apply for clearing is september 21st

clearing ends on september 30th

im not sure if clearing is allowed for non UK students. i think it should be though, you should check on UCAS

that is, if you plan to go to the UK

saying that “ive decided to go europe and live there” seems very…well it makes me think that you’re not actually serious about this… just another weeaboo/europhile/drwhofan ect, saying “europe” is so vague. it makes me think you don’t know where you’re going. uni systems are completely different in each country.
“hey im going to move to asia to live there. why can’t i find info about transferring credits?” well, maybe because you didn’t specify the country, the state/province, the university.
just as credit transfer requirements are individual and different in the US for each university, they are the same way in other countries as well.

i could be wrong though. you could have withheld that info for privacy reasons.

good luck

as rhandco said, do your own research. if you plan to move across a continent, you better get used to researching and figuring things out on your own (that is if you won’t be living with family and what not). cultures are so different, you’re not going to know everything. you’re gonna have to learn how to figure stuff out.

4

If you finished your sophomore year, it means that many of your classes were Gen Ed, right? In which case, they won’t help you. In Europe, you generally apply to a specific department, and there are no general requirements. So you’re unlikely to get any credit for your work - unless you will be studying, say, accounting and you took some accounting class. Possibly you might get credit for them.

But the European system is very, very different and likely you will have to start over, as a 1st year student. Many students who transfer from Europe to the US also lose a lot of credits. The two systems aren’t very comparable, and therefore the work in them isn’t very transferable.

5

Thank you for all of your advise. I have specific countries in mind. I plan on pursing my bachelors in Biology in Poland, France, Switzerland, and Norway.

Im sorry if this sounds like a " just another weeaboo/europhile/drwhofan ect".

I have been taking a lot of gen eds as well as Biology, Chemistry courses (hopefully they transfer I do not know yet).

I will continue narrowing down the schools.

6

I know that my husband was just trying to go across town and couldn’t transfer a lot of credits from the CSU courses taken in high school, to the UC’s. I imagine the European system is probably going to be a restart of 4 more years.

7

Wow, good luck! Those countries are all over the map, literally. Completely different languages (okay, you can get by with French in a good part of Switzerland, but that’s about it), different cultures, different customs. And while that’s a great way to experience Europe, I have no idea how you’re going to transfer credits from one country to another. Or, assuming you don’t speak fluent Polish, French, German and Norwegian, how you’re going to manage going to school in those countries. Yes, many people in Europe speak English, but that certainly doesn’t mean that university classes everywhere are taught in English.

8

@StressingMom I am guessing that the OP has been rootling through the listings of courses taught in English in Europe (s/he skipped lots of German ones and the Portuguese one) from sites such as bachelorsportal.eu and eunicas.co.uk…

@lperez2442, as others have mentioned, in the European system you typically apply directly into the subject you are going to study, and that is all you will study.

For example, in Norway you can choose either Marine Ecology or Molecular Biology, and these are the courses that you will take:

Core Modules: Basic Chemistry; Mathematics/Statistics for Biologists; Scientific Methods; Evolutionary Behavioural Ecology; Philosophy; Cell Biology and Biochemistry; Microbiology; Marine Biology; Ecology; Genetics and Evolution

Elective modules; Marine Mammals; Chromatography; Placement Abroad; International Aquaculture Ecology

Specialisation [Minor] Electives: Molecular Cell Biology; Organic Chemistry; Fish Physiology; Oceanography; Histology and Embryology; Molecular Ecology

It is a 3 year course, and you could probably use the classes that you have taken to fulfill the admissions requirements (Maths and one of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science or Physics, which would otherwise be an AP or similar), but it is exceptionally unlikely that you will be exempted from any coursework.

The Polish course is a pretty stiff course (you are required to take all the courses in white [url=<a href=“http://sat.umcs.pl/?page_id=29%5Dhere%5B/url”>http://sat.umcs.pl/?page_id=29]here[/url]; the ones in blue are optional/electives- you will notice that they are all science except for a language & sport requirement).

It is very unlikely that you will be able to transfer credits.

Also, unless you are at a very big name school (in which case, why are you looking at these unis, none of which are particularly well ranked?!), nobody will have heard of your uni and most people will assume that you have moved up in the world by coming to their school.

(also, please don’t use all-caps for an ordinary heading- it’s like shouting at people)

9

Also, it may not be too late for many of the unis, as many don’t give final places until the results from the end of secondary school are out, and many are -um- more relaxed about things like deadlines. Especially for foreigners bringing money…

…and, for staying on after you graduate, if you don’t already have the right to live in the EU (for example, having a European passport), getting a job after you finish uni will require your prospective employer to get a work permit for you. This is a long and challenging process in which they demonstrate why they can’t find anybody else in the EU to do your job, and (based on direct experience) I think it will be hard for them to make that case for a freshly minted undergrad. Just like many Americans, Europeans can be touchy about foreigners coming in and taking ‘their’ jobs.

10

That may not be possible. Many programs only accept new students in the fall semester. This is particularly true for science or language majors, where many courses are taught as year-long sequences.

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Admissions are for the Fall and most European universities don’t allow transfers in the American sense - odds are, you’ll start from 1st year but will be given the English language requirement and a few others like that, but you’ll still be a 1st year student. Private, fee-charging schools may allow you to start in the Spring, I don’t know.
Is there a specific reason why you’d leave halfway through your degree in the US?

12

You should write to the target school and get a written confirmation about your credit transfer.

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I am planning on writing to my target schools. However, they take forever to reply (some). Also, the bachelors degree I plan on doing in europe is a bachelors in biology.

I am already accustomed to the customs and the way of living in europe as I lived their previously. I plan on attending a university where tuition is free/really low. Which a lot of europe’s are depending on the country. Thank you all for responding. Hope to here more oon

14

What languages do you speak fluently?