Graduate courses in university

<p>Any experience, or knowledge, about whether universities allow undergraduates to take graduate level courses while pursuing a BA or BS? Would those courses would be included in the regular tuition or would there be additional cost? Please assume that the undergraduate prereqs have been fulfilled for these courses.</p>

<p>It’s pretty common for undergrads planning on going to grad school to take at least a few grad classes prior to getting their BS. Doing well in those classes is a sign to your future school that you’d be able to do well in their grad classes.</p>

<p>All grad classes I had were included in my normal tuition.</p>

<p>Most universities will let you take grad level courses and don’t charge you extra. I even got credit for some extra grad level courses that were beyond the minimum I needed as an undergrad when I was in grad school - which saved me tuition.</p>

<p>Thank you that’s great news!</p>

<p>I was able to take grad level courses as an undergrad at U of MN at no extra charge. They were small classes with great profs. This was back in the 70s though.</p>

<p>Some classes are also offered to either grad students or undergrad and different credit hours apply depending on your status.</p>

<p>University of Michigan is really good about this. You can sign up for almost any grad class starting first semester freshman year without having to get overrides or anything. There is no extra charge.</p>

<p>At Tufts, you have to get the permission of the instructor to enroll in a grad class as an undergrad. It’s not the most common thing in the world, but neither is it terribly uncommon.</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure almost any university allows undergrads to take grad school classes, provided it’s not at a professional school (law school, med school, etc). I know my father did it at UF, and my cousin took mostly grad classes her senior year at Stanford, which essentially assured her admission into that graduate program.</p>

<p>Thank you for the info on how the specific schools handle registration. Then is it possible for these grad classes to count towards a master’s degree? Can the credits for them ever be used to satisfy both a BA/BS and a MA/MS, or is it always one or the other?</p>

<p>Some departments in Michigan allow you to double count some, and “transfer up” (if you take a grad course as an undergrad that does not fulfill any requirement and then pursue a masters degree) some more credits. The number of credits and the rules regarding this varies by department.</p>

<p>Whenhen did those classes your cousin took in her senior year count towards her undergraduate requirements? Did she finish her graduate program sooner?</p>

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It is my understanding that very few graduate programs accept “transfer credits” from other universities. A graduate student might get exempt from a course requirement if he demonstrates proficiency in that subject, but might be asked to take another elective instead.</p>

<p>Credits are more likely to double-count if both degrees are pursued at the same university.</p>

<p>Thank you Vladenschlutte.</p>

<p>Thank you B@r!um. Yes the graduate degree would most likely be at the same university. Good point.</p>

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<p>Sorry, I don’t know the answer to the first question. But she managed to complete her master’s program in only one year because of all the grad school credits she earned in her last year as an undergrad.</p>

<p>Thank you Whenhen.</p>

<p>But don’t assume that graduate professional schools will allow you to take coursework if you are an undergrad, even if the graduate programs of that school will. Neither Stanford nor Harvard, for example, allow undergrads to take their business school courses - not even to audit - even though they both have undergrads taking courses for credit that are targeted at their PhD students.</p>

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If you named the university, you might get much more specific responses.</p>

<p>My undergraduate college’s policy was that at most 2 courses could be double-counted towards an undergraduate and a graduate degree. Odds are that we are not talking about my undergraduate college though.</p>

<p>B@r!um I’d name the university if I knew, but there’s another year before applications. Just planning ahead as this information will be factored into which universities D applies to, and it helps to know how each of them handle this situation. Possibly HYP as reaches and top tiers, if that helps.</p>

<p>M’s Mom, PhD in mathematics is her goal as of now. As I know that can change, I thought I’d focus on the masters. From the differences noted, I can see that it will helpful to have more specific universities and programs in mind.</p>