Hi, guys I was just wondering what GT’s transfer credit Policy is I read it on their website and am still a little bit confused. I’m thinking about spending a year at a local college (due to price) than transferring to GT. In particular the college I am wondering about is the “South Dakota School of Mines.” Do all credits transfer above a C, since this is an accredited university? Would English and humanities credits transfer? This would be a big opportunity for me to get cheap credits and transfer/reduce course load if I am accepted. Thanks for any insight!
There is a GT website to check if credits will transfer. You can look up specific classes in a large database GT keeps to answer this question. See link below.
My son, a freshman at GT, took summer school at Carnegie Mellon, after 11th grade, and completed two classes that would have counted for a CS degree at CMU.
Even with two grades of A, these two math and CS classes did not transfer to GT, as credit for that class, but transferred as elective credit. My son is in the College of Computing. My son had to repeat the discrete math class and the imperative computing CS class over at Georgia Tech, as these classes are required for a BS in computer science! He earned two more As and found that the GT classes were slightly different in content. AP and IB credits are easy to come by at Georgia Tech but transferring engineering, CS and math classes, maybe not.
If you have a Buzzport account, you can check the transfer equivalency table and look up SD School of Mines classes by course number and see if they will transfer. If they are not listed, then be prepared for a fight with your GT department to get credit for your GT degree program. You may want to call GT and go over your plan.
English and humanities may be easier to transfer than any engineering, math or CS subject. GT is very picky about transfer credits from Carnegie Mellon so I assume SD School of Mines would be treated similarly but I don’t really know for sure.
http://admission.gatech.edu/transfer/transfer-credit
My son loves GT, though, so we got over this slightly troubling fact about transfer credits from Carnegie Mellon.
So even with, this in mind the credits probably wouldn’t transfer I checked and I don’t see many courses listed, any other people have transfer experiences similar to this? Thanks for the reply! I really hope I get accepted this may, as I was wait-listed.
Several of my son’s classes were not on the transfer list so he submitted the curriculum for each class. So far they accepted all his math classes (multivariable calc, linear algebra and differential equations), Math 015, Physics 3A and 3B, Eng 02 and Econ 02. He won’t hear if he is accepted as a transfer until June 15. I wonder if it would help you to submit your course curriculi now?
@Jimbobjim @suenos53. College of Computing is very picky about discrete mathematics and imperitive computing and does require students repeat the classes, but there may be a way to really spend time now to convince GT to accept more credits for degree credits and not just elective credits. It depends on your major, how this will turn out.
If you have time, try to do it. My son did not have time, he was a freshman at GT, and it was better to repeat rather than fight this. Fighting involves administrative assistants. Be very nice if you are trying to fight the system there. But yes, Georgia kids are going to get further than an OOS kid with Carnegie Mellon classes. Its two different things to Georgia Tech. GT assumes OOS students are very wealthy. Its not always the case I would tell you. In state students are treated differently and there is rules set up as transferring from another Georgia university is pretty common. Its not common, what my son did, take summer classes and try to transfer them. Its OK, though he got elective credits, for the classes. But that really does not count for a BS at GT if you look. This is why so many kids are taking nine semesters. GT requires a very large number of in sequence classes for many majors like CS and Chemical engineering. Its astounding how many credits are needed, and that is unlike many other schools like MIT.
So for chemical engineering, a year of thermodynamics, a year of organic chemistry and a year of kinetics is required I think. Very few chemical engineering degrees require all of that. I am understand and respecting Georgia Tech’s way of teaching. It means very few kids try double majors or explore various engineering options, because they may not have the money for nine semesters. It may be good to take a loan and stay at GT for nine semesters is my conclusion after reading the requirements for GT degrees carefully.
@Coloradomama Thank you for your input. We are very curious to know what classes, in the end, will be accepted because we thought the College of Computing evaluated the approved classes. Of course, it could be in my son’s interest to re-take them if they cover different material. One extra semester would not be too bad, especially if he could take these classes in a study abroad setting. We were told an additional benefit of study abroad is lower tuition (cost of tuition of hosting country). Do many College of Computing students do study abroad?
@suenos53 My understanding about studying abroad at GT, is that about half the undergraduates do this! I do not know the % in College of Computing. The campus in France offers less technical classes than the Atlanta campus. The Barcelona program is popular with CS majors. France costs more than Barcelona, but less than Atlanta, because, the program in France is an actual GT campus and it offers more classes on any given semester or summer, than the Barcelona program.
I believe there are other programs too. GT prefers that students study technical subjects in English, as I understand it. GT Lorraine is taught by GT professors in English. I don’t know that a lot of research work takes place in France.
The classes are arranged into four days a week, leaving three days a week for traveling. Lorraine is located near Germany and Belgium and 90 miles from Paris. I think the focus of many kids there may be traveling and not studying as much, but they are getting some needed classes while over there.
Your son could look right now at what GT Lorraine France offers and other study abroad programs to be sure he can take the classes he will need. Another tip, each thread in CS has different requirements. As a freshman my son is already focused on which thread he wants to declare. Each CS student declares two threads. A few may complete three. GT is an incredibly good CS program, I believe, but it does get a student to narrow down relatively quickly. In reality, most schools do that, without naming it as such. GT gets students thinking about their technical interests very early between hardware, controls, computer security, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and media related focuses.
GT is unique in that some students in the CS department major in media related degrees. It borders on journalism degrees and art degrees at other schools.
I think the GT websites are good to learn more. I am still learning by reading them.
Registration is a bit of a bear at GT. Its a two to three week process. Students learn how it works. Its important not to worry too much, but some freshman do take a lot of humanities subjects to fill in their schedules, if they are not persistent to get into technical classes. The classes fill up, and some are registering for SEVEN classes and dropping is how this works. Once kids drop, other kids get in. Its a crazy system to register, but your son will learn it.
I called it the “mad shuffle”. Students are trying to get out in eight semesters. It may not always work out if one changes majors, but I take it your son is very sure about CS. He will not go wrong at GT. It will be fun too. The CS clubs are amazing, and the recreation options for rock climbing and biking are too, if he likes those things.
@Coloradomama My son is interested in Tokyo and Switzerland or France under the GT program “International Plan.” When he attended the GT Computing Program lecture for applicants, the lecturer discussed this option and he got very excited about it. He set up a meeting with a GT International Plan adviser who seemed think he could do this program as a transfer but I think we would need a confirmation with the CS department. My son is pretty sure he wants the media thread but is debating between devices and theory.
It’s great to get your input into the CS programs. GT, Berkeley and Santa Cruz are his favorite schools but GT is the only one that seems to encourage study abroad.
CS students pick two threads, not just one.
There are three CS programs taught by GT professors in English in the main campus in France, Barcelona and Denmark. Denmark is IT focused.
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/academics/international-study
There is also a Research option, similar to the International Plan, in that I think there is a designation on the degree and some special requirements to complete to have this degree designation. CS students can do this too:
https://undergradresearch.gatech.edu/research-option
I bet he could find programs in Tokyo or Switzerland as well. Some of the programs require language training before he leaves, but yes, I think he can work this out with GT.
I don’t know about the other two universities, as well, although I would imagine Berkeley has international programs.
The CS department there may not be as supportive, about that,and it may take longer I would bet or demand more legwork.
U of California has a central office in Oakland devoted to international opportunities for all the campuses of U of Cal.
@Coloradomama The mad shuffle that you describe for class registration above, does this continue into the junior and senior years? That sounds intense. Do students “crash” classes as well?
I forgot to mention above that my son’s CC computer architecture class was not given any credits, CS or otherwise. After reviewing his curriculum, they gave him zero credit. He still needs to submit the course curriculum for his Data Structures class and his Statistics class. We imagine that as a junior transfer he will probably still have to take three years at GT, given he won’t receive credit for all his CC classes. I was surprised your son just received general credits for the CS classes he wanted to transfer. That might translate to four years for my son then.
The best Study Abroad match for my son’s CS threads at GT was HKUST - Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. French GT Campus did not have advance CS courses he needed, their options were light and included a lot of business and general engineering courses, same situation with other schools in Europe, but they have a lot of other options… Program at HKUST matched his GT’s CS curriculum exactly. Courses are tought in English.
Best way to figure out credits issue - talk to advisors. My son had dual enrollment with GT while in HS, so credit transfer was not an issue at all, we are in-state. A lot of his OOS friends came in with credits and transferred them. Good luck!