I’m interested in transferring from Michigan State to the University of Washington but on the “Will my Credits Transfer” page, it says only 15 of my 64 credits are transferable. How is this correct? I’m in the Lyman Briggs college and the only credits that transfer are for Biology and Chem lab.
Generally, each course needs to have an analogous course at the receiving institution to be considered for transfer credit. Go through the classes they are not accepting. If there seems to be a corresponding UW course, look into how to appeal the initial transfer credit determination. However, it is rare that all credits are accepted when transferring.
You may also want to look for schools that would accept more of your previous coursework.
The names of the classes are the same, (Calculus I, II, III, Intro to Programming I, II, Chemistry I, II, etc.) but the class codes are different (Calc I is LB 118, Calc II is LB 119, etc.)
It sounds like you should work with your transfer admissions counselor and/or the registrar to see if you can get more credit. Before you leave MSU, document your classes - print out course descriptions, syllabi, get the isbn and table of contents from the textbooks, save exams, papers or projects that show the work you did.
Pretty much what they said ^. Talk to the registrar at UW or the advisors of each department your classes belong to. If you want to make an appeal you need the class materials, but generally they will work with you. You might have to talk to a few professors at UW and they can tell you if their class matches up with the one you took.