I’m a sophomore studying business at a public university and I’m apply to transfer into liberal arts majors at other schools. I’m a little worried that most of the classes I took are in business and have little to do with my new major. I don’t mind taking more time to finish my degree, but would it be a problem in the application process? Thanks a lot!
It depends. Are they “substantial” business courses like Marketing or Finance, or are they like Power Point or Introduction to Keyboarding? Usually the worst that happens is that you won’t be able to apply those credits towards graduation. However, if your transcript is littered with easy/vocational courses, elite colleges usually don’t like that. It all depends on which school you’re trying to transfer to; for better information, you should contact their admissions staff directly (or, at some colleges, evaluation is done by the registrar’s office).
I haven’t gotten to the higher level classes yet and most of my business classes are the pre reqs for all business majors. About half of my credits come from business classes, and among them there are three intro level accounting classes, two computer classes (on data analysis and database management with Access and Excel), and then other required classes like business law, global business, business and government, presentation, written communication, and a professional development class.
Are they considered “easy” classes and a disadvantage for my application to elite colleges? How much of a disadvantage? I don’t mind losing some credits and taking an extra year to graduate, but I’m just concerned about getting into elite colleges.
Thanks!
I work in college counseling professionally, so I like to be as honest as possible… Yes, I think those would unfortunately considered “easy”/vocational courses (especially Access, Excel, Presentation, etc.). However, not all colleges are elitist when it comes to that. For example, one of the (top) schools I’ve worked for takes into consideration whether your college even offers harder courses/whether those classes are a required part of your program. They will give some slack to students who have taken a mixture of “regular” classes and easy/vocational courses if that is all the school has to offer. Other schools, like Yale and most of the Ivies, do look upon those courses pretty harshly and say specifically on their website that you need to be taking the typical “hardcore” liberal arts courses.
Thanks for your honest reply! Is there something I can do to compensate for this?
All of these business classes are required, for any business major. And now that I think about it, a lot of the liberal arts classes I took are not very rigorous either… There are some intro and middle level Spanish classes for my Spanish minor… I’m talking about how I realized I want to study an academic subject rather than business in my essays, and my letters are from my Spanish instructor and a literature class professor.
Is there something I can do about this? Is it as much a problem for other top 30 schools below the ivies?
IF your introductory business courses are anything like mine here’s the deal. You probably took micro/macro right? Those might transfer for credit because they often fulfill social science requirements at liberal arts colleges. Especially if you transfer to something like econ or polysci. Your introductory business classes like intro to marketing, intro to corp finance, intro to HR probably will not transfer to a LAC. However, there are some liberal arts colleges with more open curriculums that might be able to work with you to give you some credit, that depends school to school.
Colleges’ transfer credit policies vary, and not always in an obvious manner. You may be able to find their transfer credit policies on their web sites, though some colleges say little.
For credits in business courses when transferring to a school without a business major:
a. The credits may or may not be accepted for transfer if the receiving school does not have an equivalent course or department. i.e. courses like economics, calculus, and statistics are more likely to be accepted than courses like accounting, marketing, and finance.
b. Even if the business courses are accepted for transfer credit, they may only give elective credit, rather than credit toward subject requirements.
For your Spanish courses, the new college’s Spanish department may have placement testing and advising to ensure that you enter the appropriate level Spanish course based on your actual Spanish knowledge.
I concur with ucbalumnus – there is a real possibility that even if the business courses are accepted for transfer credit, they may transfer in as electives.
In terms of the rigor of the program, no, the mid-to-low 1st tier schools are generally not as harsh in regards to how they view those classes. I would emphasize in your essay or in an addendum that you’ve taken the courses because they were required, and that is all your college offers (so they don’t think you’re intentionally taking the easiest possible classes in order to ensure a high GPA).
Should I explain in the “additional information” that I’m fine with most of my courses not transferred and that I’m willing to enter as a sophomore or take an extra year? Would it help my chances?