Transfer credits

[maxboost199]

Hello,

I am confused as to what transfer credits are. Are they credits obtained from another institution? or are they broad enough to include credits being transferred from one undergraduate degree to fulfill the degree requirements of a second undergraduate degree, at the same institution? 

I  finished a 4-year business degree with some science courses as electives, which I can now use to fulfill the requirements of the second degree I want to do - a 4-year honours biological sciences degree that I want to finish in 2-3 years. This would allow me to finish the second degree with only 28 courses left. Would doing that count as transfer credits? Various schools seem to discard 'transfer credits' from GPA calculations, which would put me in a worse position than I thought. 

[Eudaimonia]

You are right about what transfer credits are, however you always need to check with the school and program that you want to transfer it to. Make sure they recognize it as satisfying the requirements of the course you wish not to take in its place. For this, you should consult with an academic advisor. I'm guessing you are doing your second degree at the same school so they should be knowledgeable on the process.

As long as you still enroll in a full course load for the 2-3 years, you should remain eligible for wGPAs at various schools. Some schools will accept transfer credits to fulfill any prerequisites (and don't care about your grade in that course), and others will want to use it as part of a competitive component of the application. You should look into the schools that you want to apply to and see how they consider transfer credits, what their prerequisites are, and how they regard second undergraduate degrees.

Not having your transfer credits count in your GPA shouldn't disadvantage you too much if you continue to get good grades during the rest of your degree. Please double check everything I've said here- I do not guarantee the accuracy of my statements but I wanted to point out some things you should think about. Hope it works out for the best!

[maxboost199]

To clarify, I meant that I am unsure if schools that discard transfer credits include credits obtained from the first undergrad that I'd be using to finish my degree faster. If that's true, from what I am understanding, this would mean that I can't use those science elective courses to finish my degree faster. I made a mistake, I apologize. My intention from doing a second degree is to have that second degree's GPA only be used for GPA admission calculations when I do apply to a medical school. I must've jumped ahead and thought about GPA for some reason. My intention is to have absolutely nothing from my first degree be used for GPA calculations but to have those science courses I've taken be used to finish my second degree in a 2-3 year time span. I am not sure if that falls under the umbrella of 'transfer credits'. 

[Anon-e-mous]

44 minutes ago, maxboost199 said:

I am confused as to what transfer credits are. Are they credits obtained from another institution? or are they broad enough to include credits being transferred from one undergraduate degree to fulfill the degree requirements of a second undergraduate degree, at the same institution?

Transfer credits are credits that you have previously obtained that can be used to fulfill the requirements of a different degree program. So yes, they can be both credits obtained from another institution and/or some credits that are transferable from an old degree to a new one.

 

44 minutes ago, maxboost199 said:

I  finished a 4-year business degree with some science courses as electives, which I can now use to fulfill the requirements of the second degree I want to do - a 4-year honours biological sciences degree that I want to finish in 2-3 years. This would allow me to finish the second degree with only 28 courses left. Would doing that count as transfer credits? Various schools seem to discard 'transfer credits' from GPA calculations, which would put me in a worse position than I thought. 

Yes, your old science credits can transfer to your new degree program and you can finish it within 2-3 years that way. Transfer credits sometimes appear as an X on your transcript, indicating that the grade is not used in your degree GPA calculation. HOWEVER, depending on the medical schools you apply to, grades from your first degree and second degree probably count. So, those science courses taken during your business degree are likely still factored into your cGPA over the span of two degrees. That is, unless the school has a specific second degree policy or wGPA formula.

[maxboost199]

Thank you for the reply caramilk. This clears it up. I suppose medical schools that do not accept transfer credits are out the window? 

[Anon-e-mous]

2 hours ago, maxboost199 said:

Thank you for the reply caramilk. This clears it up. I suppose medical schools that do not accept transfer credits are out the window? 

I'm trying to find a simple way of explaining this but I'm struggling... Let me know if this makes sense.. 

Technically no medical schools accept transfer credits for grades, as they just act as a placeholder for your degree. So what will impact your GPA is how many years worth of new courses you take. 

So say you do a new 4 year biological sciences degree and have exactly 10 courses worth of credit that transfers from your business degree to your new requirements.  This means you can finish the degree in 3 years by taking 30 new classes for that degree.

Assuming the schools don't have special policies for second degrees:

- Medical schools that calculate cumulative GPA will average all courses over both degrees so 4 years business + 3 bio (note that the transfer credits do not double, they are only factored into the original degree when they were taken, so there are no 4+4 grades.) 

- Medical schools that calculate a weighted GPA such as your most recent 3 years will only factor in the 3 most recent years of your new degree (so this excludes all transfer credits taken during the original degree) 

So what I'm trying to say is essentially that transfer credits never count in the GPA as only the original grades count (they aren't doubled in your new transcript). So all medical schools will technically accept it as it is not used in any sort of consideration. 

Take caution at certain schools like Western where your second degree has to meet specific requirements. You should look those up for each school you apply to. 

Hope this kinda made sense. Goodluck