In dealing with transfer students, it is important to remember that they are concerned predominantly with academic matters such as how their credits have transferred, and what is expected of them before they can declare a major. During your first meeting with transfer students during orientation both you and the student may feel frustrated with the number of questions they have and the lack of clear cut answers. Answers will not all be clear cut at that time because some issues will need to be dealt with at a later time by the specific department involved. It is important to reassure the student that it will work out and it is normal procedure for them to contact department chairs. 

Because transfer students often leave orientation with more questions than answers, it is important that you strongly urge them to see their advisor or visit the General Studies Academic Advising Center early in the semester to clear up any questions (students will receive a letter asking them to do this). Failure to do so could result in problems for the students because they may not fully understand how courses have transferred and what steps they may need to take to receive equivalent credit. 

Transfer students may declare a major during orientation or during their first semester at Appalachian if they have a final transcript, 30 semester hours of earned credit, and credit for ENG 1000 and 1100. 

 
The following information describes some of the most important issues you will deal with as you work with transfer students: 
 
 
 
 
  

 

Understanding a transcript evaluation and explaining it to a new transfer student can be an awesome task, but if you understand a few basic things about the transcript, your job will be much easier. 

First, you will be dealing with two types of evaluations: (1) final evaluations in which all the information should be complete and accurate and, (2) preliminary evaluations in which the information is tentative (based on the student’s report of classes taken rather than on transcripts) and may be inaccurate or incomplete. The type of transcript is indicated in parentheses on the top, right hand corner of the evaluation. 

 
Courses and Credits 

The transcript lists courses taken at each college attended by the student and the hours of credit the student will receive for each course at Appalachian. Next to the course name, you will either see course numbers in parentheses or an asterisk. The course numbers show the Appalachian equivalent course(s) for which the credit was given. The asterisk means that the student earned hours of credit but for no specific Appalachian course. 

IMPORTANT: The asterisk does not mean that the student cannot receive credit for a specific Appalachian course, but only that the Appalachian Admissions Office did not have enough information to make that decision. When students want or need credit for a particular Appalachian course, they need to be referred to the chairperson in that department to make that decision. 

 
"D" Credit  

The transcript will also indicate in a special section any course for which the student earned a "D". These courses will fulfill specific requirements but semester hours are not given for them. For example, a student with "D" credit for HIS 1101 will not have to take HIS 1101 at Appalachian, but will not receive any hours of credit for the course. 

If a student has a "D" credit for a course that falls into a category of requirements (for example, a course in the humanities), consider how much credit the student would have earned for the course in determining whether or not a requirement has been met. For instance, if a student has credit for ENG 2010 (3 sh), ART 2011 (3 sh), T D 2011 (3 sh) and a "D" credit for P&R 1000, the total hours earned in the humanities is only 9, but you can consider that all of the requirements have been met (since the P&R 1000 would have counted as 3 sh had a C or better been earned in the course). 

A "D" credit will be shown on the checksheet as an asterisk (*). 

 
Hours Earned  

The transcript will also show the total number of semester hours earned at each school. You will need to add these numbers to determine the total hours the student has transferred. For students transferring from schools on the quarter system, this number may be significantly lower than what they had earned in quarter hours because a quarter hour is equal to two-thirds of a semester hour. This accounts for some courses with fractions of a credit. 

The student’s classification (Fr, So, etc.) is indicated on the upper right of the page. 

Students Who Have Too Few Hours in Required Categories 

Appalachian’s Core Curriculum requires students to earn 12 semester hours of humanities and 6 semester hours of social sciences. Transfer students can fulfill this with only 11 semester hours of humanities and 4 semester hours of social sciences as long as the different area requirements are met. 
 

Preliminary Transcripts 

If the student has a preliminary transcript evaluation during orientation, you should be extra cautious in advising the student. Do not assume that all credit granted on the preliminary evaluation will also be on the final evaluation. Talk with the students about the courses they have taken. Advise students not to take any courses for which they may have already earned credit. When there is any question about credit for a course that is a pre-requisite for other courses the student needs to take, have the student talk with the department chairperson about how to proceed. Students with preliminary transcript evaluations end up doing the best they can when pre-registering during orientation and then going through drop/add, if needed, when final transcripts arrive. 

 
Some Odds and Ends about Course Evaluations 

-- A transfer student with a four-year degree has met all core requirements. 

--A transfer student with 3.3 semester hours of math credit from another school will get credit for core curriculum math. A student with only 3 semester hours credit will need to take a math, computer science, or statistics course to make up the difference (or could possibly combine it with a one or two semester hour computer science or statistics course also transferred in from another school). The chairperson of the Math Department will determine this. 

--Two laboratory science courses from two different departments (such as Chemistry and Biology) that are transferred to Appalachian will cover the core curriculum science requirement. These must total at least 6 semester hours of credit. 

--The Core Curriculum P. E. Requirement is waived for any transfer student with at least 29.9 semester hours of transfer work. 

--Students who transfer in credit for HIS 2201 and/or HIS 2204 should be advised to see the chairperson of the History department for substitute credit for HIS 1102. 

--Social science and humanities courses without specific equivalent course numbers will be evaluated in the Office of General Studies to determine if they can fulfill Core Curriculum requirements. If the student indicates that a course was a literature course but it does not indicate so on the transcript evaluation, send them to the department chairperson. 

Transfer students often express a great deal of concern about the placement tests. Their concern is understandable since the progress of their major courses is dependent upon successful results on the placement tests. 

Frequently transfer students arrive with the majority of the Core Curriculum completed. They are dismayed if they discover that they cannot progress with needed courses. Your help and careful planning is essential for these students. They will need your assistance in determining an appropriate schedule. 

You can help transfer students by emphasizing ways that they can move forward in classes and can secure equivalent credit for courses they have taken at other schools. 

• Students who test not proficient should plan to re-write as soon as possible. Students who need ENG 2000 must complete the course prior to entry in the College of Business and the College of Education.

• Students find it difficult to understand why they must pass the Math Placement Test if they already have equivalent credit for math. Emphasize to them that it is important to take this test seriously, and to do the best they can do.

• Students who test into MAT 0010 should obtain study material immediately and plan to re-test as soon as possible. No math, statistics, or ND courses can be taken until the Math Placement Test is passed. If the student plans to take MAT 0010 it should be taken the first semester the student is here, especially if that student needs additional math or science courses.

• Beginning January 1998, the English Department will accept any six semester hours (or equivalent in quarter hours) of Freshman Writing courses from accredited colleges as satisfying Appalachian State University’s Freshman English requirements. These courses must be clearly appropriate college-level writing courses, not developmental/remedial courses or courses intending to serve technical degrees only.

•  If a transfer student decides following Orientation that he/she wants a Business or Education major, check to see if the student has taken the English Writing Test. If not, recommend that the student take the test as soon as possible.