« January 2008 | Main | March 2008 »
February 04, 2008
Advising Tip: Taking a course elsewhere this Summer
T.S. Eliot once wrote that “April is the cruelest month.” Obviously, he didn't spend a February in Michigan .Maybe you're dreaming of spring and considering enrolling in courses at a college or university closer to home after classes end here in April. This can be a great way to meet some requirements and, perhaps, save some tuition money. But there are few things you should keep in mind.
First, make sure the courses that you take at another college or university transfer to the U of M. If you go to http://www.lsa.umich.edu/lsa/students/req_conversion/ you can find links to lists of courses from schools around the country and the world that students have transferred in the past. If a course you want to take doesn't appear on the list, it may simply mean that no one has ever tried to transfer it to the U of M. In this case, you can go to http://www.admissions.umich.edu/oor/ and have the Admissions Office pre-approve the course you'd like to transfer. Also, be aware that after you have earned 60 credits, you can only transfer credits from a four-year school, not a community college or other two-year school.
Second, it is possible to use a course you take at another school to meet LS&A distribution requirements (NS, HU, SS, etc.). While your academic advisor can't officially confirm that the course meets distribution until it has transferred, s/he usually can let you know whether a specific course will count toward distribution.A quick meeting with your advisor (call 764-0332 to set up an appointment) with the course description in hand can help. Once the course has transferred, you can meet with your advisor and have the courses designated to meet the appropriate distribution areas.
Third, unless you get pre-approval from a concentration advisor, it's not a good idea to try to take a non-U of M course for your concentration plan, but it's generally OK to do pre-requisites at another school.
Fourth, it is virtually impossible to use a course from another college to meet the Race and Ethnicity, Upper Level Writing, and Language requirements. It's almost as difficult to use a non-U of M course (with the exception of Statistics or Physics courses) to meet the Quantitative Reasoning requirement. See your general advisor if you want more details (again, that's 764-0332 to schedule an appointment).
Fifth, you'll need to check with the school you might attend about its enrollment procedures. Some schools require that Spring/Summer students fill out guest applications or require that students certify that they are in good standing at the U of M. The Registrar's Office, temporarily located at 413 East Huron, can help you with these forms.
Sixth, after you complete the courses you take elsewhere, you need to have the transcript from that school sent to
Credit Evaluation
Undergraduate Admissions
University of Michigan
1220 Student Activities Building
Ann Arbor , MI 48109-1316 .
If you have any other questions about Spring and Summer courses, please email or make an appointment with your advisor (because you can never say it enough...764-0332).
And think warm thoughts.