UAAP
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Class of 2016

Advising & Academics

Transfer Credit

This page applies only to the first-year undergraduate members of the class of 2016. For information about the use of international exam scores in Admissions decisions, please visit http://www.mitadmissions.org/. UAAP cannot answer questions about qualifications for admission to MIT.

The Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming (UAAP) coordinates the transfer credit process for admitted freshmen. For information on transfer credit for study after freshman year, see the Registrar's website.

General Information

MIT's academic departments may grant some credit for courses taken at other colleges and universities before you begin study here.

In general, credit and/or appropriate placement may be offered if the courses are substantially equivalent to those in the MIT curriculum, and if the grade earned meets MIT standards. However, each department sets its own policies about awarding transfer credit and delegates this decision to its Transfer Credit Examiner, who reviews each request individually.

To be eligible for MIT credit, courses must be documented by an official college/university transcript sent directly to MIT (address below). No credit can be granted for courses listed only on a high school transcript, even if they were taken in a college or university, or courses documented with a letter from an instructor or principal in lieu of an official college/university transcript.

Approved transfer credit will appear on your MIT transcript for transfer credit with a grade of "S" (for satisfactory) and is not included in your grade point average. If you are granted credit for a specific MIT subject, that number appears on your transcript and is treated as it would be if you took it at MIT. For example, transfer credit for 18.06 would appear on the transcript as 18.06, confer 12 units of credit, and, for non-math majors, be counted toward the REST requirement. General elective credit appears as GEN.TRCR.

If you are awarded transfer credit for a subject and then register for that subject at MIT, your transfer credit will be removed. It cannot be reinstated if you later drop the subject, unless you drop before Add Date, the fifth week of the term. (Special rules apply for 8.01 and 18.01 transfer credit; consult Transfer Credit Staff for details.)

How to Seek MIT Transfer Credit

Follow these procedures to request transfer credit once you arrive on campus in September 2012:

  1. Ask the college or university where you studied to send an official transcript to MIT (address below). If your transcript was included in your MIT application, the Admissions Office automatically forwards it to UAAP.
  2. Complete a separate Request for Additional Credit Form for each MIT department in which you are seeking credit. (Please use the custom form linked here, not the one posted on the Registrar's website.) Fill in all blanks except the last three in each row.
  3. Assemble a course description and syllabus for each subject for which you are seeking credit. For Math subjects, you must also have a photocopy of the table of contents for each textbook used. For Chemistry subjects, you must submit copies of all of your work on problem sets/homework and exams.
  4. Pick up a photocopy of your transcript from Transfer Credit Staff in UAAP, Room 7-104.
  5. Contact the appropriate Transfer Credit Examiner to review your materials. Some will do so in a face-to-face meeting; others will ask you to leave the materials and pick them up later.
  6. Return all Request for Additional Credit forms to Transfer Credit Staff in Room 7-104. We will record your pending credit and relay it to the Registrar's Office.

Summer Transfer Credit Review

MIT's departments of Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics evaluate potential transfer credit over the summer in order to place you appropriately before Registration Day.

UAAP facilitates this process for you. Follow these steps for summer review:

  1. Make sure that the institution where you studied has sent an official transcript of your work to Transfer Credit Staff at the address below. If you submitted a transcript with your Admissions application, the Admissions Office will pass it on to Transfer Credit Staff.
  2. Send a filled-in Request for Additional Credit Form and supporting materials as described above, to the address shown in Contact Information below. Materials should arrive by Friday, July 13. Math and Physics materials may be sent by email or postal mail. Submit Chemistry materials in printed form by postal mail only.
  3. UAAP staff will contact the appropriate Transfer Credit Examiner on your behalf and notify you of their decisions.

Transfer credit approved over the summer appears in your Online Freshman Advising Folder, available in mid-August. Note that approved credit is shown as "pending" until the Registrar’s Office adds it to your official record. This usually happens by Add Date (fifth week of term).

Mathematics Credit

Transfer credit for a specific MIT mathematics subject is awarded for work done at another college if the grade earned is a B- or better and if the course is substantially equivalent to the corresponding MIT subject. Please visit the Math Department's Calculus page for MIT subject descriptions and further information. The Mathematics Department does not grant transfer credit for classes in programs designed principally for high school students.

Chemistry Credit

Transfer credit will be awarded only when the course taken elsewhere substantially resembles an MIT chemistry subject and when the student receives a grade of at least B (or the equivalent). Please visit the Chemistry website for lists of topics covered in MIT Chemistry subjects and additional information. (Ignore application instructions there: they do not apply to incoming students.) 

In addition to the materials listed above, MIT's Chemistry Department requires: Copies of all of your work on completed problem sets/homework and exams.

Physics Credit

The Physics Department will do a preliminary review of your transfer credit request and supporting materials over the summer, but to receive transfer credit you must also pass an 8.01 or 8.02 Validation Exam given by the MIT Physics Department. These exams (the same as the Advanced Standing Exams) are administered during Orientation Week prior to the Fall Term and in the last week of Independent Activities Period prior to the Spring Term.

HASS Requirement Credit

MIT credit for courses taken in the areas of humanities, arts, and social sciences at another college or university may be granted in one of two ways:

For a full description of the eight-subject Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) Requirement refer to the HASS Requirement website.

There are multiple steps to requesting transfer credit for the HASS Requirement:

For questions about the Requirement and transfer credit, contact the HASS Requirement Office at hassreq@mit.edu or 617-253-2313.

Communication Requirement Credit

Seeking to meet part of the Communication Requirement with transfer credit involves two steps:

For questions about the Requirement and transfer credit, contact the Communication Requirement Office at commreq@mit.edu or 617-253-2313.

Early Sophomore Standing and Transfer Credit

If you have a sufficient amount of MIT credit units, Dean Julie Norman of UAAP may offer you early sophomore status at the end of your first semester. In order to be eligible for this offer, all transfer credit must be fully processed and listed on your academic record by the last day of the Fall Term. Credit transferred after that date will not count toward eligibility for sophomore standing.

Mailing Address

Transfer Credit Staff, Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 7-104
Cambridge, MA 02139
USA

For More Information

Address questions to ap@mit.edu or telephone 617-253-6771.