Transfer Credit
Before you leave
1. Transfer Credit Examiners in MIT departments
In addition to discussing your study plan with your Faculty Advisor and to receiving his/her approval for your study abroad plan, you need to determine from which departments at MIT you will be requesting credit. Decide which courses you will be taking during your time away and speak to the corresponding department at MIT about transfer credit. See a list of faculty Transfer Credit Examiners, including a detailed list of HASS Transfer Credit examiners. Ask each transfer credit examiner reviewing your course selections for study abroad to sign your Worksheet for Planning Study Abroad/Domestic Study Away to document that you have discussed your plans with him/her. These signatures do not mean that the transfer credit has been confirmed but rather that your course selection looks viable. The actual transfer credit can be granted only after you successfully complete the course.
2. Keeping Course Materials from Study Abroad
Please note that once you start your study abroad program, it is vital to keep a record of course descriptions, syllabi, reading lists, papers and exams for all your study abroad courses. MIT departments typically grant transfer credit contingent upon evidence of work completed by you while you are away.
3. Sending your Study Abroad Transcript to MIT
Please inform your outside institution that your study abroad transcript should be sent to:
Shirley Thompson
Coordinator, Registration Services
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Registrar's Office, Room 5-119
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
After you return
To receive transfer credit for your study abroad, you must complete a Request for Additional Credit Form (available at the Student Services Center, 11-120, the Registrar's Office, 5-119, or the HASS Office, 14N-408). This form establishes equivalence between subjects taken elsewhere and those offered at MIT. You will need to collect signatures for the form from the Transfer Credit examiners in the departments granting you credit. In advance of the meetings with transfer credit examiners, gather necessary documentation on courses that you have taken (syllabi, graded papers, information about instructors, and other relevant information). The completed form must be submitted to the Registrar's Office by the end of the eleventh week (drop date) of your first term back.
The transfer credit will be processed when both your transcript and the signed Request for Additional Credit Form have been received by the Registrar's Office. Transfer credit will appear on your MIT record with a grade of S, rather than a letter grade. This grade is not used in computing your term or cumulative grade point average, but the credit will count toward your Institute requirements.
