Transferring Credits

Who should I talk to for information about transfer credit or academic advising?

Each of the colleges at Rutgers University has independent policies about transfer credit, as well as different requirements for graduation and major and minor programs. To be certain that you have the correct information about any academic requirement, you should contact the Dean’s Office, the Transfer Dean’s Office, or the Academic Services or Counseling Office at your college.

Cook:
Office of Academic and Student Affairs
732-932-3000 ext. 512

Douglass:
Department of Academic Services
732-932-2900 x100

Livingston College:
Office of the Assistant Dean for Transfer Students
Livingston College Dean’s Office
732-445-2050 x825

For advising questions, you may also contact
Academic Information Center
8:30 a.m.–noon and 1:00-4:30 p.m.
732-445-4085 x833

Rutgers College:
Office of Academic Services
732-932-7731

Engineering:
Office of Academic Affairs
732-445-2212

Pharmacy:
Office of Academic Services
732-445-2675

Mason Gross:
Dean’s Office
732-932-9360 ext. 503 or 508

University College:
Office of Advising & Counseling
732-932-8093

Or contact the Office of Student Services
732-932-7470

Nursing:
973-353-5293 x600

How should I prepare for a discussion with my Dean or Academic Advisor?

Before you contact and meet with a dean, and advisor, or a faculty member, take some time to prepare. Begin by contacting someone in an official office, such as the Dean’s Office or an Academic Advising Office, and asking whom you should contact to answer the question you have. It is very important that you get your answers from the correct source. You can waste a lot of time, and make some serious mistakes if you are not getting your information from the correct source. As you make phone calls or visit offices be clear about what you want. If someone steers you in what seems to you to be the wrong direction, double check the information.

Before you go to your meeting, write down questions or a statement of your concerns ahead of time. That way, if you get distracted or nervous, you won’t forget an important issue you wanted to discuss, and you won’t have to go to the trouble of making another appointment.

When you go to your meeting, bring any materials you think you’ll need, including a pad of paper and a pen or pencil, relevant forms or course materials, and the list of questions you’ve prepared.

Think about your meeting as part of your job as a student and behave as professionally as you can. Arrive on time, be prepared, and as you receive answers to your questions, write down the answers carefully and neatly (so you can read what you’ve written later). Don’t hesitate to ask the person you are meeting with to repeat something they’ve said, to make them wait briefly while you write something down, or to ask them to spell the name of a person they’ve told you to contact for more information. They’ll only be impressed by your seriousness, not annoyed that you are taking up their time. Also be sure you know the name (and perhaps title) of the person you are speaking with. That way, if you have to talk with someone else later, you can explain who gave you the information you have already. It will also help you more easily to locate that person later.

How do I find out if my credits transferred?

To see if your credits transferred from your previous college, you should contact the Dean or Transfer Dean at your college. Before you register for classes, the Dean’s Office at your college will give you a Transfer Credit Evaluation which will state which courses transferred and what courses you have been given credit for at Rutgers. Your evaluation may reveal, however, that you have not received credit for courses you took last semester (especially if you took a course over the summer), because Rutgers has not received official notice that you successfully completed the courses. Contact the college you transferred from and arrange to send Rutgers an updated official transcript. Soon after the Dean’s Office at your college receives the revised transcript, they can adjust your transfer credit evaluation. (For contact numbers, see the Academic Advising phone listing.)

If you are a transfer student from one of New Jersey’s County or Community Colleges, you should also contact your Dean to see if your credits have transferred. You have the additional option, though of checking to see whether courses at your home institution are considered equivalent to the courses offered here at Rutgers by using the University’s online course equivalency system: ARTSYS. While you can initially use ARTSYS to check if your courses will transfer, you will also need to arrange for official evaluation of your transcript by the Dean’s Office at your college.

Please note, using ARTSYS can be a bit tricky, but there’s an easy tutorial on the ARTSYS web site. As with any computer search that involves a “keyword,” you have to provide the exact official course ID (or title) from your county or community college in order for the computer to recognize what course you are referring to and find its Rutgers equivalent. For instance, if you want to find the course equivalent at Rutgers College for first semester composition at Raritan Valley Community College, you’ll need to type in ENGL111. If you simply type ENG111 instead, ARTSYS will not be able to find its equivalent. You can locate the appropriate course IDs on your transcript.

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