Transfer Students
If you are a transfer student you probably have a lot of questions. While every person is different, you may find useful information in the FAQs below that helps you head in the right direction. Of course you should always work with your advisor and coordinator to make sure you are taking the right steps in your academic career, and we welcome any additional questions you may have.
General
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How can I see what credit has transferred in?
1) Log in to Owl Express
2) Click on Student Records
3) Click on "View Academic Transcript"
4) Scroll to the bottom of the page. Transfer Courses should appear in a table which lists what the courses were at your previous institution(s) and what the KSU equivalent is (if your credit has been evaluated at the time of viewing this page).
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My advising guide says I transferred in 70 credit hours into my 120 credit hour program. That means I should only have 50 credit hours left to finish my degree, right?Maybe, but probably not. Your degree program at your previous institution very likely had different requirements than you have in your degree program at KSU, and certain courses may not have been considered a directly equivalent course. Therefore, we can only use certain courses toward your degree requirements. To obtain a better idea of how many credit hours you have left before you can graduate, you should meet with an advisor.
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How do I know what credit applies to my degree program?
Normally you may use DegreeWorks in Owl Express to see what your transfer courses count towards in your program. For the Fall 2015 semester, students who are in a program that was previously only at SPSU will not be able to view their DegreeWorks in Owl Express. Unofficial degree evaluations may be obtained by an academic advisor.
DegreeWorks will say "Credits Required: 120 (or a little more), Credits Applied: #".
The "#" next to Credits Applied is counting everything that shows up in DegreeWorks, which means unused courses are being added in to that number. That doesn't mean all of those apply to requirements in DegreeWorks.
Please note that while a course may have transferred in, it might not necessarily count toward your degree program. Courses like this are usually used as free elective credit, and once free electives have been filled up they become unused credit. Unless the course is evaluated to be equivalent to one of the KSU courses required for your degree program, it can't be used. Course evaluations require a syllabus to be reviewed by the program coordinator.
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I have "1T00" credit (or similar). What does this mean?
This means that the course has come in and your credit still counts on your account, but could not be evaluated as a direct one-to-one equivalent for a KSU course and therefore is not being used in your degree requirements. If you would like to utilize this credit toward one of your degree requirements you should obtain a course syllabus (preferably) or a course description and complete a departmental course substitution form. Please be aware of level restrictions (see "I want to use a course that is at the 1000 or 2000-level for a course that is at a 3000 or 4000-level").
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I want to use a course that is at the 1000 or 2000-level (e.g. IT 1T00) for a course that is at a 3000 or 4000-level (e.g. IT 3883).We cannot do this, despite any similarity in course title or content. We build a specific number of upper level (3000-4000 level) credit hours into your program to comply with KSU, Board of Regents and accrediting policies. You must take or investigate testing out of the higher level course to satisfy graduation requirements.
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I want to see how long I have left until I can graduate. How do I do that?Ask your advisor to help you create a plan of study/graduation plan.
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I have a lot of work experience/certifications in my field of study. Can that count as credit?Unfortunately no. You must take, transfer in or test out of courses to obtain academic credit for them.
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I keep getting prerequisite and test score errors for courses that I have transferred in the prerequisites for. What do I do?
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I have completed core curriculum Areas B, C and E in my general education at another University System of Georgia institution.The USG institutions have an agreement that if you complete an area at one institution, it is completed at any of the other institutions you may transfer to even if the classes do not transfer exactly. Exceptions to this rule include math and science program requirements (e.g. if your previous institution had PreCalculus in Area D-1 but your new institution/program specifies Calculus I, you must take Calculus I).
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DegreeWorks says I have 123 or more credits applied, and I only need 120/121 credits for my degree. But, I have a bunch of major classes still marked red. Can't I just use the credit I've already completed and get a Bachelor's degree without having to take the major classes that aren't completed?No. The Bachelors degrees require a minimum of 120 credit hours and we additionally have program requirements consisting of specific courses you must complete before we will give you a degree in the field you've chosen. Using completely unrelated credit to satisfy courses we require undermines the integrity and value of our Bachelor's degrees. If you think a course covers all the same stuff one of ours covers but it didn't transfer as equivalent, please see the above FAQ about what "1T00" credit means. You must complete with satisfactory mastery (a 'C' or better) the program learning outcomes - and you complete those learning outcomes by taking the classes we require.
Computer Science
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I am a CS-Interest student. How do I become a CS student?
You need to have credit for CSE 1321/L and CSE 1322/L with a 'B' or better, then submit a change of major request in Owl Express under 'Student Records'.
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How many sciences do I need for a BSCS degree?
Three, with a sequence in two. The courses must be from the following pool:
PHYS 2211 & PHYS 2211L
PHYS 2212 & PHYS 2212L
CHEM 1211 & CHEM 1211L
CHEM 1212 & CHEM 1212L
BIOL 1107 & BIOL 1107L (CHEM 1211/L is a prerequisite to this course)
BIOL 1108 & BIOL 1108L (CHEM 1211/L is a prerequisite to this course)
Do not take PHYS 1111/L or PHYS 1112/L. This can't be used towards any science requirement in the CS major.
You also cannot use credit for both PHYS 2211/L and PHYS 1111/L (nor the second level), even for free elective credit.
Bachelor of Applied Science in Information Technology
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I transferred as a Bachelor of Science student (in IT/CS/SWE/etc). I want to change to the BASIT program. How do I do that?
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How do I know what to take if my Technical Block has not been evaluated?
The only credit we give to degree requirements other than your Technical Block is CS 1301 Programming Principles I and IT 1324 Advanced Programming Principles, and that is only if you obtained your Associate of Applied Science in Programming. No higher level IT course credit is granted. Therefore, if your AAS was in something other than programming and you did not automatically get credit toward CS 1301 or IT 1324 (by taking courses not needed by your AAS), you should begin by taking those two courses in order, along with any general education credit you still need.
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I have an AAS in Networking and I am CISCO Certified. Do I really have to take IT 4323 Data Communications and Networking?
Yes, you really have to take IT 4323 Data Communications and Networking. You may also look at testing out of it.
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I took a Program Design and Development course but it was classified as Technical Block.
That course is not the same as CS 1301. You should take CS 1301, or you may investigate testing out of it.
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I took "Java Programming I" and "Java Programming II" (or C# 1 and 2), but it was put into my technical block. What do I do?
Contact either the IT Academic Advisor or the BASIT coordinator to look at re-evaluating your tech block classes.
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Not all of my credit transferred in. There's supposed to be an agreement between KSU and my technical college. Where's the rest of my credit?
Part 1:Your CIS or CIST courses from your AAS degree in a computing field from a Technical College System of Georgia Institution are evaluated by the Transfer office upon admission or request from the department to be placed into the "Technical Block" portion of your program. It may take some time to get your credit evaluated, but it will be evaluated and you will get the credit.
Part 2: While we do have an agreement to bring in a certain number of CIS or CIST courses as your technical block, that might not be all of the credits you took at your technical college. We cannot bring in any more credit beyond the technical block evaluation and the credit which is evaluated and found to be equitable to a KSU course.