Grad School Question: Can Classes Transfer?

[daveyinaz]

This is something I had never seen before...a student applies for grad school and gets accepted to a university not where he did his undergrad. He was planning on enrolling for fall but decides to defer for a year. For the year that he deferred, in the meantime, could this person take a grad class at his undergrad university and then transfer it over into the program he was deferring? Or does this step on some kind of fine print mumbo jumbo?

 

[Mapes]

It depends on how strongly the new school feels about the specialized content of their classes. If it's a core class in the graduate program, the department might not want to accept any substitutions. If it's a supporting class, however, the student might just need to petition to the department or a graduate committee to have the class's equivalence confirmed and the credits accepted.

I'd ask the department beforehand, but not mention the deferral; that's just a complicating issue. I would just ask about the possibility of transferring a single graduate class.

 

[cristo]

Why would you defer your entry to take classes in your undergraduate university?

 

[daveyinaz]

Why would you defer your entry to take classes in your undergraduate university?

Where did I say that the primary reason for deferring was to take classes at undergrad university? I only said "in the meantime"...besides I actually know the reason and it has nothing to do with academics.

To add to what I said before...what if the student ends up not going to program he deferred? I highly doubt it, but would there be no problem this student should encounter when declining enrollment the next year?

 

[Moonbear]

I can envision several scenarios where you might not be able to start school right away at a new university but could have the time to take a grad class at your undergrad university. Most of those involve family obligations.

You would have to ask the program where you are deferring admission directly if they would accept the transfer credit. It will likely depend on the course and the program. If you have a choice of courses, you could find out if any would have more likelihood of transferring than others and choose one that will transfer.

As for deferring admission and then deciding not to attend at all, I think that's a risk programs are aware of with deferred admission. If you had to pay a deposit to accept their offer or defer, you would forfeit your deposit. From a more ethical standpoint, if you are going to decline enrollment after a deferral, as soon as you know this is going to happen, let them know so they can admit another student into your slot. Programs always have waiting lists, so the sooner they know, the better it is all around for them to accept someone off their wait list.