Transfer Students
Welcome! The University of Virginia welcomes applications from students seeking to transfer from other accredited colleges and universities. Transfer students are a vital part of the University community, contributing substantially to academic and extracurricular life on Grounds. Each year more than 500 enroll; a quarter are nontraditionally aged, and a third come from the Virginia Community College System. The University of Virginia adheres to the State Policy on transfer.
Admission
For transfer admission questions that are not answered on this web site please call the Admission Office at 434-982-3200. Transfer candidates must be in good standing, both academically and socially, at the institution or institutions they have attended. Admission to each of the six undergraduate schools is competitive. Successful applicants ordinarily will have earned a cumulative grade point average of B or better at their previous colleges; they also will have completed, or come close to completing, the specific transfer requirements for the school and program they wish to enter (see Suggested Courses for Transfers). Most students who are offered admission will be able to enter directly into their chosen major. A few majors are more competitive or have specific course prerequisite requirements. For guidance about specific courses that must be taken at your current institution to meet prerequisites needed to enter particular majors, please contact the department of your intended major. In reviewing applications, the Committee on Admission also pays attention to the results of standardized testing (the SAT I or ACT is required, however, the toefl is also acceptable as a substitute for the SAT or ACT for non-native english speakers), to nonacademic achievements, and to the ability to write effective English prose.
Students are ordinarily admitted only for the fall semester, although a limited number are admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences and Architectural History for the spring semester. Applicants must complete the Common App, the U.Va. Supplement, and the Application Fee. All of this can be submitted online on the Common App Website. Along with the above credentials, applicants also must provide the high school transcript, college transcript(s), and SAT (or ACT) scores. All of this required information must be submitted as soon as possible but no later than March 1 for August admission and November 1 for January admission. Decisions are mailed around May 1 for August admission and December 1 for spring admission.
Candidates may satisfy the various English composition requirements listed below by submitting a score of 5 on an AP English examination. Candidates may also satisfy the various foreign language requirements in one of three ways: by passing a foreign language course, with a grade of C or better, on a level equivalent to the fourth semester of college instruction; by submitting a score of 4 or 5 on most AP foreign language examinations; or by submitting a score of 650 or better on most SAT II foreign language tests.
Unless otherwise noted, numerals refer to semester-hours, and courses are presumed to carry at least three semester-hours of credit.
Admission is granted to individual schools (College, Nursing, Education, Engineering, Architecture, Commerce) not specific departments within the schools. While it is likely that a student will be granted his/her choice of major in the school they have been offered admission to, there are some departments(for example Economics, Media Studies, Political and Social Thought, American Studies, Biomedical Engineering) that are competitive and may have specific course requirements and/or an application once the student is enrolled. Third-year transfer students considering the Economics Major are strongly advised to see the Director of Undergraduate Programs before selecting Fall courses.
Who Is A Transfer?
Transfer applicants are students who have earned twenty-four or more semester hours of college credit after graduating from high school. Students interested in spring admission must have 24 credit hours earned and completed prior to the application deadline of Nov. 1. For this reason it is highly unlikely that a student in the first year of college would be permitted to apply as a spring transfer applicant. High school or home-schooled students MUST apply as first year applicants even if they are dual enrolled and will have their associate's degree by the time they graduate. Students who reside at home and are taking high school and college courses concurrently while still enrolled in high school are not classified as transfers and must apply to the first-year class.
Applicants who have completed at least one full year of college study before entering the University are considered most competitive by the Committee on Admission. Since the University has no program for "visiting students," successful transfer applicants who enroll at U.Va. must spend at least two full years in residency at the University.
Students who already hold bachelors degrees may apply for a second undergraduate degree only in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Students who have completed three or more years of study at another college or university are not eligible for transfer admission to the College.
Merit Scholarships for transfer applicants are rare. Students will be contacted if selected for a merit scholarship.
What Will Transfer?
We generally grant credit for any course from an accredited college, completed with a grade of C or better, that corresponds to a course in our curriculum in content and credit value. Courses taken on a Pass/Fail basis receive full credit only if the professor verifies that the grade of Pass represents work at the C level or better. No credit will be allowed for work passed elsewhere by reexamination, or for correspondence or home study.
Courses submitted for transfer of credit are evaluated by the dean of the appropriate school before fall registration. Students with questions about a particular course should consult the dean of the school to which they are applying.
Transfer students can use the Transfer Credit Evaluator to see exactly which courses will transfer.
Students who enter U.Va. with an Associates degree from a VCCS school will enter as a third year student.
