Olivia A. Gallucci

Introduction

In this article, I discuss how students can transfer credits at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and my experience transferring credits. I also note how it affected my enrollment date, graduation time, and double-major in Computing Security (CSEC) and Computer Science (CS).

Transfer credits at RIT come in three forms: AP testing, IB testing, and university equivalences (also known as transfer credits from other universities).

RIT provides a guide for transferring AP and IB scores and a database of approved university equivalences. If you cannot find a specific class, you may fill out and submit an Articulation Request Form.

Transfer credits do not affect students’ GPA at RIT. However, RIT does put an ‘all things considered’ GPA on transcripts; this GPA includes transfer credits.

High school: AP and IB credits

Many students transfer AP and IB credits to RIT. Some students enter RIT with a semester of college already completed. Other students hold enough credits to acquire early enrollment dates, which means that they enroll in classes before the rest of their year-level.

I did not take many AP classes in high school, and my school did not use IB. I transferred two AP courses (six credits) to RIT as free electives. These are my high school transfer credits:

Name	Abbreviation	Credits	Grade
Literature, Culture, and Media (AP Literature)	ENGL 210	3	A
US Themes (AP US History)	HIST 102	3	A
Total		6	4.0

College

This applies to all academic terms (i.e., summer, winter, fall, and spring).

You must score a C or higher in the external course to transfer it to RIT.

Summer without co-op

Additionally, many students take general-education classes at other colleges, usually community colleges, and transfer them to RIT. When RIT students want to take a class at another university, they can take an external class approved by RIT or fill out an Articulation Request Form.

In general, community college classes are much cheaper than private universities, that is, if they are at your local community college.

RIT did not approve many classes at my local community college, so I took courses at private universities and non-local community colleges. Although this was expensive, it was not as expensive as RIT’s tuition and fees, which I would have paid for two extra semesters if I choose to take those classes at RIT.

I started taking transfer credits at universities the summer before my freshman year. I knew taking multiple courses during a co-op would be difficult, and that double-majoring in CSEC/CS requires a co-op every summer.

Since I did not have a co-op or internship that summer, I took as many classes as I could afford. I enrolled in three general education classes (nine credits) and transferred them to RIT.

This was my course load the summer before my freshman year:

Name	Abbreviation	Credits	Grade
Computational Problem Solving I (not a transfer credit)	CPET 121	3	A
Principles of Macroeconomics	ECON 201	3	A
Foundations of Sociology	SOCI 102	3	A
First Year Writing	UWRT 150	3	A
Total		12	4.0

First Class Academy

I also enrolled in RIT’s First Class Academy (FCA), which is a summer class, not a transfer credit. My FCA course was Computational Problem Solving I (three credits), and prepared me for RIT’s CSEC introductory programming sequence.

If you want to gain programming experience, this class is a much better introduction than RIT’s Code Zero series. It delves into many of the topics students struggle with freshman year, while Code Zero introduces data types and loops.

Winter break

Some colleges offer courses over winter break. Taking classes over winter break helps free up students’ summers. I took Organic Chemistry I (four credits) during the winter break of my freshman year and transferred it to RIT. Here was my course load during the winter break:

Name	Abbreviation	Credits	Grade
General Organic Biochemistry I	CHMG 111	4	A
Total		4	4.0

Summer with co-op

Taking summer classes during co-ops is difficult, so it is unadvised. In fact, RIT only allows students to take one class at RIT during co-ops. However, you can get around this restriction if you take the courses at another university and transfer them to RIT.

When I finished my freshman year, I had nineteen transfer credits. I needed fourteen more transfer credits to complete my general education requirements for CSEC and CS. Since I would be on co-op every summer (including this one), I knew fourteen credits was not doable in one summer. Instead, I enrolled in three summer courses. These three courses cover eleven of the fourteen credits I need. In other words, I only need three more transfer credits.

Here was my course load during the summer break:

Name	Abbreviation	Credits	Grade
Probability and Statistics I	MATH 251	3	SE
General Biology II	BIOL 102	3	A
General Biology II Lab	BIOL 104	1	A
General Biology I	BIOL 101	3	A
General Biology I Lab	BIOL 103	1	A
Cooperative Education in Computing Security (Summer) – Five weeks with Open@RIT in Rochester, New York – Six weeks at Deloitte’s 30 Rockefeller National Headquarters in New York City	CSEC 499	0	SE
Total		11	4.0

Although this is not my ideal summer, it allows me to use the magic course load formula for the rest of my time at RIT. In other words, I will not be too overburdened taking three+ advanced CSEC/CS courses each semester. 

As a result, taking eleven credits this summer is worth the extra work.

Update: I still have more transfer classes I need to take. I am unsure where or when I will be taking them yet. I may update this post once I complete all my transfer credits.

Conclusion

Overall, transfer credits are a great way to start off students’ college careers, decrease graduation times, and decrease stress levels during their time at RIT.