Frequently
Asked Questions
Questions
about Transferring credits
to JMU
I
am transferring
to JMU from another institution. How do I know what classes are
transferable?
How
do I go about
transferring credits that I took at another
institution back to JMU?
Can
I take
courses somewhere else over the summer and transfer the
credits back to JMU?
I
want to take a course at another
institution or gain BIO credit as part of a semester abroad at a
foreign university. Where do I start?
Can
I take any of
the core courses
(BIO 114, 124, 214, 224) at another college/university in the summer
and transfer the credits back to JMU?
How
many credit
hours can be transferred from another institution?
Can
a lower
division course from
another four-year college be accepted as being equivalent to an upper
division course in the biology department at JMU?
I am an
International student. What must I do to get my courses evaluated?
Can
I take
Anatomy and/or Physiology at another institution and
transfer the credits to JMU as BIO 270 and 280?
If your question isn't here, please write to Jon
Monroe.
I am transferring to
JMU from another institution. How do I know what classes are
transferable?
The office of
Admissions maintains a set of pages explaining many issues about Transferring to JMU. If
you are transferring from a Virginia Community College (VCCS), Transfer Agreements are in place
to transfer your credits. If you are transferring from
another 4-year institution, the VCCS transfer equivalents are used as a
guideline, but specific courses are evaluated individually. The
University provides a detailed description of the credits transferred
once you have applied and been accepted to JMU. Because of the
large number of inquiries, it is not possible to obtain an official
evaluation prior to application.
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How do I go about
transferring credits that I took at another institution back to JMU?
The key to
transferring
credits is that you must arrange with the institution(s) involved for
an official transcript to be sent to the Registrar, MSC 3528, James
Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807. An unofficial
transcript is
not acceptable. All grades must be "C" or higher to be considered
for transfer. If you are a matriculated student (taking classes
at JMU) then you must obtain permission in advance for any courses that
you wish to take at another institution. Pick up a copy of the
"Permission to take courses for transfer credit" form from the Biology
Office or the Records Desk in Warren Campus center. The
individual course must be approved (initialed in the right hand column)
by the department that offers the course at JMU. (e.g. go to the
Chemistry office for a chemistry course; the Biology Academic
Coordinator (Burruss 302) for a biology course, etc.) Then the
form must be taken to your major department. In the case of
biology majors (or minors), you must take them to the Biology Academic
Coordinator (Burruss 305). If the form is completed, you can
leave it in the plastic box on the wall next to the B 305 door and pick
it up with a signature about two days later. Be sure to include
your e-mail address on the form so that you can easily be contacted if
there are questions.
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Can I take courses
somewhere else over the summer and transfer the credits back to JMU?
Yes.
Summer
transfer credits involve the same procedures describe above for
transferring credits. They can only be transferred from an accredited
academic institution.
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Can I take any of
the core courses (BIO 114, 124, 214, 224) at another college/university
in the summer and transfer the credits back to JMU?
It is not
possible for
matriculated students to transfer credits for BIO 114 and 124 once they
are attending James Madison University. This applies to both majors and
non-majors. It is possible to transfer BIO 214 Cell Biology and
224 Genetics and Development. The courses must be approved
individually through the Biology Academic Coordinator (Burruss
305). Courses that do not have a pre-requisite of College
Chemistry will not transfer for these courses. The courses must
have laboratory experiences comparable to BIO 214 or 224 to be
approved.
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I want to take a course at another institution or gain BIO credit as
part of a semester abroad at a foreign university. Where do I
start?
The first step
for any
matriculated student (one who is enrolled toward a degree at JMU) is to
contact the Undergraduate Academic Coordinator for their major. In the
case of BIO majors, this person is Dr. Cocking, Burruss 302. That
person will be able to answer specific questions about what your can
transfer back to JMU and what forms need to be filled out to accomplish
this. See Transferring credits for more information.
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How many credit
hours can be transferred from another institution?
As many as you
like,
however a minimum of 60 credits must be taken at a 4-year institution
and a minimum of 30 credits must be earned at JMU to receive a JMU
degree.
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Can a lower division
course from another four-year college be accepted as being equivalent
to an upper division course in the biology department at JMU?
No.
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I am an
International student. What must I do to get my courses evaluated?
Information
about
International Student Admissions and IB courses is located on the Admissions website.
Individual courses from international institutions are evaluated on an
individual basis by the departments involved through submission of a
request to the Records Office, James Madison University.
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Can I take Anatomy
and/or Physiology at another institution and transfer the credits to
JMU as BIO 270 and 280?
Yes, but credit
for BIO
270 or BIO 290 cannot be awarded separately for one half of an Anatomy
and Physiology (A&P) course. This means that both A&P I
and A&P II must be completed with a "C" grade or higher. The
sequences at some other institutions cover one half of the systems each
semester and integrate physiology and anatomy. BIO 290 covers
only human anatomy and does it from a regional viewpoint rather than by
individual systems (e.g. circulatory or nervous). This means that
a region, such as the shoulder is examined intact by looking at the
muscles, bones, nerves and blood vessels that pass through it,
etc. Then another region, such as the abdomen is covered in a
similar manner. It is impossible to allocated credit from A&P
I or II to this course because the content is not the same.
Similarly, the physiology of the entire body is examined in BIO 270 and
again, one half of the material would not be covered in a single
semester of A&P I
or II.
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