I just received an email from an admitted transfer student wondering how he could figure out if his courses will transfer for credit to USC. This is a really common question so I thought I’d share my response with everyone. You can use one of two USC resources will to identify transferable courses.
- If you attend a California Community College:
You can review your school’s articulation agreement to identify which courses are transferable to USC . An articulation agreement lists all* the courses that are guaranteed to transfer to USC for credit. To use this resource simply select your school (for example, Pasadena City College) and the term in which you took the course(s) (for example, Fall 2010).
- If you attend a school outside of California and/or a four-year institution:
You can review your school’s articulation history to identify which courses* are likely to be transferable to USC. Articulation histories only display courses transferred to USC, in the past, and therefore may only list few courses if few students have transferred from that school. It is not a complete list of all transferable courses. Many more courses may be transferable – but you may be the first student from your school trying to transfer the course to USC for credit.
Now that you have identified your transferable coursework you can pull out your curriculum flowchart and compare what courses you have already satisfied to those that you have left to complete at USC. This gives you a rough idea of the length of time you’ll spend at USC. Remember, you don’t have to set up a schedule for fall. That’s something you’ll do – together- with your advisor at orientation.
*Please note, courses such as Statics, Strength of Materials, Dynamics, Data Structures, and C++ Programming will typically transfer for credit to USC.
