Transferring Credit to a Canadian University? My Failure is Your Success
I have been helping students get admission offers at Canadian universities for over 10 years. But sometimes expertise comes from mistakes, we learn best from trial and error, or so the adage goes. Transfer credit is one of those spots that isn’t always 100% clear or the same at every university or college. Therefore, what I learned from my errors, I pass on to you so your credit transfer application is successful. So what tips are we going to learn from my trials and errors?
Read all about Credit Transfer
Do you need your transcripts and course details evaluated independently?
Do you need to pay your tuition deposit first?
What is the university or college’s credit system?
Read All About It
Where I messed up was thinking credit transfers worked almost the same universally with Canadian universities and colleges. Well that just isn’t so. So read everything you can on the website of that college or university you want to go to and if in doubt, write an email to an admissions officer at the university or college. You will be glad you did – it will save you a lot of frustration and maybe even unnecessary expense.
International students will find that most universities are better able to assess and handle credit transfer than colleges. They have the process and knowledge in place to assess international course details and apply credit transfer appropriately. But if you are applying to a Canadian college, things might work differently.
Some institutions will want you to pay your tuition deposit before they will assess your transcripts for transfer credit. So, first you pay your admission application and then they want a tuition deposit on the offer before assessing how many of your courses you will get transfer credit on. Now that is an expense you don’t need when you don’t even know if you want to accept the offer.
What is the Cost to Apply for Transfer Credit?
Some smaller universities or colleges want transcripts and course details evaluated by WES (World Education Services) or another education evaluation service. This takes time and money, most of which a student doesn’t have. Read the details on transfer credit to see if you need to have your documents evaluated by a third party before applying. It is better to know before you apply than to find out you have just wasted the cost of applying to that college or university.
The bottom line is that you could end up paying for your 1) application, 2) WES evaluation and 3)tuition deposit before the institution decides on giving you transfer credit. That’s three items to pay for, before a decision. Do you want that expense when you might not even want to accept the offer? Maybe you will fare better at a university or college where these requirements do not need to be met. Generally, larger research-intensive universities like the University of Alberta do not ask for these extras upfront. You apply as a credit transfer applicant, and they do the rest. The only thing you pay is your application fee.
You also need to know the institution’s credit transfer system, that is their 1) weighting system and 2) what they call transfer credit when you apply. Even in Canada, how credits are weighted is different. For example, some universities in Ontario give a 1 credit weight to a 3-credit course in Alberta. Now you don’t lose anything when they call weights differently. It is just a different way of saying the credit weight. But remember this equation.
3 credits = 1 credit
You will be able to figure out the difference when the website states how many credits you need to graduate with. If they say 120 for 4 years of university, then a 1 term course is equal to 3 credits. If they say 40 credits, then they use a 1 credit weighting system. And the last point: what is transfer credit called in the application process? This is important. At some universities and colleges, it is called transfer credit or credit transfer, but at others it’s called Advanced Standing. Make sure you choose correctly when applying. You don’t want to choose First Year.
I can’t emphasize enough the need to read EVERYTHING about credit transfer before applying. Or feel FREE to contact me to do that transfer credit/advanced standing application for you. It could save you a big headache. After all, I learned from trial and error doesn’t happen twice, and now I know what to look for when determining credit transfers at Canadian universities and college. You will benefit from an application that is done correctly.