The basic process
When you are admitted as a transfer student, the Registrar's transfer team evaluates every course on your official transcripts against Porter's catalog. Each course is assigned one of three outcomes: a direct Porter equivalent (it fills the same slot a Porter course would), general elective credit (it counts toward your total but not a specific requirement), or no credit (developmental courses, and courses with a grade below C-minus, generally do not transfer).
What usually transfers cleanly
Standard courses from regionally accredited institutions — introductory writing, general-education math and science, survey courses in common disciplines — transfer well. A statewide transfer agreement or a common course-numbering system, where one exists, makes whole blocks of general education move as a unit. Community-college associate degrees designed for transfer are built for this.
What is often a problem
Courses more than about ten years old, courses from unaccredited or differently accredited institutions, technical and applied courses that have no Porter analog, courses you passed with a D, and anything taken pass/fail. Upper-division major courses frequently need a department chair to review a syllabus before they will count toward the major rather than as electives.
Check before you enroll elsewhere
If you are a current Porter student planning to take a course at another school (over the summer, say) and bring it back, get it pre-approved first. The Registrar and your adviser use a transfer-equivalency guide and a prior-approval form; a course approved in advance is guaranteed to count as expected, and one taken on spec may not.
The transfer-credit appeal
If a course was evaluated as elective credit and you believe it matches a specific Porter requirement, you can appeal: submit the syllabus, assignments, and sometimes the textbook to the relevant department for a second look. Do this early — before you register for the course you are trying to place out of.
The residency requirement
No matter how much transfers, Porter requires a minimum number of credits — and usually a minimum in the major — completed at Porter to award the degree. Transfer credit shortens your path but cannot replace the residency minimum. Your adviser can tell you exactly how many Porter credits you still need.
Fictional information
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