Transfer Students and Transfer Policies

Once you are ready to apply, you can follow these steps to apply to Oglethorpe University.

Oglethorpe University welcomes students who wish to transfer to Oglethorpe from other accredited institutions, provided they are in good standing at the last college or university attended. Students who have completed more than 12 credit hours at the college level are considered transfer students. 

Transfer students must submit the following:

• The completed application form. 
• A $35 application fee, which can either be mailed with the application or paid online
• Official transcripts from each college attended
• Your high school transcript and test scores are also required if fewer than 24 semester hours of college credit have been completed. 
• Print the recommendation form, and ask a teacher or counselor to complete it and submit it to the Office of Admission.
• A 250-word essay academic essay must be completed as part of the admission application. Choose one of the following quotes as your inspiration:
   
  • "Adventure is worthwhile in itself." Amelia Earhart, aviation pioneer, women's rights advocate and recipient of honorary Doctor of Public Service from Oglethorpe in 1935
     
  • "Yours is not the task of making your way in the world, but the task of remaking the world which you will find before you." Franklin D. Roosevelt, American president and recipient of honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Oglethorpe in 1932
     
  • "In a world where change is inevitable and continuous, the need to achieve that change without violence is essential for survival." Andrew Young, Civil Rights activist and recipient of honorary Doctor of Human Letters degree from Oglethorpe in 1990 
     
  • "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Winston Churchill, Former Prime Minister of United Kingdom, the quote that inspired Oglethorpe's educational philosophy, "Make a life. Make a living. Make a difference."

  The essay should be at least 250 words in length and should include your name and social security number in the header of each page. Please keep in mind that this is an academic essay. Content, grammar, and presentation will all be important in the evaluation. Use of un-original material (ex.: Internet essay sites) will result in revocation of admission. This essay will also be used by the scholarship committee to review scholarship candidates.
  
  Essays may be mailed to the below address, or they may be emailed in either Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format to admission@oglethorpe.edu.  Please include "Application Essay" and your name in the subject line.
  
  Transfer students should note:

• Most financial aid awards and scholarships are available to transfer students as well as first-time freshmen.
• You are required to have the same application information as for incoming freshman, although high school records and test scores are not required for students having at least 24 semester hours of transferable credit.
• You must submit transcripts of all current and previous college work. A separate official transcript from each college attended must be received before any action will be taken on the application.
• Oglethorpe will accept as transfer credit courses comparable to University courses which are applicable to a degree program offered at Oglethorpe.
• Acceptable work must be shown on an official transcript and must be completed with a grade of "C" or better.
• Oglethorpe doesn't accept a "D" grade as transfer credit, unless a student has graduated from an accredited junior college, or a "D" grade is followed by a "C" grade or better in a normal sequence course (e.g., General Biology I and II).
• Transfer students on probation or exclusion from another institution will not be accepted.
• You must have a grade-point average of 2.0 (on a 4.0 scale) to be considered for admission.
• If you have earned an associate degree at a regionally accredited junior college you will be awarded two years of credit. Junior college graduates with strong academic records are encouraged to apply for admission.

• Oglethorpe University  will accept as many as 30 hours of United States Armed Forces Institute (USAFI) credit.
• Students who hold the R.N. credential from an appropriately accredited institution are awarded credit for their arts and sciences courses.  To earn a bachelor's degree, the student must complete the core curriculum, a major, and other applicable requirements .
• Effective Fall Semester 2003, the maximum total number of semester hours that may be transferred into Oglethorpe is 64.
• A minimum of 64 semester hours must be earned through course work at Oglethorpe in order for an Oglethorpe degree to be awarded, with 52 of the last 64 hours earned in residence (see Residency Requirement).
• Credits earned at post-secondary institutions accredited by the six regional accrediting bodies (for example, Southern, Middle States, New England, etc., Associations) will be accepted.
• Courses taken at schools accredited by national crediting bodies (for example, Association of Independent Schools and Colleges, American Association of Bible Colleges, etc.) may be credited. In these cases, student transcripts will be evaluated on an individual basis. Actual catalog course descriptions and relevant course syllabi should be provided by the student. The Registrar will determine whether or not courses are to receive transfer credit.
• Courses recognized by the American Council on Education (ACE) may be credited by the Registrar. Programs not recognized by ACE will not be given credit.
• A maximum of 32 semester hours may be earned through College Level Examinations Program (CLEP tests). Maximum credit for Advanced Placement tests (AP testing) is also 32 semester hours.  Please see Credit by Examination for more information.
• In all cases, only 64 semester hours may be earned outside of Oglethorpe University through any of the means described above. At least 64 semester hours must be earned in course work for which Oglethorpe credits are granted.
• At least half of the semester hours required for a major must be in course work taken at Oglethorpe University. (For teacher education programs, please refer to education requirements in this Bulletin.) A minimum of 12 semester hours must be in course work taken at Oglethorpe in addition to student teaching.
• A minimum of 12 semester hours of a minor must be in course work taken at Oglethorpe. For education majors, these requirements must be fulfilled before student teaching.
• Only work completed at Oglethorpe is reflected in the Oglethorpe grade-point average.
• To be eligible for academic honors, the student must complete 68 or more hours at Oglethorpe.