Transfer Admission

For purposes of admission, a transfer student is anyone who has graduated from high school or the equivalent, and subsequently has earned a minimum of 12 Grinnell credits of allowable transfer coursework from an accredited college or university prior to enrolling at Grinnell. Class standing will be based only on the total number of transfer credits accepted by Grinnell and in no case will the standing be higher than first-semester third year.

Applicants requesting transfer should have the registrar of each college or university attended mail an official transcript of coursework to the Office of Admission. In addition, Grinnell requires two written recommendations from current or former professors or teachers. All transfer applicants are required to submit secondary-school records and the results of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT I) or the American College Test (ACT). The Grinnell College registrar will evaluate the transcript to determine which credits are transferrable.

Transfer students interested in the spring transfer process must have completed at least one semester of college work by the spring application deadline to be considered for the spring semester. Spring transfer applicants in their first semester must submit a final, official fall transcript to the Office of Admission by Jan. 6 (via mail or fax) before an admission decision can be made.

Students are expected to complete at Grinnell at least 62 of the minimum 124 credits needed for graduation. Individual departments generally expect that the majority of courses constituting a major program will be Grinnell courses. Transfer students interested in off-campus study should see the Off-Campus Study section under Courses of Study in this catalog.

For first-time first-year students with an approved program to study off campus for one semester, the semester off-campus is counted toward the residency requirement. For students approved for yearlong off-campus programs, only one semester of off-campus study will count toward the residency requirement, although the credits from both semesters will be accepted.