Some courses transfer as “exact equivalents” (MATH 120, ENGL 200).
     Of these, flag only W courses that don’t show up in your Writing requirement
     but should.  DARS will do the rest.  See flagging, below, for procedures and
     AIF on Writing.
_______________________________________________________________________

Some courses transfer as “generic credit” (MATH 1XX, ENGL 2XX).
     UW *XX is used when the course doesn’t match any UW department.
    

DARS will automatically use most *XX courses in A of Ks, QSR, Foreign Language without your help. 

Prefixes that DARS knows what to do with.

You may have to flag some *XX courses with other prefixes, usually those below.  (You must follow the Equivalency Guide for courses from Washington community colleges.)  For procedures, see flagging, below.

a)  ENGL *XX  
     If appropriate, flag the course as VLPA or Composition—never both.

b)  COM *XX,  Foreign Language 2XX-4XX.  
     Flag the course as VLPA and/or I&S, if/as appropriate.

c)  GEOG *XX, ENVIR *XX and PSYCH *XX.  
     Flag the course I&S and/or NW, if/as appropriate.

d)  UW *XX
     Admissions has probably already flagged these, especially courses that satisfy
     Foreign Language. (UW *XX represents a language not taught at UW).

NOTE: 1XX occasionally is assigned to the third quarter of a language taught at UW.
     Admissions has probably already flagged it F.  See AIF on Foreign Language.

NOTE: Flag ‘W’ courses as appropriate and necessary; see AIF on Writing.

TRANSFER CREDIT DETAILS
 

*****

Transfer of Courses from Washington Community Colleges

All Washington community college courses have been reviewed by UW departments.  Their determinations are published in the Equivalency Guide:

Transcripts from these colleges are usually submitted to UW Admissions electronically, and courses are evaluated automatically by Transfer Articulation (TA), applying the rules in the Equivalency Guide.  The course-by-course results of the articulation can be viewed on EARS under Transfer Credit, Evaluated Courses.

Transfer Articulation automatically flags all courses, including *XX, for use in General Education degree requirement (Composition, Writing, Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning, Foreign Language and Areas of Knowledge).  No adviser action is necessary.

Transfer without the aid of TA
If the community college course does not appear on the left side of the Evaluated Courses, then the transcript has been evaluated manually by an Admissions Specialist instead.  In this case, flagging on SRF325―>330 screen of the SDB, as explained below, may be necessary.  Gen Ed applicability as listed in the Equivalency Guide must be followed.  A transcript from the community college should be in the student's paper file.

Transfer of Courses from Other Institutions

Courses from Washington four-year and all out-of-state institutions are evaluated manually by Admissions Specialists and are posted on SRF325―>330 in the SDB.  Advisers must flag some *XX courses, as explained below, for application toward General Education requirements.

NOTE:  Transfer courses with UW course numbers never need to be flagged―except, if applicable, as Writing.

Advisers can flag courses in the following areas:

• W - Writing. See AIF: Additional Writing
   
• C - Composition)
   
• Q  -Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning).
   
• FL - Foreign Language - flag as F.  Only needed with a 3^rd quarter or higher XX course.  NOTE: Minimum grade for a 3^rd quarter courses is 2.0.  See the AIF for additional information and caveats.

(Very few XX courses need to be flagged for Areas of Knowledge.)

• V (Visual, Literary, and Performing Arts)
• I (Individuals and Societies)
• N (The Natural World)

NOTE:  XX courses with the following prefixes do not need to be flagged―except, if applicable, as Writing. 

      (Exception:  See Double Category Courses, below.)
 

Other *XX courses whose content qualifies them for use in the A of Ks need to be flagged on the 330 screen.  They will not be used until flagged!  (Instructions follow.)  These are the most common:

Depending on content, ENGL courses may be flagged as C[omposition] or as VLPA, but not both.

COM and foreign language beyond first year may be VLPA and/or I&S.

PSYCH and ENVIR may be I&S and/or NW.

Some *XX courses assigned by DARS to one Area might also apply to another Area.

For example, a LING *XX course will be automatically assigned to VLPA.  But, depending on content, it might also qualify for and be better used in I&S.  In this case, flag the course with an I on the SRU330 screen. 

NOTE:  Courses from Washington community colleges may not receive any flags other than those assigned in the Equivalency Guide.
 

Admissions flags courses from Washington community colleges that transfer as UW XX if the Equivalency Guide designates an the Area of Knowledge or QSR.

The third quarter of a foreign language not offered at UW (such as American Sign Language) is flagged F if the grade is a 2.0 or higher.

On the 330 screen departmental advisers can, in addition:

• Change course number (e.g., an English adviser can change ENGL 2XX to ENGL 200)
  Just type over the existing number.
  
  However, advisers cannot change a course prefix (e.g., CHEM 4XX to BIOC 405)
   
• Split a "lumped" course into more than one course
  
  For example, a Psychology adviser can change PSYCH 1XX, 9 credits, into two PSYCH 1XX’s for 4.5 credits each--and adjust the grades, if necessary.  The total credits must remain the same.  Write the DARS office for assistance with this process at dars@u.washington.edu.

*****

Approving Additional Lower-Division Transfer Credits

The University of Washington's new transfer credit policy limits lower-division transfer credits to 90 credits, rather than limiting total community college credits. 

An adviser may approve additional lower-division transfer credits to fulfill degree requirements, but only when a student is applying or has applied for graduation.  (A minimum of 45 credits must still be taken in matriculated status at the University.)  More information.

Approvals may be submitted in the space provided on the GDARS or via an online form at
https://catalysttools.washington.edu/tools/survey/?sid=742&owner=ugradoff.

The GARS staff will process a DARS exception and update the student database. Call 543-1803 or email ugradoff@u.washington.edu for more information.