{"id":51485,"date":"2026-07-15T16:23:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T20:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/?page_id=51485"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:50:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T20:50:46","slug":"incoming-first-year-students","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/resources\/policies\/transfer-units\/incoming-first-year-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Incoming First-Year Students"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><strong>Transfer Unit Policy for Incoming First-Year CGS Students<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">The following policy applies <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">only<\/span> <\/em>to incoming first-year students who have not yet matriculated to Boston University. <\/span>Current CGS students should refer to the Transfer Unit policy for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/resources-for-current-students\/policies\/transfer-units\/current-students\/\">Current Students<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Incoming first-year students may complete no more than two (2) courses externally prior to Matriculation. <span>Students may only take classes part-time as a non-matriculated, non-degree student. Gap Semester courses cannot be used towards CGS Program Requirements.<\/span> It is the responsibility of the student to follow the Transfer Unit Policy as noted. Students who enroll in unapproved courses may not receive units at Boston University. All students <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">must<\/span> discuss external course options with their CGS Academic Advisor prior to registration.<\/p>\n<h4><span>Step 1: Make an appointment with your CGS Advisor<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>To begin the Transfer Unit Process, schedule an appointment with your advisor through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/resources-for-current-students\/academic-advising\/make-an-academic-advising-appointment\/\">MyBU Student<\/a>. Call Student Services at 617-353-2850 if you have any issues scheduling this appointment.<\/p>\n<p><span>To prepare for the meeting with your advisor, it is recommended that you review the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/resources-for-current-students\/academic-advising\/pathways\/\">CGS Academic Pathways<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/bulletin\/\">BU Bulletin<\/a> for any major or minor you are interested in pursuing.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Step 2: Check Transferology<\/h4>\n<p>After discussing course selection with your CGS academic advisor, use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transferology.com\/school\/bu\">Transferology<\/a> to see if the course you plan to take is listed. Boston University\u2019s transfer equivalency site is provided as a guide to how classes taken at other colleges or universities may transfer to Boston University.<\/p>\n<p>If you have questions about course options on Transferology, please contact your CGS academic advisor directly.<\/p>\n<h4><span>Step 3: Submit appropriate forms<\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Approved Courses: <\/strong>If the course you plan to take <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">is listed<\/span> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transferology.com\/school\/bu\">Transferology<\/a>, complete the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/resources-for-current-students\/policies\/transfer-credits\/gap-semester-course-request-form\/\">Gap Semester Course Request Form<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unapproved Courses: <\/strong>If the course you plan to take is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">not listed<\/span> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transferology.com\/school\/bu\">Transferology<\/a>, you must have the course evaluated. In order to evaluate an external course equivalency, please obtain the course description and course syllabus and complete the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/files\/2025\/09\/FORM-External-Course-Evaluation-Request-Fillable.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">External Course Evaluation Request form<\/a>. This form and all supplemental materials must be submitted to <a href=\"mailto:credeval@bu.edu\">credeval@bu.edu<\/a>. <em>Please note that the\u00a0external course approval process can take up to three weeks.\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><span>Step 4: Request an official transcript<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span>As noted above, students must earn a final grade of \u2018C\u2019 or higher for BU to accept units for approved external courses.<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Once the course is completed and you have received a final grade of &#8220;C&#8221; or higher in your course, please contact the external institution directly to request that an official external transcript be sent directly to BU.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Electronic (Preferred Method)<\/strong>: Send to\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:CEtscrpt@bu.edu\">CEtscrpt@bu.edu<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Paper Mail: <\/strong>Credit Evaluation Department, 881 Commonwealth Avenue 2<sup>nd<\/sup> Floor, Boston, MA 02215<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once submitted, please email your CGS academic advisor to notify them that a transcript is being sent to Boston University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transfer Unit Policy for Incoming First-Year CGS Students The following policy applies only to incoming first-year students who have not yet matriculated to Boston University. Current CGS students should refer to the Transfer Unit policy for Current Students. Incoming first-year students may complete no more than two (2) courses externally prior to Matriculation. Students may [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11550,"featured_media":0,"parent":36820,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51485"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11550"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51485"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51500,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51485\/revisions\/51500"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}