Admissions & Placement
Domestic Transfer Information
(For courses taken at other institutions in the U.S.)
The process for obtaining graduation credit for courses taken at another domestic institution involves two parts. The chemistry department has to certify that the course content is essentially equivalent to the corresponding Duke course and then your Dean must approve the actual transfer of credit.
The general instructions concerning transfer credit are available at http://www.aas.duke.edu/trinity/t-reqs/transfercredit.html.
The form for obtaining certification of a chemistry course as being essentially equivalent to a Duke chemistry course may be obtained from the chemistry web site as Chemistry Transfer Request Form.
University Policy
A student must earn a grade of at least C- in any course that is to
be transferred to Duke. A grade for a transfer course does not appear on
the Duke transcript. A student who is in residence for 8 semesters at Duke
is limited to transferring 2 summer courses from domestic institutions
that count toward the 34 courses required for graduation.
Chemistry Department Policy
The Chemistry Department transfers courses from other academic institutions
in two ways: 1) as courses equivalent to Duke courses, and 2) as elective
courses in Chemistry.
For a course to be transferred as equivalent to a Duke course, there are three requirements:
1) the institution at which the course is taken must be accredited by the
American Chemical Society (see list outside room 65.222),
2) the course must be part of the ACS approved curriculum, and
3) the course must involve at least the same number of clock hours
of class time and of lab time as the corresponding Duke course.
Course Minimum Class Time Minimum Lab Time*
21L or 22L 35 clock hours 48 clock hours
23L 46 clock hours 48 clock hours
151L or 152L 35 clock hours 48 clock hours
*Includes actual lab time, preparation for lab, and time spent writing reports. Actual lab time must be at least 36 hours.
Courses which meet all of the above criteria except that they have less clock hours of lab time than the corresponding Duke course will be transferred as elective courses in Chemistry. The elective courses are numbered as Chem 888 for introductory courses (such as Chem 21L, 22L, or 23L) and Chem 999 for advanced courses (Chem 151L-152L, 161, etc). Chem 999 credits count toward the 12 courses at the 100 level or above that are required for graduation. The elective courses of Chem 888 and Chem 999 count as courses toward the 34 needed for graduation. They also count as courses that fulfill the Natural Science area requirements and fulfill pre- or co-requisites in most majors.
Having elective courses in Chemistry on your Duke transcript should not have any negative consequences as far as admission to Medical Schools is concerned. You are required to submit not only your Duke transcript but also the transcript(s) from all other institutions that you attend. The external transcript(s) provide the grade(s) and the course description(s) required by the Medical School.
Transfer Credit for Chemistry Courses
To submit a chemistry course for approval for transfer, do the following.
1. Obtain the official bulletin (hard copy or on-line version - links
to Academic Chemistry Departments in the U.S. are available here. ) of
the institution from which the course is to be transferred.
a. Xerox, or print, the section(s) of the bulletin which describe(s)
the contents of the course(s) you intend to take and allof the other undergraduate
courses offered by the Chemistry Department. Circle the course description(s)
of the course(s) you intend to take.
b. Xerox, or print, the section of the bulletin listing the chemistry
courses required in order for a major to obtain an ACS certified degree
in chemistry at that institution. Circle the course(s) in this listing
that you intend to take.
2. Go on-line to obtain a copy of the Chemistry Transfer Request Form. Print a copy of the form and complete the form. Use a separate copy of the form for each course, but only one copy of item 1 above needs to be attached.
3. Determine the total clock hours spent in class (excluding labs) for the entire course by multiplying the total number of class meetings in the entire course by the amount of time for each class meeting. Enter on the form.
4. Determine the total clock hours spent in lab (excluding non-lab classes) for the entire course by multiplying the total number of lab meetings in the entire course by the amount of time for each lab meeting. Enter on the form. Estimate the time spent outside of lab writing up lab reports or prelabs and record on the form.
5. Go on-line to obtain a copy of the University Transfer Request Form: <http://www.aas.duke.edu/trinity/t-reqs/transfer_credit.pdf> Print a copy of the form. Fill out the top three lines of the form and attach to the Chemistry Department Transfer Request Form.
6. Bring the completed forms along with all the requested materials to the office of the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Chemistry, room 1222 of French Family Science Complex. If you are not in campus you may fax the completed forms with all the requested materials to: (919) 660-1581 or mail to Dr. Christopher Roy, Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Box 90346, Durham, NC 27708.