Department of Chemistry

Transfer and Study Abroad Credit

Domestic Transfer Information
(For courses taken at other institutions in the U.S.)

The general instructions concerning transfer credit are available at http://www.aas.duke.edu/trinity/t-reqs/transfercredit.html.

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/is not essentially equivalent to the corresponding Duke course and then your Dean must approve the actual transfer of credit.

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 (list available at https://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/coldfusionapp?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=mapp_cptasl_page#
2) the course must be part of the ACS approved curriculum, and
3) the course must involve at least 35 contact hours of class time and 35 contact hours of lab time (if the Duke course has a lab component).

Courses that meet all of the above criteria except that they have less than 35 contact hours of lab time 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. Go on-line and print a copy of the University Transfer Request Form.

2. Complete the form and bring it to the office of Dr. Christopher Roy, room 1222 of French Family Science Center. If you are not on campus, you may fax the completed form to: (919) 660-1581 or mail to Dr. Christopher Roy, Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Box 90346, Durham, NC 27708.

3. After the form has been signed by Dr. Roy, take it to your academic dean for approval of the transfer credit.

Study Abroad

Opportunities for study abroad are available to students whose course schedules permit it. Usually this involves direct enrollment for one semester on an individual basis. The university policy and procedures for study abroad are available here. Further information and a list of pre-approved chemistry courses may be obtained from the Global Education Office for Undergraduates web site.