Transfer Students

Advice for Transfer Students

We welcome transfer students! Many students transfer into our program from various schools every year. Transfer students often require some special help and advising, so don’t be afraid to contact the Undergraduate Program Director for Marine Sciences if you need help. The following is some general advice that addresses some of the issues that most transfer students face. This information is specific to the Marine Science Undergraduate Program. For general advice on transferring to Rutgers, please see the SEBS website for transfer students.

If you are thinking about applying to Rutgers as a transfer student, it really helps to get some idea of which courses will transfer. Keep in mind that there is a big difference between transferring generic credits from your current school to Rutgers and getting credit for specific courses that are required as prerequisites or that count toward your major (for example Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Statistics). If you are coming from a New Jersey community or county college, you can find out a lot of this information at NJTransfer.org. On this web site, you can check out course equivalencies to make sure the courses you have taken (or plan to take) are directly equivalent to courses that you need at Rutgers. It’s always a good idea to check that your courses are equivalent before you take them.

Many transfer students are disappointed to find that although they have completed enough credits for an Associate’s Degree at a community college, they are still far behind when transferring to Rutgers. They often find that they can’t graduate in four years and/or that there are very few Marine Science courses that they can take in their first semester here. In both cases, this is a problem of prerequisites, i.e. courses that you need to complete before you can take certain Marine Sciences courses. It’s not enough to take a lot of credits at another school. The key thing is to take the right courses before you join Rutgers. Before you transfer you should aim to take math up through Calculus 1, two semesters of general chemistry, two semesters of biology, and two semesters of physics (or at least two out of the three subject biology/chemistry/physics). Check out our course syllabi page to see the most common prerequisites for higher level courses. In order to complete your degree here at Rutgers in two years, you will need to be able to take 300 and 400 level courses ASAP. An important example is Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems (11:628:320), which has one term of (pre)calculus AND one term of general biology, general chemistry, or general physics (at least two out of these three subjects) as prerequisite. More so, Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems itself is a prerequisite for several of our Marine Sciences courses, so you want to be able to take that course ideally in your first fall semester at Rutgers (note that it is only taught in the fall). If you can get calculus and at least some of the basic science classes out of the way at your current school, you will be much better positioned to graduate quickly from Rutgers. Also note that some course sequences (General Biology I&II and Organic Chemistry I&II) must be completed at the same institution to be considered equivalent to Rutgers courses. In other words, if you have only taken General Biology I at your current school, you will have to re-take it here at Rutgers before you can proceed to General Biology II. That is one of many reasons why it is important to check the course equivalency before you take courses that you hope to transfer.

When you enroll at Rutgers, the Office of Academic Programs will evaluate your transcript and decide which of your courses transfer and what they are equivalent to. Dean Gary Panetta will be happy to assist you if you have questions about your transfer courses. Most transfer students will attend one of the transfer students advising sessions (STAR Days) that are held during the summer via Zoom. At these sessions, you will get general advice on course transfer policies, and the Marine Sciences Undergraduate Program Director (UPD) will help you plan your schedule for your first semester. Once you are in the Rutgers system, you can look up this information on Degree Navigator. The UPD can help you with prerequisite overrides and special permission numbers via email or Zoom. Special Permission Numbers allow students to register on-line for classes that are already full, and they are handed out by the UPD if appropriate. You just need to email the UPD from your official Rutgers email address with the following information:

1. Your name
2. Your student ID number
3. Course number for which you would like a prerequisite override or SPN
4. Reason for requesting the override or SPN

If you are requesting a prerequisite override, the UPD will then decide whether they can grant you the override and inform you via email.

If you have additional questions, feel free to email the UPD and we will do our best to make your transition to Rutgers a smooth one!