TRANSFER STUDENT ORIENTATION 2015 Office of Academic Advising

“Introduce and incorporate new students into their residential colleges and to provide academic advising……..every program in O- Week should be organized with these goals in mind.” 50% Academic Advising Mission Statement of O-Week

The mission of advising at Rice University is to promote an unparalleled environment for undergraduates to explore opportunities, identify goals, and implement plans to reach those goals. Mission Statement of Academic Advising

General Graduation Requirements  Be registered at Rice full-time for at least four full fall/spring semesters  Complete at least 60 semester hours at Rice University  Complete the requirements of at least one major degree program  Complete at least 120 hours (some degree programs require more)

Distribution Requirements  Allows for breadth of knowledge, in addition to the depth received through major coursework.  Each student is required to complete at least 12 semester hours of designated distribution courses in each of Groups I, II, and III.  Group I: Humanities  Group II: Social Sciences  Group III: Natural Sciences and Engineering

Distribution Requirement  Must include courses in at least 2 departments in that group  Not all courses in a certain subject or department will be distribution. Master lists available at registrar.rice.edu.registrar.rice.edu  Courses must be designated as distribution at the time of course registration for that specific semester.  Transfer credits can count toward distribution, but only if the Rice equivalent course is designated as distribution credit in the term and year in which the Registrar’s office awards the transfer credit. Group II: PSYC hours PSYC hours PSYC hours ANTH hours Some possible combinations: 9 in PSYC ; 3 in ANTH 11 in SOCI; 1 in PSYC 6 in ECON; 6 in LING RequirementExample

Upper Level Requirements  Upper-Level courses are those with a course number of 300 or higher  Complete at least 48 hours of all degree work in upper-level courses  Complete more than half of the upper-level courses in degree work at Rice (at least 25 hours)  Complete more than half of the upper-level courses in their major work at Rice  Certain departments may require a larger percentage  History requires at least 18 hours at the 300 level or higher. ½ x 18 = 9  At least 10 (> than 9) of these upper-level major hours must be taken at Rice. RequirementExample

Writing and Communication Requirement Satisfy the Composition Requirement  ALL new students must do ALL of the following:  Take the composition exam Students who fail the exam will have to complete FWIS 100, Fundamentals of Academic Communication, before taking their required FWIS course for graduation  Successfully complete a FWIS (First Year Writing Intensive Seminar), a 1-semester course carrying 3 hours degree credit These courses will be capped at 15 students & carry distribution credit. FWIS Courses: CANNOT be taken Pass/Fail & CANNOT be dropped after the second week.  Petitions for FWIS transfer credit must be submitted by the end of O-Week. Details at pwc.rice.edu.pwc.rice.edu

LPAP Requirement Satisfy the LPAP Requirement  Students must complete one 1-credit LPAP Course  Students with disabilities may make special arrangements to satisfy this requirement  Athletes must take an LPAP

Adding and Dropping Courses  Courses can be added during the first two weeks of classes by using Esther. First-Year Students (including new transfer students):  In your first semester at Rice, courses can be dropped until the last day of classes.  In the Spring semester of your first year at Rice, courses can be dropped though the tenth week of classes.  Mid-semester grades are reported in the seventh week, allowing you time to consider dropping a class. For continuing students, courses can be dropped through the seventh week.

Pass/Fail Rules  You can designate a class as “pass/fail” up until the end of the tenth week of classes.  You may convert a pass/fail to a letter grade up until the end of the second week of the following semester.  You cannot take more than one pass/fail course in a semester.  You are permitted to take one pass/fail course for each full- year of residence, up to a maximum of 4.  You may not take more than a total of 14 semester hours as pass/fail.  You cannot take a course pass/fail that is required for your major (or minor). General InformationRestrictions

Transfer Credit Rice University Transfer Credit Policy  Full policy is stated in the General AnnouncementsGeneral Announcements  Courses taken at another college or university that are appropriate to the Rice curriculum may be approved for transfer credit.  Course must be taken at a regionally-accredited institution  Student must have earned a grade of at least a C-

Forms of Transfer Credit Evaluation by the Office of the Registrar in conjunction with the faculty, transfer credit is awarded either as “TRAN” or “Rice Equivalent” credit TRAN  TRAN 100 or 300 hours count toward general hours required for graduation  TRAN 300 hours count toward the upper-level hours required for graduation Rice Equivalent Credit  Satisfies the same university, major or distribution requirements as if the course was taken at Rice  Usually requires approval of departmental Transfer Credit Advisor

Obtaining Rice Equivalent Credit  Reasons to obtain Rice Equivalent Credit  Major  Distribution  LPAP  FWIS – Must petition before the end of O-Week  Procedure  Complete “Undergraduate Request for Transfer Credit” form  Obtain signature of departmental Transfer Credit Advisor  Return completed form to Registrar

AP and IB credit  Rice awards transfer credits for AP and IB examinations for students who have met the following criteria:  AP Student received a score of 4 or 5 Scores must be sent directly to Rice from the College Board  IB Student completed and was awarded IB Diploma Student obtained a score of 6 or 7 on higher level exams Student must have official IB score report to be sent to Rice  Lists of credit awarded at registrar.rice.edu.registrar.rice.edu

Follow us on Twitter!Follow us on Twitter! Like us on Facebook!Like us on Facebook! oaa.rice.edu Questions? Brad BluntChristopher R. Jones Assistant Director of Academic AdvisingTransfer Credit Specialist Transfer Student Orientation Monday, August 17 1:00 p.m. Farnsworth Pavilion in Ley Student Center