Transfer Students

Students must apply and be accepted to the University of Minnesota's College of Liberal Arts in order to declare a psychology major. 

Once admitted, transfer students will register to attend a mandatory Transfer Student Orientation. At orientation, you will learn more information about the transfer and course evaluation process. You will also meet with a psychology advisor to officially declare your psychology major. You will receive more detailed information about Transfer Student Orientation in your email closer to your orientation date.

Transfer Student Guidelines

Transfer guides are available at the bottom of the BA and BS pages referenced above.

It is important to keep in mind that your psychology major will make up only a portion of your overall degree requirements. First and second-year students at the U of M typically take only a few of their major courses during these first two years. Therefore, the Department of Psychology recommends that prospective psychology transfer students take the following courses at their current institution to stay on track:

  • Introductory/General Psychology
  • No more than 2 upper-level psychology courses

Contact a CLA Transfer Advisor for more information regarding course planning prior to your transfer, CLA degree requirements, and the transfer process.

Evaluating Psychology Transfer Coursework (Domestic - US and International)

To evaluate the equivalency of courses from an outside institution, you will need to follow the directions below:

  1. Navigate to the office of admissions website for Transfer Credit Evaluations.
  2. Scroll down to the section titled “Submitting a Course for Review.”
  3. Click on the “Current Students Tab.”
  4. Follow the step-by-step instructions under this tab.
  5. Click the link under Step 4 to submit a course for review.
  6. Enter your UMN username & password.
    • Please be aware you must fill out a separate form for each course you would like reviewed.
  7. Upload/Attach your course syllabus that includes a calendar of topics covered, textbook information, and assignment expectations.

**Please be aware of the importance of a course calendar. The calendar typically offers us insight into what specific topics are covered, how long they are covered, and what chapters are covered from the book. These are all important details in evaluating a course. Without this information, the psychology department will be unable to complete the evaluation.

Once you submit the course to review via the admissions website, the evaluation will automatically get routed to the appropriate department (Psych or otherwise) for evaluation within the Psychology curriculum. Courses take 4-5 weeks to evaluate.

Be sure to check your APAS once you are emailed the results to make sure it is appropriately being used in your psychology curriculum. If you feel your transfer course is not accurately reflecting on your APAS report feel free to follow up with us at psyadvis@umn.edu.

Note: The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities has a separate Department of Developmental/Child Psychology that evaluates coursework from that discipline (e.g. developmental, lifespan, and child/adolescent psychology coursework). For more information, contact Developmental/Child Psychology Advising