Transfer Students

If you’re a current MCC Dual 2+2 student finishing the program, you must submit the following to the University of Rochester the semester before you plan to enroll as a full-time Rochester student:

• MCC 2+2 Intent to Enroll Form*
• Official college transcript from MCC and any other school(s) attended
• Official AP/IB exam results if seeking college credit
• Transfer Midterm Report (suggested). CAS ID is not needed
• A resume and an admissions interview are recommended for those wishing to compete for potential merit scholarships
• International students must also provide a International Financial Support Form (IFSF) or the CSS Profile (if unable to meet the full cost of attendance for Rochester without need-based aid or sponsorship from the University). Institutional funding support is limited regardless if you are in the 2+2 dual admissions program. 
• If applicable, apply for financial aid

*The Intent to Enroll Form should be completed by March 15 for fall enrollment and October 15 for spring enrollment at Rochester.

Rochester offers 2+2 programs in the following academic areas:

• Anthropology
• Art History
• Biology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Black Studies
• Business
• Chemical Engineering
• Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• English majors – British and American Literature, Creative Writing, Language, Media & Communications, or Theater
• History
• Mathematics
• Optics
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Religion
• Studio Arts

Some of our engineering 2+2 program requirements have cross-registering requirements for courses at Rochester while enrolled at Monroe Community College which allow a student to stay on track as a junior. These cross-registration courses are processed through the Rochester Area Colleges (RAC) Inter-Institutional program agreement and are often only available either spring or fall semesters. When taking cross-registration courses, you’ll follow the RAC procedures on the registrar’s site.

If you’re looking to earn a degree from Rochester, you must apply for admission, be accepted, and matriculate into a degree-seeking program. You would follow the transfer application instructions on this page and submit the Common Application material. You can indicate if you are seeking enrollment as a part-time or full-time student in the application.

Staff in the Office of Admissions can discuss your academic background and any future plans you may have for applying to a degree program. Some students find it helpful to take non-matriculated courses and then apply after they’ve take a few Rochester courses. You can contact us at (585) 275-3221 or admit@admissions.rochester.edu.

If you are a University of Rochester employee, you and your children may be eligible for tuition benefits. University employees interested in receiving a tuition benefit should visit the Office of Total Rewards for complete details regarding eligibility and benefits.

Admissions Requirements

Students are considered transfer applicants if they have:

• Completed a high school diploma (or an equivalent)
• Earned at least 8 semester hours of college credit after graduating high school

Our consideration of applicants is holistic and we are looking to add strong students to be collaborative members of our scholarly environment. Students contribute to the fabric of our primarily residential campus in student life activities in different ways. The most successful transfers will have taken at least a year of full-time challenging courses that help prepare them for academic pursuits at Rochester.

The academic profile of incoming transfer students varies each term but on average they have earned at least a 3.3 GPA  or higher. For students who have completed less than a year of college, we also consider high school academics as part of the decision.

While students are not admitted directly to a major, the intended major is a factor in our review. Majors can have course prerequisites and can make it challenging for a transfer student to complete the major if equivalent courses have not been completed. Departments will allow at least two courses taken elsewhere brought into the major, some allow more. See the academic departments site for any major specific transfer credit policies.

For the fall of 2024, the typical student admitted at Rochester:

• Took challenging college courses
• Maintained a median college GPA of 3.7
• Has started or is prepared to explore classes within their major area of interest
• Joined as incoming sophomores or juniors based on awarded transfer credits
• Demonstrated an active, independent role in their educational, personal, and community activities

We value unquantifiable strengths such as initiative, creativity, enthusiasm, openness, motivation, and leadership, and we’re also careful to ensure our student body represents the full spectrum of diversity, including hometowns, ideas, and experiences.

A detailed pre-enrollment Transfer Credit Evaluation will be included with an admissions offer. Courses taken at another college are evaluated individually for transfer credit. If coursework is judged as comparable in level and content to coursework offered at the University of Rochester, and completed with a grade of C or better, it will transfer for elective credit.

Credit for “P”, “S”, and “CR” (or similar grades) where there is not another grading option will be awarded as elective credit. In the event that there is a letter grade underneath the “P,” “S” or “CR” that is below “C,” credit will not be awarded. However, elective credit will be granted for all “P”, “S” and “CR” grades earned during the Spring 2020 semester due to pandemic academic interruption.

All transfer coursework comes in as elective credit. To obtain course equivalencies, students must reach out to the authorized departmental contact from the following list: https://www.rochester.edu/college/ccas/undergraduate/curriculum/authorized-approval-list.html. The College Center for Advising Services provides additional information regarding transfer credit policies and cluster requirements for transfers.

The articulation guide of Monroe Community College courses can be used as a resource to see what types of courses could transfer from other institutions.

The University of Rochester benefactor, entrepreneur, photography pioneer and philanthropist George Eastman said, “The progress of the world depends almost entirely upon education.” In what ways do you envision using the curricular flexibility and co-curricular opportunities at the University of Rochester to promote progress and change within the communities you inhabit? 

(250 word limit)

You are a transfer if you’ve graduated from high school or earned a high school equivalency, and will have completed eight or more college credits following graduation.

Applicants who are most competitive for transfer admission will have completed at least a year of college courses (24–32 credits) at the time of applying.

You can be considered a first-year applicant if you matriculated somewhere but have withdrawn before receiving any grades. Students should address the withdrawal within the application.

If you have graduated from high school more than two years ago but have not taken college level classes, you are considered a first-year applicant. You may be more competitive for admissions by taking some college courses and then applying as a transfer. Every applicant’s situation is different and you may want to contact us about your circumstances.

If you are obtaining a high school diploma and or an associate degree through a dual-enrollment or “early college” program, you will be considered as a first-year applicant to Rochester because you have not graduated from high school. Rochester requires that students have a high school diploma or equivalency. College courses can be considered for transfer credit if they were done on a college campus, first-year applicants can only accelerate graduation by one semester and transfers it will depend upon credits awarded. See the Enrollment Policy.

A number of applicants may qualify for an application fee waiver. When using the Common Application, you may be eligible for a waiver based upon need criteria that is determined based upon your response to questions. Rochester also issues additional waivers that can be selected within our questions in the Common Application. Additional waivers are issued for the following criteria:

• For Phi Theta Kappa members
• For Veterans or Active Duty military
• For students in a New York State Opportunity program (HEOP, EOP, SEEK, or College Discovery)
• For applicants who attended high school within the Rochester City School District
• For graduates of the Say Yes to College Program (Buffalo and Syracuse)
• For students who have received approval based upon financial hardship from a Rochester Admissions Counselor
• For Recruited athletes

This report collects information about your standing at your current institution. A dean, registrar, advisor, or other college official who has access to your academic records can complete this report. You may need to inquire at your institution to determine who can submit this report for you. Common App for Transfer Support

It can take 2-5 weeks for us to review a application and issue a decision. All students being admitted will receive a transfer credit evaluation with their decision, so it takes time to complete that after our review.

Review of Fall semester applications can begin as early as late February for early completers, with notification starting towards the middle of March and at least once a month until late June.  Review of Spring semester applications begins in September, with notification starting in late October.

Students are encouraged to complete their application by the priority deadline to receive earlier notification and strongest consideration. If applying for financial aid applicants should be doing that at the same time as applying for admissions as we are need aware for transfers.

In some cases once applications are reviewed we will need to request or wait on additional information before making a decision, so notification could be delayed.

All students’ decisions will be posted to your MyROC applicant portal. You’ll receive an email when a decision has been made and posted. Please check your MyROC applicant portal to ensure your contact information is accurate and to follow your application through the review stages. For those admitted to Rochester along with the decision there will be copy of your transfer credit evaluation released at the time of acceptance based upon completed and any in progress courses. Please make sure to save a copy of the PDF of your evaluation for your records as it can be helpful when speaking to faculty about credit that won’t have access to it.

Rochester highly encourages you to interview. An interview with a Rochester representative is a great way to talk about your background, experiences, and interests. Rochester students are so much more than just pieces of paper, and we want to take the time to get to know you. Notes from interviews are used in our review, so interviews should be complete by the time your application is submitted for our review. Interviews can help us get to know you better and help with merit scholarship consideration.

If you want to enroll for the fall semester, interview February through April. If you want to enroll in the spring, interview May through early November. You can interview prior to submitting your application or after, but to insure your interview is included in our review make sure it’s done by when all required application material is here for review.

Yes. All applicants are considered for merit-based scholarships. Rochester receives applications from many qualified students, but not every admitted student will receive a scholarship. You are considered holistically for potential merit scholarships and about 45% of admitted transfer students will receive a scholarship. An average transfer scholarship amount is $14,000 per year of study, but there are higher amounts awarded. If you are awarded a merit based scholarship, it will be included in your admissions decision letter.

The Financial Aid Office will email you a few business days after your admissions decision has been released to sign into the secure FAO online to view your package. The Financial Aid Office must have all of the required documents to complete the package in the time period. If you are applying for aid, you should complete your FAFSA and CSS PROFILE at the same time you are submitting your application for admission, so that the financial aid process is not held up. In addition to the FAFSA and CSS Profile, Rochester collects tax information through the College Board’s IDOC Service. If you have questions regarding aid, please contact the Financial Aid Office.

Credit can be awarded for the following official exam results for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and A-level exams.

Credit is not grant transfer credit for American Council on Education (ACE), College Level Examination Program (CLEP), or DANTES Subject Standardized Tests (DSST).

Some Rochester academic departments (languages and mathematics) have placement exams available to help advise students proper course sequencing placement. Consult with the academic department if you have a question about course placement based upon your foundation.

Graduation year and class standing is determined by the number of credit hours granted at the time of entrance. The class year gives you an idea of how long it would take you to earn the minimum of 128 credit hours to complete a degree at Rochester. Graduation class year may change depending on your academic foundation for an intended major (especially true for engineering, computer science, digital media studies, and public health) or course of study.

You are encouraged to speak with an academic department adviser about any questions regarding major course equivalences. Faculty identified as department contacts can be found on the Authorized Approval List.

The table below illustrates the number of credit hours associated with each class standing.

Rochester does require students to maintain full-time enrollment for at least 4 semesters in order to obtain a degree. Depending on how many credits the student comes in with the Enrollment Policy dictates how many semesters you’d have to be a student to earn the minimum of 128 credits required for graduation.

A maximum of 64 credit hours from a two-year school may transfer to your Rochester degree requirements. Transferrable courses beyond the 64 credit limit can be used towards major requirement but won’t continue to accrue.

If you are transferring from a four-year school, you may transfer more than 64 credits. However, students must complete at least four full-time semesters at Rochester in order to obtain a degree.

Yes. You can apply as a transfer student to obtain a second degree. The degree must be in a completely different area of study than your first degree and might not be advised depending on your goals. The College may not be able to award a second degree if you’re looking for a second BA degree.

Second degree students receive little financial aid support and it might be best for you to consider a graduate program. You are encouraged to speak with an admissions counselor and potentially a graduate department head about your plans and goals.

Yes. Transfer applicants must be currently enrolled in a HEOP, EOP, SEEK or College Discovery program and meet regular admission standards as a transfer applicant. In addition, there must be space available in our program and you need to provide documentation verifying your eligibility. HEOP counselors are available to assist you with questions about the program and potential openings. For more information, please call (585) 275-0651 or visit Rochester’s program for more information.

Yes. However, the nursing program is not an entry-level program. You must have either an RN license or a bachelor’s degree and apply directly to the School of Nursing.

They do offer accelerated programs for students who have a bachelors in a non-Nursing area. You could transfer to Rochester to pursue a bachelors degree in something from the College of Arts, Sciences, & Engineering, do Nursing pre-requisites, and then apply one of the School of Nursing programs.

For more information, please contact the School of Nursing.

Fantastic! Once you have enrolled, you will receive email communications from Admissions with the next steps for new students. You will get a lot of information to read through, forms to complete, and additional information about Orientation and Advising leading up to the term you are joining us. Orientation will take over communications leading up to the start of the term and provide students with pre-arrival information.

Course registration happens after you’ve met with your assigned college advisor prior to the start of the semester. Your assigned advisor will reach out to you and arrange an appointment. If you are looking to get a jump-start on things, be sure to monitor Orientation website to see the most up to date information.