Admission & Financial Aid Transfer Eligibility

Amherst welcomes applications from talented students who have chosen to begin their higher education at two-year and other four-year institutions. The college looks, above all, to enroll exceptional students of strong and vibrant intellectual promise who have the demonstrated qualities of mind and character that will enable them to thrive in our dynamic academic and social environment and to take full advantage of the remarkable resources our community offers. A successful Amherst student is someone who will embrace the academic freedom provided by our open curriculum, engage with our talented and accomplished professors, and contribute significantly to a student population whose diversity of both background and perspective fosters a process of mutual education within and beyond the classroom curriculum. This information sheet serves as an outline of how most competitive transfer applicants at Amherst may appear. Unlike an articulation agreement, eligibility criteria do not guarantee applicants for admission.

Eligibility

• Students are eligible for transfer admission to Amherst if they have at least 32 transferable semester hour credits (or equivalent) as a college student in a liberal arts curriculum. Credit hours from courses in progress are considered toward the credit total. Please note the following exceptions:
  • Students who have already obtained a bachelor’s degree or equivalent are not eligible to apply to Amherst College.
  • Students who are taking college coursework as part of any program of early graduation from secondary school or other accelerated completion of secondary school should apply as first-year applicants. 
• For students applying from two-year institutions, four semesters of work (including courses in progress at the time of application) and full-time enrollment in a community college are recommended.
•  Amherst typically admits one out of every twenty students who apply for transfer. In previous years, competitive applicants have had at least an A- average in college coursework. Most have transferred from U.S. colleges and universities. 
• While Amherst welcomes traditional- and non-traditional-aged applicants to apply, all applicants must be capable of enrolling as full-time students in the successive years needed to complete their degrees. Students are not required to live on-campus and, due to the structure of our residential community, we do not currently have the capacity to house families in on-campus housing. Our local area has off-campus rental options and free local public transportation.
• Students who have completed college coursework are also eligible to apply as first-year students to Amherst College if they are willing to forfeit all credit accrued in college and spend four years as full-time students at Amherst College. Students interested in this option should apply using the first-year application.

Transfer of Credit

• Credit is granted only for courses in the liberal arts. Please find a list of our current academic departments online. Most course credits within departments available at Amherst will be eligible for transfer. 
• Credit is awarded on a course-by-course basis and not by specific degree programs. 
•  Credit is not awarded for the following: 
  • Most courses in business, criminal justice, engineering, speech and communication, computer application, journalism or other pre-professional training courses. 
  • Math courses below the level of calculus. 
  •  Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or collegiate coursework completed during secondary school or in lieu of a traditional high school experience; however, some Amherst departments will allow students to forego introductory-level courses in areas where students have completed rigorous work. 
  • Online courses (some exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis by Registrar’s Office staff) 
•  Amherst's open curriculum has no core or general education requirements beyond those courses required for a student’s major. As a result, transfer students are not asked to take classes in specific disciplines or complete general education requirements prior to transferring as long as classes meet our liberal arts requirement. 
• If admitted, a transfer of credit evaluation completed by our Registrar is included with the letter of admission. This evaluation will include a course-by-course listing of transferable courses and an expected graduation date. 
• Students who have more than 64 transferable semester hours (or the equivalent) must fulfill our two-year academic residency requirement by completing four full semesters at Amherst.

Impacts of Covid-19

Due to the disruptions related to COVID-19, Amherst has adopted more flexible guidelines regarding transferable credit. Specifically, coursework beginning in the spring 2020 term and taken through the spring 2022 term that would typically be scheduled for in-person instruction, but was moved to online instruction as a result of the pandemic, will be considered for transfer of credit. All other criteria for transferability of credit must be met and will be determined at the discretion of the Registrar at the point of admission. Exceptions to the transferability of online courses after spring 2022 may be made by the Registrar’s Office staff on a case-by-case basis.

College coursework completed in the spring 2020 term by transfer students with grades of "Pass/P" will automatically be considered for transfer of credit. "Pass/P" coursework from terms other than spring 2020 must have written confirmation from the transcript-issuing institution of the "Pass/P" being a grade of "C or above" to be considered for transfer of credit. All other criteria for transferability of credit must be met and will be determined at the discretion of the Registrar at the point of admission.​

Revised October 2023.