Transfer Credits from Canadian BSc

[StudiousTraveller]

Hello, 

Newbie here and I have to start by saying I am SO happy I was led to this forum because I feel like a whole world has opened up to me. I have wanted to pursue another degree for so long but the costs here in Canada were just too high for me. I feel like I have my dream back again. Thank you!

I've read a lot of posts in these forums in the past couple of days and believe the best option for me is UMPI for a BA in History and Political Science using YourPace with a long term goal of applying to the MA in World Heritage Studies program from BTU (in Germany). 

For my questions - 

I have a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from the University of New Brunswick in Canada (Grad 1998) and am wondering about transfer credits specifically -

1) Does anyone know if I graduated too long ago to have courses accepted for transfer? Has anyone had success with this?

2) If I CAN transfer credits, are we allowed to choose the courses we want to transfer? For example, I could easily meet the Science requirements but I'd like to choose the class(es) where I have the best grades to keep my GPA as high as possible to use for my MA application later.

3) This degree is for personal fulfillment so I'm not looking to get it as fast as possible, but would like to minimise some costs as long as it doesn't hurt my MA chances. Is it even worth it to try and transfer credits, or should I basically start fresh for this degree and just work as hard as possible to get the best grades I can? 

Thanks so much for any advice you have and possibly things I may not have thought of.

[ss20ts]

No one here can tell you how an international degree will transfer to UMPI. You'd have to ask the admissions folks how it works.

No you're not allowed to choose which courses transfer. Your GPA from your first degree won't apply to UMPI. You will start a new GPA at UMPI will ONLY their courses calculated in it.

The best thing to do is to speak to admissions and see if you need to have your Canadian degree evaluated through WES. If you do and WES says it's a bachelor's degree then you are waived from the GEC and only have to complete 30 credits at UMPI so you can focus on the history courses. If not then you have to complete the GEC and the general electives in addition to the history major.

You should contact the YourPace admissions which you can find on the UMPI website not the YourPace website.

[bjcheung77]

You will need to have your degree evaluated by an approved agency such as WES, you must do the course by course evaluation, I would suspect all your credentials that are college credit worthy will come in equivalent to the US counterpart. The only exceptions are mainly the remedial/vocational courses if you've taken any at a community college, those may not grant any credits at all. I would apply, wait for an evaluation to see where you stand, then see if you can transfer more credits with permission before you begin...

[rachel83az]

You will need to have your degree evaluated by an approved agency such as WES, you must do the course by course evaluation,

No, not necessarily. The admissions process for Canadian degrees at UMPI is different than other international degrees. It's my understanding that at least some Canadian degrees don't need an evaluation when you apply to UMPI. This is very different from the other schools we recommend here, where you absolutely MUST have your degree evaluated.

[StudiousTraveller]

You will need to have your degree evaluated by an approved agency such as WES, you must do the course by course evaluation, I would suspect all your credentials that are college credit worthy will come in equivalent to the US counterpart.  The only exceptions are mainly the remedial/vocational courses if you've taken any at a community college, those may not grant any credits at all.  I would apply, wait for an evaluation to see where you stand, then see if you can transfer more credits with permission before you begin...

I was under the impression that we should take as many credits as possible before applying (from other threads I've read) because once you get accepted at UMPI then you have to start paying for it. However, that said, since I already have a degree that will almost certainly cover the GEC I guess it is best to call them directly to see how I should proceed.

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You will need to have your degree evaluated by an approved agency such as WES, you must do the course by course evaluation,

No, not necessarily. The admissions process for Canadian degrees at UMPI is different than other international degrees. It's my understanding that at least some Canadian degrees don't need an evaluation when you apply to UMPI. This is very different from the other schools we recommend here, where you absolutely MUST have your degree evaluated.

Yes, this is the impression I've gotten too is that my degree quite possibly won't need to be evaluated. I have actually had my degree evaluated back in 2005 (for another reason) so that might still be valid if I do need to get the evaluation. 

I guess my best next step is to call UMPI and see where I stand! :-)

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No one here can tell you how an international degree will transfer to UMPI. You'd have to ask the admissions folks how it works.

No you're not allowed to choose which courses transfer. Your GPA from your first degree won't apply to UMPI. You will start a new GPA at UMPI will ONLY their courses calculated in it.

The best thing to do is to speak to admissions and see if you need to have your Canadian degree evaluated through WES. If you do and WES says it's a bachelor's degree then you are waived from the GEC and only have to complete 30 credits at UMPI so you can focus on the history courses. If not then you have to complete the GEC and the general electives in addition to the history major.

You should contact the YourPace admissions which you can find on the UMPI website not the YourPace website.

I'll definitely be calling UMPI to see for sure how my degree can transfer. 

Good to know though that you can't choose which credits to transfer. I want a high GPA for grad school application but if transfer courses don't go towards GPA regardless of how you earned them (e.g. Sophia vs previous degree) then this changes things for me because I might as well just transfer previous uni credits and save the time and money taking courses again. If they DID go to my GPA I'd probably retake a few credits to get higher grades than I got on my original degree. 

Guess I'll be calling UMPI today with lots of questions! :

Thanks for your help.

[ss20ts]

UMPI handles Canada differently than other international schools. This is why I say it's best to call admissions and talk to them.

Grad schools will calculate your GPA based on your credits. I wouldn't worry about it unless you have a very low GPA. The grades you earned at your school in Canada won't be replaced by repeating them at UMPI. Also your classes there may not exist at UMPI. I'd just focus on getting good grades and completing the 30 credits at UMPI.

[SteveFoerster]

UMPI handles Canada differently than other international schools. 

I guess that's not surprising when the Canadian border is just fifteen miles from them.

[ss20ts]

UMPI handles Canada differently than other international schools. 

I guess that's not surprising when the Canadian border is just fifteen miles from them.

Nope. They have a very different admissions policy for Canadian students. In that area US and Canadians go back and forth over the border quite frequently. They have a pretty high number of Canadian students on campus.

[StudiousTraveller]

As an update after speaking to an "Enrollment Specialist" today with UMPI -

She confirmed that my Canadian high school diploma and university transcript do not need to be evaluated. As she was reading the information to me it did mention if the diploma/transcript are in French then they need to be evaluated (or perhaps just translated (?) to English - I am not sure about this).

The proof of English proficiency, because I am from Canada, is achieved by an interview with an admissions specialist (which I have not done yet so can't comment on what that entails).

I have put my application in to move on to the next steps which would include them looking at my uni transcript to see which courses can transfer. I think I read somewhere on here that if you were accepted that you were automatically enrolled so I asked about this. She assured me that is not the case. If you are accepted you still need to confirm your acceptance before enrollment just like other universities.

Just wanted to add this information for any future Canadian students that might be looking for this information. I'll put an update in when I learn more about transfer credits from my Canadian degree too.

Thanks all!

[ss20ts]

As an update after speaking to an "Enrollment Specialist" today with UMPI -

She confirmed that my Canadian high school diploma and university transcript do not need to be evaluated. As she was reading the information to me it did mention if the diploma/transcript are in French then they need to be evaluated (or perhaps just translated (?) to English - I am not sure about this).

The proof of English proficiency, because I am from Canada, is achieved by an interview with an admissions specialist (which I have not done yet so can't comment on what that entails).

I have put my application in to move on to the next steps which would include them looking at my uni transcript to see which courses can transfer. I think I read somewhere on here that if you were accepted that you were automatically enrolled so I asked about this. She assured me that is not the case. If you are accepted you still need to confirm your acceptance before enrollment just like other universities.

Just wanted to add this information for any future Canadian students that might be looking for this information. I'll put an update in when I learn more about transfer credits from my Canadian degree too.

Thanks all!

The enrollment counselors are not UMPI employees. They are hired by a third party. There is a lot they don't understand about the YourPace program. 

Once accepted you are pretty much enrolled. There isn't a process of acceptance at UMPI. You get your MaineStreet account set up and access to it. Your academic advisor will contact you via email once accepted. I've been through this process twice.

Did you call UMPI directly at a phone number with a 207 area code or the 844 number on the YourPace website?