Admission Requirements for Transfer Students

Admission Requirements for First-Year Students

Academic Requirements by Country

Minimum performance requirements have been determined for students educated in most countries. See the admission requirements for students from your country.

If your country is not listed, please send us an email with the name of your country, whether you are applying as a freshman or transfer, and we will send you the admission requirements separately.

English Proficiency Exams

For the purpose of applying to Iowa State, English may be considered your native language if you have been raised in an environment where English is the only official language of your locality and nation, and English has been the primary language used in your home. Applicants whose native language is not English must meet an English proficiency requirement. They may do so in one of the following ways:

• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): A score of 71 on the Internet-Based Test (IBT) or 530 on the Paper-Based Test (PBT) is required. Official scores should be reported directly to Iowa State University by the testing agency. Iowa State's reporting code is 6306. (Scanned copies and photocopies are not accepted.)
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS): An overall band score of 6.0 with no sub score below 5.5 is required. Scores should be sent directly to the Office of Admissions by the testing center where you took the IELTS. (Scanned copies and photocopies are not accepted.)
• SAT Critical Reading/ACT-English: A minimum score of 420 on the Critical Reading Section of the SAT or an ACT English score of 16. Scores should be reported directly to Iowa State University by the testing agency. (Scanned copies and photocopies are not accepted.)

Students who have taken English courses at a US institution are held to the requirements listed above.

Conditional Admission

If you have not yet taken one of the examinations above, or your scores do not yet meet the minimum requirement, you will automatically be considered for "conditional admission" to allow you to improve your English skills in our full-time Intensive English and Orientation Program (IEOP). In this case, it is not necessary for you to submit a separate application for the IEOP. If admitted conditionally, our admission letter and I-20 form will state your bachelor's degree major, but indicate that English language training will be provided on campus. When you arrive, you will join the IEOP immediately. The IEOP offers classes at the same time as our regular classes, and you can retake the TOEFL at the end of each semester until you pass it.

In some cases, if you have already achieved an English score that is below but very close to meeting our minimum requirement, we will offer you the opportunity to take an Institutional Paper-Based TOEFL upon your arrival. If you meet the score requirements in that test, we will allow you to begin your regular academic studies full-time.

What if I get the score I need before I arrive?

If you plan on taking one of the English proficiency tests between now and when you plan to come to Iowa State, be sure to have your official scores sent to us. If you happen to achieve the required score before you arrive at Iowa State, we will be happy to change your admission status to "unconditional" and you will not have to take the Intensive English and Orientation Program before you begin your academic studies. Remember, a new I-20 is not issued when this happens. Just be sure to take your new score with you when you go to apply for the visa. If you already have obtained your visa, just bring a copy with you in case the border officials wish to see it.

Secondary School Preparation

If you are applying directly from high school or transferring with fewer than 24 semester credits, you should have completed the following high school courses:

• 4 years of English or your first language
• 3 years of mathematics (one year each of algebra, geometry, and advanced algebra)
• 3 years of science (including one year each of two of the following: biology, chemistry, or physics)
• 2 years of social studies

Additional entrance requirements for the Colleges of Engineering and Liberal Arts and Sciences
In addition to the high school course requirements listed above, students applying for admission to the College of Engineering must complete two years of a single foreign language. (English is counted as a foreign language for nonnative English speakers.) Engineering applicants are also strongly encouraged to have taken trigonometry. Students applying for admission to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences must complete a third year of social studies and two years of a single foreign language.

Entrance Examinations (SAT and ACT)

The SAT and ACT are not required or recommended for transfer students.

Transfer Credit Process

The Office of Admissions must determine the following whenever a student has attended a post secondary college or university:

1. Is the institution recognized by the Ministry of Education or other educational authorities? If it is not, or if we can find no information verifying its recognition, no transfer credit will be awarded.
2. Is the program a certificate, diploma, or bachelor's degree program? Students transferring from other recognized bachelor's program can expect to receive transfer credit. Those studying for a certificate or diploma may not - or may receive only partial transfer credit. In some cases, we may ask our faculty to review your course syllabus and recommend whether transfer credit is appropriate.

A transfer credit evaluation will be included with your letter of admission. This will tell you how many of your previous courses have been accepted by the university, and are available for our academic adviser to apply toward the degree requirements in your program.

Courses that are not transferable

Iowa State does not typically award transfer credit for the following courses:

• Career, vocational and/or technically-oriented courses
• Calisthenics and general physical education or activity classes
• Military training exercises
• Religious instruction or doctrinal religion courses
• Ideological political instruction
• English as a second language
• Remedial courses
• Professional courses (medicine, law, veterinary medicine, and other health sciences

Courses taken in junior or community colleges are limited to no more than 65 semester credits.

Converting to Semester Credits

Most 4-year degrees at Iowa State require completion of 120 to 124.5 semester credits, so the typical full-time student at Iowa State earns 30 semester credits per year. If your previous school(s) used a different course weighting system, we will convert your courses to semester credits as part of the transfer process. For example, if full-time students in your country earn an average of 45 units per year, those units would be counted equal to two-thirds of a semester credit, so you would earn 30 transfer credits. In the same manner, if full-time students in another country typically earn 20 units per year, their units would be counted equal to 1.5 semester credits, so they too would earn 30 semester credits in transfer.

Course Syllabi

If you are transferring from a foreign college or university, Admissions encourages you to obtain course syllabi or description of the post secondary courses or subjects that you have taken previously, and a list of the titles of the books you were assigned for each class. Please bring them to your first meeting on campus with your academic adviser. These will help your academic adviser and/or designated faculty in their evaluation of your previous coursework. (If you are transferring from a U.S. school, you do not need to submit course descriptions as we have course catalogs from all U.S. colleges and universities.)

Applying Transfer Credits to Degree

After you arrive, an academic adviser and/or faculty in your major will review the transfer credit evaluation, the syllabus, and the list of books you brought to Iowa State and decide whether some or all of the transfer credit you have earned will apply toward the specific degree for which you have applied. In some cases, you will be asked to validate your previous learning, either by interviews with faculty, brief tests, or by providing additional information, such as a list of textbooks studied in their major classes, examples of homework, tests, etc. If some courses are not applied to the degree, it may occur for one or more of the following reasons:

• You are changing fields of study, and your previous courses do not fit well in the new field. For example, if your previous study was science, and now you want to study business, we would accept all your science classes for transfer, but only a few of them would meet our degree requirements in business.
• The requirements at your previous school may be significantly different than ours. (For example, if your previous major of does not have the same course prerequisites as required at Iowa State, those classes may not be accepted to meet your degree requirements.)
• You are not able to validate your previous learning.
• Our faculty do not recommend acceptance of your previous study.

Transfer Equivalency Guides

We have prepared Course Equivalency Guides for some U.S. community colleges.