If I attended college over 10 years ago and I'm going back now, do I have to transfer my credits?

Question

I would like to just start over and retake anything that I've already taken. I'm not sure if I have to transfer the credits and the GPA.

Answer 1

I believe those units have expired.

Just as well, you desire to take your courses fresh. And that is the intent of the expiration dates on 10-year-old units.

Answer 2

Part of the application process usually involves listing other schools attended and attaching copies of transcripts. I believe it is to your advantage to transfer the credits. The first few semesters of college usually involve taking lots of general education requirements that do not impact your major. By transferring those, you avoid the time and expense of taking them again. If you are not interested in a particular subject, there is no point in spending time (and money) taking classes in that subject again. If you did not do well in the classes and want to retake them to achieve higher grades, it might be good to retake them. Likewise, it would be good to take classes in your major over to have a fresh perspective. However, read the application carefully. You have to sign the application stating that the information you included is true. Not listing previous schools could be construed as fraud. To be safe, talk with an adviser at the college you plan to attend.

Answer 3

Huh. That's a good question. My sense is that you don't have to tell a school anything about your previous schooling that you don't wish to tell them, but the wording of the usual admission form probably doesn't take this into account: they ask you for all the schools you've attended, and then ask for a transcript.

This is the sort of thing you'd want to ask a dean, just to make sure. (Don't ask the lady at the admissions desk; she'll just get confused.) I'm trying to imagine some sort of circumstance under which they'd get mad at you for failing to reveal that you were at another school before, and I can't come up with anything. Their major objective in asking for all the information that they do is to make sure that you're being steered into the right sort of program and ensuring that you're taking the proper pre-requisites.

Be aware, however, that even the rottenest college transcript transferred to a new school probably won't cause you any difficulty later on, and sometimes it's helpful to be forgiven a course or two to free up your schedule. It may be that your past work may not be so horrible.

Answer 4

No, you don't have to transfer them unless you want the credit for them. Some colleges will recognize that you took the classes, but will not give you credit for them. Meaning you won't have to take them over.