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For Transfer Students

A transfer student is a person who has graduated from high school, enrolled in college courses, and obtained at least 12 credit hours of transferable coursework. Veterans are typically considered transfer applicants, as well. A first-year applicant has never enrolled in college after completing high school and is typically a senior in high school. Students who have only taken dual credit or AP courses to fulfill high school graduation requirements are not considered transfer students.

No. TCU does not require that you have an interview or meet with an Admission Counselor, but if you have questions, we recommend that you either call us or make an appointment to meet in person, or register for one of our Information Sessions. During the visit, we can answer questions about:

  • How courses you’ve taken will fulfill the TCU core requirements.
  • Your admissibility and what you can do in the future to gain admission to TCU.
  • What classes to take in the future, based on your intended major.
  • How to present yourself in the best possible light for admission and scholarships.

Register for a campus tour and transfer information session.

For an individual meeting with one of our Transfer Admission Counselors, please call 817-257-7490. To facilitate this meeting, please try to bring transcripts or grade reports from every college you’ve attended.

TCU defines a Transfer student as someone who has graduated from high school and has enrolled in a long (fall or spring) semester. Taking summer classes during the summer between high school graduation and the start of the first-year fall semester in college does not change a student’s status from First-Year to Transfer. Also, classes taken for college credit in high school do not change a student’s first-year status. Students who take classes in high school for college credit are considered First-Year students with college hours. You can receive consideration of credit for these hours by sending an official college transcript to the TCU Office of Admission.

When a student applies for admission, they apply either as a First-Year or a Transfer student. (Please see the definition of a Transfer student above.) First-Year applicants who have more than 23 hours of transferable college credit will be classified as sophomores when they enroll.

TCU computes your GPA based on every class that is transferable to the university. Even though grades below a “C” will not transfer for credit, we will compute them into your GPA for admission consideration. In other words, if you take an English Composition class and earn a grade of “D,” it will not transfer to TCU for credit, but the grade will be considered in the admission decision. TCU does not replace grades, therefore if you have retaken a class, we will average both grades into the GPA. This policy is independent of any policy at the school where you are transferring the credit. Incomplete “I” grades will be converted to an “F.”

If you were denied admission as a first-year, you will need to have enrolled at another college and earned 12 transferrable credit hours before being reconsidered as a transfer student. You will need to reapply as a transfer student.

Typically, the reason transfer students are denied admission is due to poor grades. For reconsideration, you must show marked improvement, with at least one full-time semester of strong academic coursework. You will need to reapply as a transfer student.

Yes, we need official transcripts from all schools that you have attended, even if you did not complete the semester.

The TCU Office of Admission requires official transcripts from every college you’ve attended, even if you withdrew from all of your classes and do not have grades. Please contact each school and have them send us an official transcript in a sealed envelope to TCU Admission Box 297013, Ft. Worth, Texas 76129.

TCU accepts electronic transcripts from most schools. If your college uses The National Transcript Center to send transcripts electronically, they will not be accepted by TCU. If this is the case, it is important that you have your transcript mailed to us in a sealed envelope to TCU Admission, TCU Box 297013, Fort Worth, Texas 76129.

It can take up to two weeks for TCU Admission to receive and process your transcript, and post receipt to your account. Please log on to the portal at my.tcu.edu to check the status of receipt of your transcript. If your transcript is not posted from two weeks of being sent, please contact the Office of Admission at 817.257.7490. It may have been rejected if your college sent it through the National Transcript Center and we will request that you mail it.

Here is a list of what is required for transfer admission consideration:

  • A completed application for admission, which includes your signature, felony statement, application fee and the transfer section.
  • Official transcripts from every college you’ve attended.
  • An official high school transcript, if you have less than 24 hours of completed coursework when you apply.
  • A completed Disciplinary Standing Form from all institutions attended within the past 5 years.
  • An essay of 300 to 500 words. Essay questions are on the application.

The date you are notified of your admission decision depends on the date your application is complete. Transfer fall applicants who apply by February 1 learn a decision by April 1. Transfer fall applicants who apply by June 1 will learn a decision by August 1. Transfer spring applicants who apply by November 1 will learn a decision by December 1.

TCU welcomes transfer students and as a result awards many scholarships to its top transfer scholars. To be considered for a merit scholarship, you must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and at least 12 hours of graded and transferable coursework by June 1st. We do not require a separate application for scholarship consideration, so your application for admission is your application for scholarship.

Yes. If you are an outstanding athlete, then you may be eligible for one of our athletic scholarships. Please contact the coach of the particular sport for more information. Also, TCU awards scholarships to outstanding performers in the fine arts. The Nordan Scholarship auditions are usually held in January preceding the fall semester and are awarded to the top students in Music , Theatre , Dance and Art . Please contact the department for specific dates and audition/portfolio requirements. TCU also offers merit scholarships for Army and Air Force ROTC students.

No. Admission decisions are only for the term for which you applied. You are invited to reapply, and if your academic performance remains the same your admission decision will likely be the same.

All prospective transfer students must complete and submit the Disciplinary Standing Form as part of their admission application into TCU.  This form provides us the necessary information pertaining to a student’s disciplinary history and standing at other institutions of higher education.

Statement of Disciplinary Standing Form

A First Generation College Student (FGCS) is a student whose parents did not graduate from a university with a four-year degree. This includes students whose parents attended but did not graduate from a university or attended a community college.