PHYSICS TRANSFER/SUMMER CREDIT

(last updated on November 17, 2009)


Students frequently request transfer credit for physics courses taken at other institutions, commonly for courses taken before they matriculated to CWRU.  Many also request approval for courses they wish to take elsewhere in summer school or in Junior Year Abroad-type programs. Current CWRU students should obtain approval IN ADVANCE before taking a course elsewhere; this policy is in place to protect YOU, so that you don't mistakenly take a course that will not be accepted for transfer credit.

Contact the Office of Undergraduate Studies in Sears 357 to obtain the forms you need or look at the web site http://www.case.edu/provost/ugstudies/forms.htm for the following two forms:

http://www.case.edu/provost/ugstudies/offcampus2007.doc is used for requesting approval in advance to take a summer course

http://www.case.edu/provost/ugstudies/transfercreditapprovalform.pdf is used for approval after the fact of a course you took at another institution before you matriculated to CWRU.

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There are several general policies that steer the physics department's decision on whether to grant such credit. If you are seeking approval for a course not listed below, YOU need to provide DETAILED information about it. Ideally, you should obtain a syllabus that describes the textbook used and the topics covered. Simply sending along the name of the course is not sufficient since the same name, say MECHANICS, could apply to a high school, introductory college, advanced or even a graduate course. A General Bulletin-type description is occasionally sufficient, but not always.


Introductory Physics Courses such as PHYS 115, 116, 121 & 122

There are three major concerns for transfer credit for these courses.  When you ask the physics department's academic representative to sign the form allowing transfer credit, you must present evidence (hard copies of documents or URL's of appropriate web sites) that the course you wish to take satisfies each of the following conditions.

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1.  MATH LEVEL:

PHYS 121/122  are calculus-based courses.  Any substitute must also be calculus-based, not algebra-based. The information you provide to have a course approved must CLEARY show that it is calculus-based. If this information simply lists a math course number as a prerequisite, your should provide material that shows this prerequisite is calculus.

PHYS 115/116 have also traditionally been calculus-based at CWRU but the physics department voted in December 2002 to modify this requirement, effective for the fall of 2003, and remove the calculus prerequisite.  This change was approved by the College of Arts and Science's Committee on Educational Programs at their May 15, 2002 meeting.  Since students at Case do commonly take calculus before taking physics, the instructor is free to introduce some calculus in our life science physics sequence, but we now use a text that is designed for life science students (algebra-based) and will accept algebra-based courses from other institutions.

HOWEVER, faculty in several CWRU departments that house pre-med students were not pleased about the switch from a calculus to an algebra-based pre-med sequence.  Some thought this would put students at a disadvantage if they later chose to pursue a career in medical research or switched to another major with more rigorous mathematics requirements. You may wish to consult your major advisor before proceeding to choose a physics course.  

Ideally, a university will publish in its paper- or on-line General Bulletin information describing a course as either algebra- or calculus-based.  If they do not do this, then you must find out through other means, such as

- examine the prerequisites to see if calculus is required;

- find out the name of the textbook, anything described as 'College Physics' is probably an algebra-based course, 'University Physics' is a buzzword for a calculus-based course, 'General Physics' is probably calculus-based but this is not guaranteed.

- check for a course web page that the institution may have posted from the current or previous semesters;

- contact the university and ask the question directly.

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2.  CONTENT & HOURS: The courses must meet for roughly the same number of total hours and cover roughly the same material as do PHYS 115, 116, 121 and 122 (as described at  http://www.phys.cwru.edu/undergrad/desc.php )  An exact content match is not necessary,  an overlap of 80% or so is common.  These conditions are generally straight-forward to meet but can become complicated for universities that operate on academic calendars based on quarters rather than semesters. If the institution at which you plan to study physics operates on quarters, then most likely you will need to take three of their physics courses in order to obtain credit for two Case courses (or two courses to get credit for one).

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3.  LAB: PHYS 115, 116, 121 and 122 each include a laboratory component.  These labs meet for 3 hours, 7 times a semester.  Many universities include such a lab as part of their introductory physics courses while others list the labs separately, usually as a 1 credit course.  Either system is acceptable as long as there is a lab that you will take. Some institutions regard physics plus lab as 5 credits but this will only transfer to Case as 4 credits. There are a few institutions which do not offer a lab for PHYS 121/122 or offer only a single semester of lab for this sequence of courses. You cannot obtain transfer credit for any of PHYS 115, 116, 121, or 122 until you complete a laboratory associated with that course. Case does offer separate stand-alone labs, PHYS 113A and PHYS 113B, which can be used to satisfy the lab requirement for transfer credit lecture courses if approved by the Office of Undergraduate Studies.


Advanced Physics Courses - 200 level and above

These courses vary a great deal from institution to institution.  Students who wish to take an advanced physics course from another institution should obtain a course syllabus from that institution and arrange a meeting with the academic representative of the CWRU Dept. of Physics. 


Contact the academic representative of the Department of Physics (Prof. G. Chottiner, gsc2@case.edu ) for more information or for approval of your Transfer/Summer Credit form.  You may stop by my office, Rockefeller 104D, for a signature at any time without prior arrangements if you have all the documentation described above. It can be useful to first send an email with attachments or links for all the relevant information, preferably including a syllabus. I do not maintain regular office hours; it's impossible to do this given the number of meetings that I'm called to attend on short notice. Instead, I've posted a copy of my regular schedule on my office door. If you have trouble catching me, just send an email listing 3 or so times that fit your schedule and I'll get back to you with a firm appointment at one of those times or, if none works, suggestions of alternate times. If you prefer, and IF you've done all your homework, you may just leave your form at my office (slide it under the door or leave it on the neighboring bookshelf; in the latter case you should point me to it by leaving a post-it note on my door - there's a supply of post-it notes handy) or mailbox (Roc 225). I'll sign it and leave your form on the bookshelf outside my office for you to retrieve at your convenience.


APPROVED COURES - as of July 14, 2009

The following courses have been approved for transfer credit as of the date shown. We can't keep track of changes made by other institutions and won't guarantee that the courses in the following table will continue indefinitely to serve as substitutes for our own courses or that they will be available at any given time.

Institution Course

CWRU PHYS

comments
updated
Arizona State Univ. PHY111+113
115
 
9/12/2008
  PHY112+114
116
may not include modern physics tested on MCAT exam
9/12/2008
Boston University CAS PY 106
115
 
05/12/2008
  CAS PY 106
116
 
05/12/2008
  CAS PY 211
121
 
05/12/2008
  CAS PY 212
122
 
05/12/2008
Capital University (Columbus area) 220
115
 
05/12/2008
  221
116
 
05/12/2008
Cleveland State PHY 221
115
 
  PHY 222
116
 
05/12/2008
  PHY 241
121
 
05/12/2008
  PHY 242
122
 
05/12/2008
  PHY 330
221
 
05/12/2008
Collin County Community College, Texas PHYS 2425
121
 
04/05/2009
Columbia University PHYS 1201+1291 115  
05/19/2009
  PHYS 1202+1292 116  
05/19/2009
Cuyahoga Community College 1210
115
 
05/12/2008
  1220
116
 
05/12/2008
  2310
121
 
05/12/2008
  2320
122
 
05/12/2008
  2400
221
 
05/12/2008
Harvard Physics 11a+lab
115
Physical Sciences 1, 2 & 3 might
05/12/2008
  Physics 11b+lab
116
substitute for 11a/b
05/12/2008
Kent State 13001 + 13021
115
 
05/12/2008
  13002 + 13022
116
 
05/12/2008
  23101
121
 
05/12/2008
  23102
122
 
05/12/2008
Lakeland Community College 1610
115
 
05/12/2008
  1620
116
 
05/12/2008
  2410
121
 
05/12/2008
  2420
122
 
05/12/2008
Lorain Community College PHYC 151
115
 
05/12/2008
  PHYC 152
116
 
05/12/2008
  PHYC 251
121
PHYC 252 is not a substitute for our PHYS 122
05/12/2008
Loyola University PHYSICS 112+131
115
 
05/12/2008
  PHYSICS 111+131
116
 
05/12/2008
  PHYSICS 125+135
121
 
05/12/2008
  PHYSICS 126+136
122
 
05/12/2008
Nassau Community College PHY101
115
 
06/27/2008
  PHY102
116
 
06/27/2008
Ohio State University 111
115
 
05/12/2008
  112+113
116
quarter system complicates things
05/12/2008
  131
121
 
05/12/2008
  131+133
122
quarter system complicates things
05/12/2008
Ohio University 201+202+203
115+116
quarter system complicates things
05/12/2008
  251+252+253
121+122
quarter system complicates things
05/12/2008
Penn State University PHYS 250 115 sign up for lab too
07/14/2009
  PHYS 251 116 sign up for lab too
07/14/2009
  PHYS 211 121 sign up for lab too
07/14/2009
  PHYS 212 122 sign up for lab too
07/14/2009
Rutgers 203+205
115
 
02/25/2009
  204+206
116
 
02/25/2009
  123-124 + 151-152
121
 
02/25/2009
  227+229-230
122
 
02/25/2009
Stony Brook PHY121+123 115 unconventional offering, no lectures?
07/09/2009
  PHY122+124 116 unconventional offering, no lectures?
07/09/2009
  PHY131+133 121  
07/09/2009
  PHY132+134 122  
07/09/2009
SUNY-Buffalo PHY101+151
115
one lab for both courses?
05/12/2008
  PHY102+151
121
one lab for both courses?
05/12/2008
  PHY107+158
122
one lab for both courses?
05/12/2008
  PHY108+158
122
one lab for both courses?
05/12/2008
University of Akron PHYS 261
115
 
05/12/2008
  PHYS 262
116
 
05/12/2008
  PHYS 291
121
 
05/12/2008
  PHYS 292
122
 
05/12/2008
  PHYS 301
221
 
05/12/2008
University of Cincinnati

PHY S101+111

115
quarter system
05/12/2008
  PHY S102+ 103 +112+113
116
quarter system
05/12/2008
  201+lab
121
quarter system
05/12/2008
  202+203 +212+213
122
quarter system
05/12/2008
University of Houston 1101+1301
115
 
03/17/2009
  1102+1302
116
may be missing modern physics
03/17/2009
University of Illinois, Chicago 105 + 106 + 107 + 108
115 + 116
 
3/24/2009
  141
121
 
3/24/2009
  142
122
 
3/24/2009
University of Pittsburgh 0110 + 0212
115
problems with associated lab (combined for 2 courses?)
05/12/2008
  0111 + 0212
116
problems with associated lab
05/12/2008
  0174+0219 lab
121
problems with associated lab
05/12/2008
  0175+0219 lab
122
problems with course syllabus (includes modern physics) & associated lab
05/12/2008

A more complete listing of courses, covering all departments and going back further in time, is available below but these lists include courses which may no longer be accepted for transfer credit and should be used as a preliminary guide to the awarding of transfer credit; due to continuing curricular changes, transfer postings change over time.


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