Transfer Applicant FAQ

Program Eligibility Questions

No. Due to the Allen School’s holistic admission review process, there is no minimum GPA required for admission. However, it is important to note that admission to the Allen School is competitive. The average incoming GPA for Washington state resident transfer admits is 3.75 or higher. The average incoming GPA for domestic non-resident and international transfer admits is 3.9 or higher. We understand that each transfer applicant has a unique story behind their transcript, and encourage students to share their academic journey in the departmental application’s personal statement.

No. The Allen School does not offer undergraduate evening or weekend classes or a remote bachelor’s degree program. Transfer students admitted to the Allen School can expect to attend a full-time undergraduate program that offers a wide variety of classes that use theory, exploratory labs, and course projects to teach computing concepts.

No. The completion of an associate’s degree is not required for admission to the University of Washington or the Allen School. However, applicants are encouraged to review UW’s transfer credit policies regarding the Washington community and technical college Direct Transfer Agreement (DTA) for additional information about how an associate’s degree may impact your transfer credit if accepted – https://admit.washington.edu/apply/transfer/policies/#wa-ctct.

Yes. If you have met the Allen School’s academic requirements for transfer admission, you are welcome to before you have completed two years of coursework. However, please keep in mind that the Allen School gives priority admission to applicants who have about two years of coursework (90 quarter credits) completed.

Unfortunately, no. Exams for credit do not count toward as graded credits.

Yes. As long as you do not have a prior bachelor’s degree and have met UW’s minimum admission requirements and will fulfill the Allen School’s prerequisite requirements in time, you are welcome to apply for transfer admission. Please note that the University of Washington has transfer credit policies that determine how prior transfer credit can apply towards an undergraduate degree at UW – https://admit.washington.edu/apply/transfer/policies/#restrictions.

No. Due to extremely high demand for our program from first-time bachelor’s students, the Allen School is not currently accepting applications from students looking for a second bachelor’s degree (i.e., post-baccalaureate applications for a bachelor’s degree).

Yes. The Allen School does not have a limit on the number of times a transfer applicant can apply for admission. However, we strongly encourage all applicants denied admission to the Allen School to consider alternative undergraduate computing programs at other institutions or alternative computing-related majors at UW given how competitive admission is to the Allen School.

Applicant Questions

Transfer credit evaluations are completed by the UW Office of Admissions after students are admitted. Please use the “Determining Course Equivalency” section on this website to find the best way to identify how your coursework might transfer. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer transfer credit reviews until after a student has been admitted.

With that said, our recruitment team is happy to connect with you via email (outreach@cs.washington.edu) if you have remaining questions about whether or not you are eligible to apply. Please note that receiving permission to apply is not a guarantee that all of your prerequisite coursework will transfer as expected through the transfer credit review. Please keep in mind that our Allen School transfer team is unable to provide individualized academic plans for transfer applicants.

No. The Allen School is unable to provide personal statement review for transfer applicants seeking admission. For support in writing your personal statement, please use writing and transfer resources at your current institution. All transfer applicants can make an appointment with someone on our transfer recruitment team to speak broadly about the application process but we are unable to read your personal statement as we serve on the admission committee. Historically underrepresented students of color (African American, Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian) can reach out to the UW’s Multicultural Outreach and Recruitment team for additional support.

Prerequisite courses may be in progress when you apply to the UW, but they should be completed by the departmental application deadline. For example, if you are applying for spring quarter, they must be completed by January 15. They can still be in progress when you apply to the UW before December 15. At most institutions, this means that autumn is the last quarter that they can take a prerequisite course for spring admission.

All transfer applicants, U.S. and international, are required to submit unofficial college/university transcripts from each institution attended for their Allen School departmental transfer application. Academic credits do not expire and an applicant’s entire academic record will be considered in the transfer departmental application admission review process. The University of Washington does not practice grade forgiveness. Failure to disclose and submit unofficial transcripts from all colleges/universities attended, even if no credit was earned, may result in denial of admission or dismissal from the UW. The Allen School transfer admission committee recognizes that students may have academic inconsistencies in their academic record. Since the Allen School practices a holistic admission review process, transfer applicants are encouraged to discuss any academic inconsistencies or provide additional context to their academic history in their personal statement.

No. Transfer applicants should write their essay answering the specific questions in the departmental application personal statement prompt. Keep in mind that the Allen School transfer admission committee will not be reviewing your UW transfer admission personal statement, so please repeat any relevant information you would like to have considered.

No, the Allen School does not accept supplementary materials such as letters of recommendation, applicant portfolios, or interviews from transfer applicants in the departmental application review process.

Admission Questions

Allen School applications are reviewed by a committee of Allen School faculty and staff. We have a rubric that our faculty and staff are trained to follow to ensure that we are reviewing all applications consistently. Generally speaking, we evaluate two pieces of an application: the academic record (grades in prerequisite subject areas and overall grade trends) and the answers to the essay questions. While the rubric provides general guidelines for reviewers, we do have a method for flagging applications that don’t fit the rubric or have other information that needs to be captured during our discussion.

We know that students are curious about how we evaluate applications. Therefore we provide the rubric here for past cycles. You should, however, take note that using this to prepare for an upcoming cycle may not be in your best interest as this rubric is changed and updated every year. The new essay questions or evaluation materials are posted by Nov 15th each year.

Although we post the rubric publicly, please note that we do not conduct any pre-evaluations of a student’s application. The best way to prepare an upcoming application is to (1) address all the essay questions thoughtfully, carefully, and substantively and (2) do your best academically in all your coursework. We also highly recommend that all prospective students attend an information session to learn more about the Allen School and our evaluation process. These information sessions are free and open to the public. You can find more about our information sessions online.

No. The UW transfer admission application process is separate from the Allen School’s transfer departmental application process. Applicants should include any relevant information from the UW transfer admission application in the departmental application that they would like to have considered by the Allen School’s transfer admission committee.

Your admission decision will be sent to the email address that you provided in your application.

Transfer applicants that submit a departmental application to the Allen School are notified of their admission decision via the email address provided in their application. For spring applicants, departmental admission decisions are sent in early February. For autumn applicants, departmental admission decisions are sent in mid-May. The Allen School does not send hard copy letters for admission decisions.

No. You may not defer your offer of admission to another entry term. The offer of admission is valid only for the quarter indicated on your offer letter. If you are unable to attend the UW at this time but wish to enroll for a future quarter, you will need to file a new application to UW and submit a new Allen School departmental application and meet all requirements and deadlines.

Transfer students who are admitted to UW as pre-majors should consider whether or not there is another major on campus that they are interested in. Students who enroll at UW as pre-majors and want to apply to the Allen School will need to apply through our Current UW student pathway. This pathway is highly competitive and there is no guarantee of admission for students who pursue this option. It is only recommended that students enroll at UW as a pre-major if they have other interests outside of the Allen School. Additionally, coming to UW as a pre-major transfer student often extends the amount of time until a student can graduate. For this reason, we highly recommend that students that are not offered direct transfer admission to the Allen School plan for another major at UW or consider similar computing programs at other institutions. For assistance with academic planning as a pre-major student, please connect with an academic adviser in Undergraduate Academic Advising at UW to discuss your options – https://www.washington.edu/uaa/advising/. It is not possible to be admitted to UW as a pre-major student for spring admission.

The Allen School does not offer admission decision appeals. If you were not admitted to the Allen School, you would need to reapply to be considered for admission into the Allen School again.

Transfer students that are accepted to the University of Washington and accept the offer of admission are eligible for scholarships and financial aid. The Allen School offers departmental scholarships for undergraduate students including incoming transfer students – See Student Resources. For questions about financial aid, please refer to the UW Office of Student Financial Aid’s website – https://www.washington.edu/financialaid/.

There are similar programs in the area which take transfer students, and we highly recommend that you apply to multiple programs if you’re sure you want to study Computer Science or Computer Engineering. You should consider:

Questions?

Please email the Allen School transfer recruitment team at outreach@cs.washington.edu. We encourage all prospective transfer applicants to the Allen School to attend an information session. We are happy to answer your questions!

Transfer Students