Guidelines and Application Steps:
Eligibility criteria has been approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies in accordance with the Cornell University Transfer Credit Policy for Undergraduate Students. Cornell Chemistry reviews transfer requests for chemistry courses only. Please be sure you're directing your request to the appropriate department.
Eligibility Criteria
Requests involving Chem 1560, 2070, 2080, or 2090 must include a laboratory component.
Honors and elective courses (e.g. CHEM 2150, CHEM 3010, CHEM 4500) are considered "courses without equivalencies" due to their specialized content and structure.
To determine if the proposed course meets the "80% equivalency threshold," Cornell Chemistry will review the following criteria:
Level of interaction and instructional depth
How exams and lab experiments are administered
Course structure and pacing
Because Cornell Chemistry applies "a strict standard of giving only in-person exams," all graded exams associated with the course(s) must be taken in person under the direct supervision of a proctor. Confirmation of how exams are administered must be confirmed in advance with a course instructor(s) or a department administrator and included in the application.
Requests that do not include all relevant syllabi at the time of submission may be automatically denied as "courses without equivalencies" and rejected on those terms.
According to the University Transfer Credit policy, "equivalency is evaluated by the academic department/major that offers...the Cornell course in question." Decisions made by Cornell Chemistry can be considered final.
- The minimum acceptable grade for Chemistry course transfers is a "C."
Timeline and Deadlines
Students should receive written approval from the department before enrolling in a course at an external institution.
Applications are generally reviewed on a monthly basis during the academic year, and less frequently during the summer. Please allow up to six weeks for a response.
If your request is denied, you'll receive an email explaining the decision.
If your request is approved, you will receive confirmation via email. You'll then need to follow your home college's procedures to finalize the transfer credit process: A&S students, CALS students, EN students, HE students.
Students seeking approval for Summer 2026 enrollment should submit an application on or before 05/01/2026.
Required Documents
The syllabus is the primary source of information the department uses to determine whether the course in question has sufficient overlap with a chemistry course offered at Cornell. Be sure you have all relevant syllabi before submitting an application (if the course has a separate lab section, make sure you include that information).
| Syllabi Criteria: |
|---|
| Must be fewer than 2 years old at the time of submission. Year, semester, and instructor(s) must be listed somewhere on all document(s). |
| Include a list of course topics and/or laboratory schedule/experiments. |
| Include a breakdown of the course grading structure (e.g. point totals and/or percentages). |
| List of policies on attendance and academic integrity. |
| The delivery mode of exams and laboratory experiments (in person vs. online)* |
| Course textbook and assigned readings (if applicable) |
| *If this information is not included in the syllabus, students should write the instructor of the course, or a department administrator, requesting they email them information on how exams and laboratories are delivered. Save the reply as a PDF and upload it to your application. |
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Contact
Questions can be directed to chemdus@cornell.edu.