Grinnell College defines a "transfer applicant" as "anyone who has graduated from high school or the equivalent, and subsequently has earned a minimum of 12 Grinnell credits of allowable transfer coursework in an accredited college or university prior to enrolling at Grinnell. Class standing will be based only on the total number of transfer credits accpeted by Grinnell and in no case will the standing be higher than first-semester third year." Therefore, if you have been enrolled full-time in any post-secondary educational institution, your application to Grinnell would be considered a transfer application.

International transfer students are eligible for the same financial aid as international students entering as first-year students. For more information regarding financial aid, please visit our web site at http://www.grinnell.edu/admission/internat/finaid. Please note that you have to submit a separate application for financial aid if you need financial assistance at Grinnell College.

There are cases where students do not wish to apply as a transfer student and would rather start their university studies over again at Grinnell. This is, however, not an option available at Grinnell. All university-level course work must be assessed for transfer.

As a transfer applicant, the following forms are needed:

• The Common Application -- including 1.) $30 application fee, which is automatically waived if you apply online at http://www.grinnell.edu/admission/applying/; 2.) the Preliminary Application form; 3.) the personal statement; 4.) excluding the Mid-Year Report
• College Official's Report
• Two Teacher/Faculty Evaluations/References/Recommendations -- if you are in your first year at college we will accept these from high school teachers as long as they are from teachers who have taught you in an English, mathematics, science, social science, history, or foreign language class; we encourage you to submit at least one reference from a faculty member at your current/last college; if you are already in your second year of college, we suggest that the two recommendations are from faculty at your university
• Educational Background Summary form
• Secondary School Report including Counselor Recommendation -- we request this form even if you graduated from high school two or more years ago
• Official transcripts (if these are not originally in English, we will need an official copy of the transcript in its original language and an official English translation) -- from your Secondary School (high school) as well as the final high school certificate or diploma and from each college or university you have attended
• SAT (or ACT) and TOEFL scores -- we require these tests even if the college/university you are currently at did not require them
• Official external exam results, if applicable. (Depending on the educational system of your country, the external exams that we require include: O-Level, A-Level, SSSCE, WAEC, NECO, HSEB, SLC, KSCE, IGCSE, SPM, IB, ICSE, HSC, AISSCE, CXC. This is not a comprehensive list; you will be notified on a case-by-case basis if there are additional external exam results that we require.)
• Additional essays -- 1.) transfer essay describing your reasons for wanting to transfer to Grinnell College and 2.) if you are not currently attending school or were at any point not attending any school full-time, please write an essay describing in details the activities you have pursued during this time

Applications are due January 20 for the Fall term. Please note that international transfer students are accepted for the fall semester only.

Any university-level coursework that you have completed that is comparable to Grinnell courses will be considered for transfer. It is possible that not all of the university coursework that you have completed will transfer to Grinnell College. Students are expected to complete at Grinnell at least 62 of the minimum 124 credits needed for graduation. Individual departments generally expect that the majority of courses constituting a major program will be Grinnell courses.

Transfer students who enter Grinnell College will be required to complete the following minimum number of credits at Grinnell College:

All students who have completed any amount of university-level studies are required to submit official transcripts from that university to Grinnell at the time of application for admission. Failure to do so would result in rescindment of admission and expulsion from Grinnell College. If you are accepted to Grinnell College, at the time of admission we will provide you with an estimation of the number of credits that will transfer. A final and official evaluation of your transfer credits will be conducted prior to your arrival to the College in August.

Students admitted to Grinnell as transfer applicants are not obligated to pursue the same line of studies that they followed at their previous university; the international transfer student advisor and your academic advisor will work closely with you to design an academic program that fulfills your needs and the College's requirements for graduation.

For more information, please visit http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/catalog/admission/transfer and http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/catalog/admission/transfercredit.