First Year Policies

Dual Credit

  • Credit is awarded for college courses that a first year student takes prior to graduation from high school if they meet the criteria for transfer work outlined in the "Transfer Admissions Criteria" sectino of the SMU Catalog. 
  • Official college transcripts are required for all college level work attempted, regardless of transferability.

First Year College Writing Policy

  • College Writing 1301 and 1302 fulfill the EnglishFundamentals requirement of the General Education Curriculum (GEC).  Students must be enrolled until completion and may not drop either of the courses.  There are strict attendance policies in these courses and non-attendance will result in a grad of F.  For more information abour add/drop policies, visit the Academic Policies page.

Academic Suspension

  • First-year pre-major students who have not achieved a cumulative SMU GPA of at least 1.7 by the end of their second regular term at SMU will be suspended from the University.
  • Once declared as a major, students are immediately subject to the probation/suspension rules of the school into which they have declared.
  • Second-year pre-majors who have not achieved a cumulative SMU GPA of at least 2.0 and successfully completed the GEC English Fundamentals and Math Fundamentals requirements by the end of their 4th regular term at SMU will be suspended.
  • Students transferring 15 or more hours from another institution will be subject to the same requirements on their SMU work at the end of two regular terms.Upperclass students will be suspended if:
    • their cumulative SMU GPA falls below 1.8, or
    • they fail to clear academic probation after one term on probation, or
    • upon completion of 75 credits (including credit by exam, AP/IB, or transfer) they are not eligible to declare a major.
    • The 1.8 GPA requirement will not apply to new transfer students until the end of their second regular term at SMU.

    • Transfer students with more than 15 credits transferred and in their second year are subject to the same GEC and 2.0 GPA requirements as second-year pre-majors.

    SMU's First-Year Repeat Policy

    • Students who enter SMU directly from high school may repeat up to 3 courses taken at SMU during their first 2 regular terms of enrollment if grades of D+ or lower are earned.
    • The grade for the repeat enrollment, even if lower, will be used in calculating the cumulative GPA (unless the repeat course is dropped, in which case the original grade will be restored).
    • Courses may be repeated only once under this policy and they must be repeated within the following two regular SMU academic terms following the initial course enrollment.
    • Repeats under this policy must be declared in the office of the Dean of Dedman College and through your academic advisor by the 12th day of classes.
    • Both the initial grade and the repeat grade will remain on your permanent academic record.
    • Only the repeat course credit will be calculated into the SMU GPA and will apply toward graduation requirements and total units earned.BE AWARE** if you later apply to graduate or professional schools they may re-calculate your GPA to include the first grades earned.