Transfer Admission

Traditional transfer students are those students who will transfer in 30 or more transferable hours to SMU.

The Admission Committee will focus on your college coursework and transferable GPA for admission. The Committee finds that students with a 2.70 transferable GPA or higher are the most competitive for admission. In the admission process for transfer students, we evaluate both the rigor of the college courses you've taken and the readiness for your intended major. We recommend taking all or some of the prerequisite courses for your intended major before transferring to SMU.

Applicants must complete college algebra or a high school sequence of Algebra I, Algebra II and Plane Geometry within the last three years to be considered "math ready" for transfer admission.

First-year transfer students are those students who have fewer than 30 transferable hours or who have graduated from high school within the last calendar year. If three or more years have passed since your high school graduation, we highly recommend that you acquire 30 or more transferable hours before you transfer.

All first-year transfer students will be automatically considered for first year academic-based scholarships based on your high school academic performance, including high school GPA, curriculum, and SAT or ACT test score. In order to qualify for transfer scholarships you must complete at least half of the 50-hour requirement after your high school graduation.

In addition to evaluating your college course work and transferable GPA, the Admission Committee will also review your high school curriculum, high school GPA and standardized test scores. Your official test scores will need to be submitted directly from College Board or the ACT unless they are reported on your official high school transcript. The Admission Committee can begin review of your application after receiving all official college transcripts, but may not be able to make a final admission decision until your high school transcript and test scores have been received.

Applicants must complete college algebra or a high school sequence of Algebra I, Algebra II and Plane Geometry within the last three years to be considered "math ready" for transfer admission.

Description of International Transfer Students here.

All transfer students who intend to major in dance, music, theatre, studio art or film (BFA) must complete an audition or portfolio. Applicants will be considered on both academic standards and on the results of their audition or portfolio. Dance and theatre majors are only admitted for the fall term.

To enter SMU as an economics major, transfer students must have 30 or more hours of transfer credit and a minimum all-college cumulative GPA of 2.700. Additionally, students must have a 2.700 GPA on a subset of courses equivalent to SMU’s DISC 1312, (Introduction to Academic Discourse); ECO 1311 (Principles of Microeconomics); ECO 1312 (Principles of Macroeconomics); MATH 1309 (Introduction to Calculus for Business and Social Sciences) or MATH 1337 (Calculus I); and STAT 2301 (Statistics for Modern Business Decisions) or STAT 2331 (Introduction to Statistical Methods).

Students who plan to major in business can be admitted to SMU as pre-business majors, or they can be admitted directly to the Cox School of Business. To be admitted as a business major, students must be admissible to SMU and must also meet the specific admission requirements for the Cox School of Business. Cox admission requires:

1. A minimum 39 transferable credit hours, and

2. A minimum 3.50 all-college cumulative GPA, and

3. Successful completion of the required subset of courses:

• Discernment & Discourse 1312
• Discernment & Discourse 1313*
• Economics 1311
• Economics 1312
• Math 1309/1337
• Statistics 2301/2331 (or approved alternative course)
• Accounting 2301