Prospective Students

Transfer and Transition Services works with the Undergraduate Admission to provide prospective transfer students with the information and resources they need to make a move to SMU. Whether you're transferring from a community college or another four-year institution, SMU welcomes all transfer students. 

Traditional transfer students are those students who will transfer in 24 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.

**Veterans apply as traditional transfer students.

First-year transfer students are those students who have fewer than 24 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. All transfer students are required to complete college algebra or a college-level math course before transferring to SMU. If algebra I, geometry and algebra II were taken in high school and graduation was less than three years ago, this requirement is waived.

International transfer students are defined as any student applying to SMU who resides outside the United States of America. International transfer students apply to SMU using the same application as domestic transfer students. The transfer application and other information about transferring are available through the SMU Admissions Office. Check out the International Transfer Student Application Checklist to make sure you’ve gotten everything you need to transfer.

If you withdraw from SMU in good academic standing, your file will remain active for one year, and you may register as though in continuous enrollment at the University. If you left on probation, you will return on probation. All holds must be cleared prior to enrollment. Returning students are responsible for meeting all financial aid, housing and advising deadlines. After nonattendance for two regular (fall, spring) terms, students who formerly attended are required to apply for reactivation. Students who were suspended from SMU must apply for reinstatement.

If you intend to return to SMU, regardless of whether you are required to apply for reinstatement, you are encouraged to notify the appropriate University departments as soon as possible to ensure timely processing of enrollment, financial aid, housing and other documents.