Fall 2025 Transfer Chances into Psych/Neuro with High Hours [3.95 college GPA, 46-51 hours including 33 dual credit and 3 AP]

Hello all - my student is in a quandary and needs advice. He is at an OOS school and has decided to come back home and (hopefully) go to A&M. He has a very strong GPA but is worried about being just OVER max hours and just UNDER on required coursework:

  • 3.95 GPA
  • 51 potential transfer hours (33 DC hours from Lone Star, 3 credit hours for Psych AP, 15 credit hours from OOS (not sure they will all transfer but at least 10-12 most certainly will)
  • Completed Chem 1, Psych 101, took Calc 1 but appears not to be the correct one.
  • In progress Spring semester will be Chem 102, BIO 1, Calc 1.
  • Not yet completed by spring 2025 will be BIO 102.

Are these requirements and maximum transfer hours just guidelines or are they hard and fast rules. Should he not bother wasting $75 on an application fee if it’s just going to be tossed right into the trash if he doesn’t meet the requirements?

First priority is A&M. Second priority is Neuroscience. Any other suggestions to consider we might not be thinking of?

Thank you all for your expert advice!!

Transfer | Admissions - Admissions says that a minimum of 24 credit hours with at least a 2.5 college GPA is the minimum for transfer to Texas A&M, but specific majors may have higher or additional requirements. The neuroscience course sheet at https://admissions.tamu.edu/getattachment/2006ab6a-feaf-4de3-9f76-405c71293283/2024-25-Molecular-and-Cellular-Neuroscience-TCS.pdf lists the following minimum requirements for that major (although meeting the minimum does not guarantee admission):

  • minimum 3.0 GPA
  • minimum 24 credit hours, maximum 90 credit hours
  • calculus 1 and either calculus 2 or statistics (calculus suitable for engineering majors)
  • biology 1 and 2 (at least a B grade in each course)
  • general chemistry 1 and 2 (at least a B grade in each course)

Thanks! That’s actually the transfer sheet for Neuroscience within the Biology department - which might be plan B - but current desire is Neuroscience within the Psych department (and of course they seem to have more stringent rules):

[type or paste code here](https://admissions.tamu.edu/getattachment/6061edfb-7643-49c3-b6cc-cec7c3f958ed/2023-24-Behavioral-and-Cognitive-Neuroscience-BS-TCS.pdf)

My primary question is if these are hard and fast rules or if these are just guidelines to make you a “stronger candidate” for transfer. I can’t imagine they would not allow a transfer with an almost 4.0 GPA with less than 60 hours considering any student who does 2 years at a community college would have more hours than that, right?

It has me scratching my head for sure…

I’d suggest your student contact A&M admissions directly and pose the question.

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That page gives the following requirements:

  • minimum 3.25 GPA
  • minimum 24 credit hours, maximum 45 credit hours
  • biology 1 and 2
  • chemistry 1 and 2
  • calculus 1
  • psychology

The 24-45 credit hour range indicates that this major is only interested in sophomore level transfers. You may want to ask directly whether high school dual enrollment or AP credit count toward the 45 credit hour maximum, because if they do, then your student with 46-51 credit hours including high school dual enrollment and AP credit is ineligible to transfer to that major.

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Thank you - he actually has done that and contacted the person that is suggested on the Psych website but I was hoping to just get some thoughts from anyone who might have been in his shoes or had insight into the actual decisions that are made.

He has done the research to find the official requirements which lead us to these questions/concerns. Any experiential feedback is greatly appreciated!

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I had thought that this meant that this is the maximum amount of credit that they will give you, not the maximum of courses that you are allowed to have taken. In other words, if you have already taken more than 45 credits at a different university, after transferring you only get credit for 45 hours. While this is what I always thought that it means, we haven’t been in this situation so I am not really sure.

Texas A&M is hard/firm about course requirements and not exceeding hours stated. Zero wiggle room.

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@ChristiR93 as one of the transfer experts, could u weigh in?

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No. It is the max amount of transferable credit they’ll allow. If you’re over, they will not admit you to that major. 45 is low tho. Usually it’s 60. The only one her son might get relief from is AP if he didn’t accept it. But that’s only 3 hours. Dual credit will most likely all transfer to a Tamu course equivalent or just as a general elective.

Courses in progress that are required will get him at best a deferred decision til spring grades are completed.

Did he accept the AP credit?

He has not accepted the AP credit. We have an appointment next week with the College of A&S transfer advisor. His initial email was promising. He said while “yes those are a lot of hours”, he also said “I have been told by admissions that they will weigh how many of those hours are from dual credit to some degree”. Not sure exactly what that means or how it will play out but will come back and update this thread after we meet with him. He is also looking at the Neuroscience degree in the Biology department. They allow up to 90 credits to transfer, but he is still missing some of the required coursework. So we are reaching out to them directly, in addition to meeting with the transfer advisor next week. Fingers crossed he gets some “positive aura” from the 2 interactions :slight_smile: !!

He is considering taking the CLEP exam for Calculus I as he is sure he can get the grade needed - and then take BIO 1 and BIO 2 both in the spring (it’s allowed at his OOS university). Any experience using CLEP exams to meet the requirements as a transfer? By doing this, all required coursework will be done or in progress. Definitely turning over every rock to find ways to meet the requirements for transfer admission. Thanks to everyone for the advise!

I’m glad that he was able to get some appointments with A&M staff and that things feel a bit more hopeful.

With respect to the CLEP exam for Calculus, I would be hesitant about doing this, as he may have enough mastery to pass the exam, but not a solid enough foundation for any of the advanced coursework he may need to take. Since I wasn’t a science major, I can’t say for sure, but it is definitely something I would investigate further.

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Yes. Please keep us posted. Definitely ask about clep on calc 1.

Glad there’s some hope. What does he want to do post undergrad?

Texas A&M’s CLEP chart is at CLEP Course Equivalency - Testing Services

We met with an advisor from the College of Arts & Sciences today. He said a lot of the same things that the transfer sheets already say - but it helps to hear it from an actual person because u learn how strictly the rules on the transfer sheets are actually enforced (kind of). Basically, he said the 45 hour max for Psych-Neuroscience is a hard requirement but they also take into account how many hours were done in high school. So we still really don’t have an answer on if he will even be considered if he is over 45 hours. 36 hours are from high school. :woman_shrugging:t3:

He said if you don’t have ALL of the required courses but have MOST of them and can show that the remaining ones are in progress, then you could get either a “conditional denial” or “conditional acceptance” pending your spring grades being submitted.

For the Biology-Neuroscience program, 4 out of 6 required classes will be “in progress”. He said that is a lot to have in progress and it would be hard for them to make an assessment on his application in that scenario (which is understandable).

Ultimately he wants to go to medical school. I think he has decided he is going to apply for Psych-Neuroscience as his first preference and Psychology as his 2nd preference and then address the max hours and required coursework in his essay. He will have all required courses completed for the Psychology major except 1 which will be in progress. So if he doesn’t get in to the Psych-Neuroscience program because of too many hours and/or too many outstanding courses in progress, then hopefully he will still get in to Psychology as his 2nd choice.

Regarding the CLEP credit (Calc I), the advisor said we need to talk to someone in admissions - so we will call them tomorrow. For pre-med (and neuroscience), it’s really the only math course required. He took Businxess Calculus and also made a 790 on the math section of his SAT - so I’m not really worried about him missing out on core calculus topics by taking the CLEP test instead of the actual course.

Any other suggestions/recommendations or similar first-hand advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you all!!

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Will med school accept the CLEP in lieu of an actual class? You need to check…

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Thanks for coming back with the update. That will certainly be helpful information for other applicants interested in transferring to A&M.

I’m going to page @WayOutWestMom who might be able to shed light on how med school’s view credits earned via CLEP rather than from having actually taken the class.

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