Transfer to UMD's Government and Politics Department
Welcome to the Department of Government & Politics Transfer Student Infomation Page. GVPT is committed to supporting all transfer students throughout their academic journey to degree completion.
Where are you in your transfer journey?
Prospective Internal Transfer Student: Internal transfer students are current University of Maryland students who have not yet declared a major within the Department of Government and Politics (ex. students in Letters & Sciences or another major on campus).
Prospective External Transfer Student: External transfer students are students who are currently attending another institution (ex. two-year college or another 4-year university) and are considering or in the process of transferring to the University of Maryland and the Department of Government and Politics.
Current GVPT Transfer Student: Current University of Maryland GVPT transfer students are students who have been admitted to the Department of Government and Politics. The department of Government and Politics is available to support you through your academic journey!
Take Advantage of GVPT Advising
Regardless of where you are in your transfer journey, we strongly encourage you to reach out to a GVPT Academic Advisor. The GVPT Academic Advisors can help review your transcript from your previous institutions, draft a sample graduation plan to outline your future semesters as a UMD GVPT student, and answer any questions about UMD, GVPT major requirements, double majors, minors, internships, study abroad, etc. GVPT Advising is here to help!
Email: @email
Internal transfer students are current University of Maryland students who have not yet declared government and politics as their major (ex. students in Letters & Sciences or another major on campus).
Please follow the GVPT major change or major addition steps to officially declare the Government & Politics major: Declaring a Major
We're excited to welcome you to the GVPT department! If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to GVPT Advising.
External transfer students are students who are currently attending another institution (ex. two-year college or another 4-year university) and are considering or in the process of transferring to the University of Maryland and the Department of Government and Politics.
Choose your GVPT major
The Department of Government and Politics offers four undergraduate majors:
- Government & Politics - Bachelor of Arts
- International Relations - Bachelor of Arts
- Government & Politics - Bachelor of Science
- International Relations - Bachelor of Science
To learn more about the four majors in our department, please visit our Major Requirements page.
Create an Academic Plan
The Pre-Transfer Advising program provides support to prospective transfer students from two-year and four-year schools before they apply to UMD to complete an undergraduate degree. Prior to submitting an application, you are encouraged to use Pre-Transfer Advising services to assess your readiness to transfer and estimate your time to degree completion.
You can also review graduation plans for information about major and degree requirements here.
Transfer Credit Services facilitates the evaluation of credit for new students who have earned college credit or successfully completed Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), A/AS level examinations, or certain other standard exams. It also provides information and assistance to transfer advisors and prospective students. Students and advisors work together to decide how courses fit into a student’s individual program, while the center provides course equivalencies, credit reports and articulation tables.
If you have earned college credit in the U.S. and submitted official transcripts, you may access your preliminary transfer credit evaluation online within three weeks of receiving your letter of admission. Please note that this is a preliminary and ongoing evaluation; every effort will be made to provide a comprehensive evaluation before you register for classes at Orientation. To ensure you have an updated record on file at UMD, submit a final official transcript that includes grades for any course work in progress at the time of your original application.
Be sure to review the criteria for transferable credits. Your official college transcripts will be evaluated after you have been admitted to UMD, and final determination of course transferability and applicability will be made by your academic department. To begin your credit evaluation, please mail your transfer credit documents to the address below:
Office of the Registrar
University of Maryland
1113 Mitchell Building
College Park, MD 20742
GVPT recommends taking the some of the following course equivalencies prior to transferring to GVPT at UMD:
- GVPT170: American Government
- GVPT200: International Political Relations
- ECON200: Microeconomics
- STAT100: Elementary Statistics and Probability
- ENGL101: Academic Writing
Please refer to the Transfer Credit Database for equivalency information or reach out to GVPT Advising for assistance.
Submit an Application
Transfer students are advised to submit their application to the University of Maryland by the early action deadline: March 1st.
Please refer to the University of Maryland Transfer Applicant Requirements, Transfer Application Checklist and Transfer Application FAQs.
Explore Scholarship Opportunities
Students transferring to UMD have a number of scholarship opportunities available to them. Be sure to visit the GVPT & BSOS Scholarship pages to learn more about how to finance your education.
BSOS Scholarship Opportunities: https://bsos.umd.edu/undergraduate/undergraduate-scholarships
GVPT Scholarship Opportunities: https://gvpt.umd.edu/undergraduate/scholarships
Attend New Student Orientation
Congratulations on joining the GVPT community! At New Student Orientation, you will meet with BSOS Advising, connect with other new Terps, and register for classes with your GVPT Advisor. New Student Orientation is a mandatory one-day program for all newly admitted transfer students. You must attend an orientation program in order to register for classes.
Your first step is to officially confirm your enrollment at UMD as a GVPT student. Please familiarize yourself with the Transfer student To-Do List, orientation schedule, and FAQs for students and family members: https://orientation.umd.edu/transfer-orientation/transfer-do-list