From universities within the U.S.: If you have taken a composition course at another accredited university, it is quite likely that the University of Idaho will accept those courses as worthy of credit at the University of Idaho.  Normally, the Registrar's Office determines which transfer credits are equivalent to these writing courses.  The Registrar's Office makes this determination at the same time they evaluate your transcript from the other institution.   Once this has been done, your UI transcript will show the course as "English 101" or "English 102," regardless of the number that the equivalent course had at the other institution.

From universities outside the U.S.:  If you took a writing course at a university outside the U.S., the Registrar will not automatically accept your credits.  You may receive credit for certain courses, but only after the Director of Writing in the English department has reviewed your transcript.  Sometimes it is necessary to see the syllabus of the course that you took and examples of the assignments that you were given in that class.  It also helps to see a copy of the college or university catalog that lists all the English courses taught by this other institution.  It will greatly facilitate this process for you to bring copies of your syllabus, assignments, and catalog with you to the United States when you come to study.  To receive credit for a composition course at a university from a country where English is not used, you must show that the course that you took was the equivalent of English 101 and 102—courses that require sustained essays 800 to 2000 words in length.  The course must have been taught in English.

If you have not taken a course that is equivalent to one or both English 101 or 102, you are placed in a writing course according to the method described above for first-year students.  If no test scores are available, you are automatically placed in English 090.

Last updated: 06/20/2005.