Prerequisite Requirements

Students must meet both of the following requirements to begin the Course Equivalency Review:

1. A minimum of three transfer credits on their transcript coded as ENGL 91002 and/or ENGL 91003.
2. A second college-level writing course from their previous institution. This course must include a researched writing component and must focus significantly on the practices and processes of English language composition.

Students must have either ENGL 91002 or 91003 on their transcript to request a Course Equivalency Review. In the petition form, students can indicate whether they want the Program to review both courses or only their second college-level writing course.

The Program will evaluate a student’s courses to determine if they satisfy the UConn First-Year Writing Requirement. If approved, the Program will grant the student a waiver of the First-Year Writing Requirement. The waiver may apply to both courses (six credits) or the second college-level writing course only (three credits).

Credit Limit Restrictions

Students who transfer to UConn for the fall term must submit their request for a Course Equivalency Review before they have reached 69 credits or before the end of the first semester of their junior year, whichever comes first.

Spring term transfers must submit their request for a Course Equivalency Review before they have reached 85 credits. Students admitted to UConn after earning 85 credits at another institution will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

The First-Year Writing Program cannot conduct a Course Equivalency Review for students who have earned 99 credits, who have completed the first term of their senior year, or who have only one semester remaining.

Petition Form and Required Materials

Students may submit an online petition form for a Course Equivalency Review. Please include the following information with your petition form:

• A current UConn transcript. An unofficial transcript is acceptable. However, your name must be visible on a screenshot or PDF. Screenshots must be legible.
• A Transfer Credit Report. Learn how to view your Transfer Credit Report in the Student Administration System.
• One writing sample. This sample should be argument-driven and provide extensive detailed analysis of text(s). Evidence must be presented with attribution, such as MLA or APA citation. Each sample must be the equivalent of five full pages, approximately 1,500 words, plus a works cited page. Upload all documents in .pdf or .docx format.

Students may submit a writing sample from any college-level course, so long as it is recent and meets the above requirements. Please indicate which course the project is from. You may submit two writing samples if one sample meets some but not all of the requirements. For example, if your first writing sample shows your ability to craft arguments and analyze texts, but it does not present evidence with attribution, then you may submit a second writing sample that presents evidence with attribution.

Your writing sample should demonstrate your ability to engage with multiple sources. As a group, the sources need to supply arguments or approaches to be engaged with, serve as an object to be analyzed, move the conversation in a different direction, introduce concepts or keywords for analysis, and provide background information or serve as validation for one’s own position or concepts.

Be aware that a writing sample dominated by a simple list of encyclopedias for source material is insufficient in its engagement with sources. Try to think of sources as voices brought to the table for a conversation, and conversation is not characterized by several voices stating their cases and leaving; rather, a conversation is, by definition, interactive.

All work must meet the standards set forth in the UConn Student Code. In particular, students should review Appendix A: Academic Integrity in Undergraduate Education and Research.