General Information

Resources at Barnard College

Important Dates

Requirements for the A.B. Degree

Satisfaction of General Requirements

Placement in Foreign Language Courses

Mathematics Placement

Advanced Placement

Columbia College Courses

Advising and Filing the Program

Course Loads and Caveats

Information for Transfers who are International Students

Dean of Studies Home

More Specific Information on the Satisfaction of General Requirements

Satisfaction of the following requirements will be determined by the Assistant Registrar, who will evaluate the work you have completed at your previous institution.

ENGLISH

All transfer students must complete one of the following: 1) a section of English BC3103x or BC3104y (Essay Writing); or 2) an English literature course taught at Barnard. Neither creative writing courses, nor courses offered at Columbia, may be substituted for the literature course. PLEASE NOTE: This requirement is separate from the General Education requirement in literature, which is an additional requirement. Thus, one English literature course cannot serve to fulfill both the English and the General Education literature requirement. Transfer students who have successfully completed a satisfactory course at their previous institution are exempt from the English requirement.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Students may qualify for satisfaction of the foreign language requirement in the following ways:

1. SAT II Subject Test score of 781 or higher in a foreign language (in Hebrew a score of 700 or above satisfies the foreign language requirement). No exemptions granted for SAT II Subject Test scores in Chinese or Japanese.
2. AP score of 4 or 5 (with 3 or 6 points of credit, respectively).
3. Course work at the previous institution;
4. Departmental placement examination.

If the high school language of instruction was not English, international students may fulfill the "foreign" language requirement in English following completion of one year at Barnard, and students whose native language is English may fulfill the requirement with the high school language of instruction (e.g., French for alumnae of the Lycée Français).

SCIENCE

Students who have earned scores of 4 or 5 on the AP examination in biology, chemistry, environmental science, or physics will receive 3 points of credit. Students with such scores in biology, environmental science or physics should bring their laboratory notebooks to Barnard. The department chair will assess the laboratory work in the AP course, and if it is acceptable, the student will be granted additional credit equivalent to one term of laboratory (biology and environmental science: 1.5 points, physics: 1). AP credit in biology or physics can be used as one term of the laboratory science requirement if the student continues in the same science. In chemistry, students must take the lab of CHEM BC2001 to complete the first semester. In environmental science, AP credit exempts from the lecture component of EESC BC1001; a student whose lab notebook is approved by the department may complete the requirement with EESC BC1002, but other students must take two additional semesters of lecture plus lab.

Students with an International Baccalaureate score of 5 or higher in biology have satisfied one semester of the lab science requirement and should complete the requirement with BIOL BC 1002 or one 2000-level lecture plus one 2000-level lab. Students with an International Baccalaureate score of 5 or higher in chemistry have satisfied the lecture of CHEM BC2001 and should complete the science requirement with the lab of CHEM BC2001 and CHEM BC2002.

Students with AP credit or with one semester of a laboratory science should consult the following individuals about the appropriate course to complete the requirement.

for Biology	Brian Morton, Chair 1204 Altschul (854-5454) Lorrin Johnson 1203 Altschul (854-2437)
for Chemistry	Sally Chapman, Chair 802 Altschul (854-2098)
for Environmental Science	Stephanie Pfirman 404C Altschul (854-5120)
for Physics	Timothy Halpin-Healy 504 Altschul (854-5102)

QUANTITATIVE AND DEDUCTIVE REASONING

A student has satisfied the quantitative and deductive reasoning requirement if she receives an AP score of 4 or 5 in calculus, chemistry, physics, or statistics or a score of 5 or higher in Higher-Level chemistry, mathematics, or physics on the International Baccalaureate. However, such credit may be used for either the science requirement or the quantitative and deductive reasoning requirement, not both.

Students with a math/science French Baccalaureate (American or European) have satisfied the quantitative and deductive reasoning requirement.

NOTE: A student may have satisfied the language, science, or quantitative reasoning requirement on the basis of a satisfactory course or courses at her previous institution.