Welcome to Mathematics at SJSU.  You will find information about course equivalencies for the courses in mathematics that you took at a local community college on this site.  If you are transferring from out of the area, you can predict equivalencies by comparing your course with the catalog description of the course at San Jose State University.  There are several orientation sessions designed for transfer students.  It is highly recommended that you attend one of these sessions.  The policies and procedures vary from academic institution to academic institution.  Students have made incorrect assumptions about SJSU’s procedures based on their past experience with serious consequences to their g.p.a.s.  

It is important to see your advisor soon after the semester begins.  You need to file a Course Equivalency Form to confirm the match of courses you took elsewhere with math courses at SJSU.  General Education equivalencies are handled automatically by Admissions and Records.  You should continue to see your advisor every semester.  He or she can help you balance your load in any semester as they know which classes are more difficult and which can be combined.

You should be aware that transferring may mean that your total time to graduate will be more than four years.  A course taken at another institution  will no doubt count for graduation, but if it does not match a major course or a General Education course at SJSU, it will count as an elective.  The number of elective classes is limited.  Further, if you have not taken many math classes, the prerequisite structure of mathematics will prevent you from taking more than 1 or 2 math classes until you complete calculus.

If you are reading this prior to transferring, you are advised to get started with the mathematics major, not to be too eager to complete general education classes as they create balance in course load.  You do not want to take 5 courses in mathematics in the last semester of your senior year.

Advising information 

Math majors will be assigned a major advisor based on your student ID number.  You should review your schedule each semester with your advisor.  It is important for you to begin major courses and also important to save some general educations courses for later semesters so that you can achieve balance in your course load each semester.  Your advisor can help you from tackling too many difficult courses at once.  SJSU requires that you have a serious discussion with a major advisor during your first year. BUT we recommend that you see your major advisor as soon as possible to avoid duplication of coursework and registration in a course without adequate preparation and hence delaying graduation. An advising flag prevents you from registering for your third semester until you have seen a major advisor.  You bring a form signed by your advisor to the mathematics department so they can remove your advising flag.  

Course Equivalency Form for Math Major Requirements

The equivalency form for determining whether courses taken at another college can be used to satisfy requirements for any of the math major degree programs is available in the Math Department Office (MH 308).  All courses taken at a community college transfer to SJSU as lower division credits.  At SJSU, linear algebra and differential equations are upper division courses. Courses taken at a community college that are equivalent in content to Math 129A or Math 133A, can be used to satisfy a course requirement for a math major, however, you will need to take one or two additional upper division math courses to obtain the required number of upper division units in the major. After filling out the equivalency form and obtaining the signature of your advisor, you need to submit the form to the Math Department Office.  If the transfer courses listed on the form are not available on https://my.sjsu.edu, then you will need to submit an unofficial transcript to the Math Department Office.  For courses taken outside of California, you will also need to submit catalog descriptions for the courses or provide the website where the course descriptions are available.  After the Undergraduate Math Coordinator verifies the information on the equivalency form, it will be placed in your personal folder in the Math Dept. Office.  A copy for your records will be available for you to pick up from the Math Dept. Office a few days after you submit the form.  When you apply for graduation (about a year before you graduate, but no later than the first day of your last semester at SJSU), you will need to fill out a major form (available at the Math Dept. Office) and obtain appropriate signatures on the form before submitting the major form to Admissions & Records.  The SJSU graduation evaluators will accept the Math Department's decisions regarding the use of transfer courses (and AP or CLEP exams) to satisfy major requirements.  Official copies of transcripts of all previous college work and official results of Advanced Placement tests and/or  CLEP exams need to be submitted to Admissions & Records, so that they can also verify that you have taken the courses that you list on your major form.

General Education Credit for Transfer Courses

Courses taken at a California Community College or another CSU that appear on the list of approved GE courses for the college/university where you took the courses will automatically be accepted by SJSU to satisfy the same GE area (with the exception that if a course is listed in more than one area at the other campus, it can only be used to satisfy one of those areas at SJSU).  The lists of approved GE courses and the areas that they satisfy for all California Community Colleges and California State Universities is available at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/artic/all-ge.html.  When transferring courses from colleges other than a California Community College or CSU, the admissions evaluators at SJSU will give credit for courses that clearly satisfy a GE area (such as Calculus I to satisfy the GE Mathematical Concepts requirement).  The courses that have been approved to satisfy specific GE areas at SJSU are available to you by looking at your advising report through https://my.sjsu.edu.  Click on Self Service, and then under Degree Progress/Graduation, click on View Degree Progress Report.  It might take the SJSU Admissions Office a few months to enter the transferred courses into the system.  If you have not been given GE credit for a course that you believe should satisfy a GE area and the course was taken somewhere other than a CCC or CSU, then you can petition to try to obtain GE credit for the course.  GE petitions are available at http://www.sjsu.edu/ugs/arb/sec7.html.

Transfer Credit

Information regarding equivalencies between courses at SJSU and those at other institutions can be found on our  Local Community College Course Equivalencies Sheet, the Articulation Office of SJSU or through ASSIST.    ASSIST provides information about receiving credit at a California public university for courses completed at a California Community College and how those courses can be applied toward your academic goals when you transfer from a California Community College to a CSU or UC campus.  These lists are not complete.  Courses not on any of these lists are evaluated by the undergraduate coordinator.   Transfer students should see their major advisor as soon as they transfer to avoid unnecessarily repeating courses or delaying graduation.