For Psychology Transfer Students
Information for incoming Transfer Students majoring in psychology
If you are transferring to Shepherd from another institution, be sure to review this information from the Shepherd University Office of Admissions: https://www.shepherd.edu/admissions/transfer-students
Academic Advisement
After you’ve been accepted to study at Shepherd and have indicated your intent to major in Psychology, you’ll work with Dr. Chris Lovelace to develop your course schedule for the upcoming semester. Contact him at clovelac@shepherd.edu at your earliest convenience to set up a one-hour academic advising appointment. He’ll help you select classes and show you how to register. Transfer student registration usually opens toward the end of the previous spring or fall semester. The closer to that date you register for classes, the less likely it is that the classes you need will have filled up, so get in touch as soon as you can.
Before that advising appointment, there are a few things you should attend to:
- We’ll need to know about the college-level classes you’ve taken elsewhere: have your previous institution(s) send your official transcripts to the Shepherd University Registrar’s office. There’s a general description of transferring classes to Shepherd in the FAQ page from the Registrar’s Office; have a look at this entry: How do I transfer credits from another school? (Scroll down to the “Prospective Students” section.)
- Also, if you’re currently taking classes, those won’t yet show up in your transcript. Have a list of those classes with numbers and names (like “PSY 203 Introduction to Psychology”) handy during your advising appointment.
- To register for classes, you’ll need to be able to access your account in our RAIL system. Go ahead and do that by following that link to a web page with instructions.
- Once you’re in RAIL, see if the classes from your previous institution(s) are showing up in your online transcript. (This can take a couple of weeks after you request that they be sent.)
- Review your RAIL transcript to see which of your classes automatically “articulate” as an equivalent course at Shepherd. Those with a “T” before the course number (like “PSY T203”) haven’t automatically articulated. Those classes might still be able to count as a Shepherd class. We’ll discuss that at your initial advising meeting.
- Once your transcripts appear in RAIL, log into our DegreeWorks system to see how your classes are currently counting toward your Psychology major and the Core Curriculum. We’ll discuss this during that advising meeting as well.
2 + 2 Transfer Agreements
If you’re coming from a community college where you’ve been following a 2+2 transfer agreement established between that college and Shepherd’s psychology program, then be sure to bring that up during your advising appointment so we can have you take the courses you need to stay on track to finish your Bachelor’s degree in no more than two more years. Here are the existing 2+2 agreements our department has:
Blue Ridge Community and Technical College Psychology 2+2 agreement
As of October, 2018
Laurel Ridge (formerly Lord Fairfax) Community College Psychology 2+2 agreement
Updated February, 2023
College of Southern Maryland Psychology 2+2 agreement
Coming soon