External Transfer Students
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Definition
If you've attended a college or university other than the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, after graduating from high school, you're considered an external transfer student. The University of Michigan School of Public Health welcomes external transfer applications from students who have attended or are currently attending a post-secondary institution within the United States*.
*International applicants must have completed two consecutive academic years at a U.S. institution before matriculating into the program.
Application Deadline
- The deadline for cross campus and external transfer applicants applying for fall 2025 admission is January 15, 2024 at 11:59 pm EST.
Prerequisites
The Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science are both upper-level undergraduate degrees. This means that students apply in their sophomore year and if admitted they spend their junior and senior years in the School of Public Health. Applicants must have 54 transferable credits before beginning the program. Learn more about how your credits will transfer here.
Several prerequisite courses must be completed prior to beginning the program. Students attending institutions that do not offer courses equivalent to the prerequisites will be given full consideration. If admitted the student will have the opportunity to take these courses in their first semester at Michigan Public Health. Visit the prerequisites page for more information.
Application
We want to get to know you and to learn more about your passion for public health through the application. You will be asked to provide information about your education, extracurricular and community involvement, and any employment, research or internship experience you’ve had. You will also be asked to complete two essays; a Statement of Interest and Qualifications and a Reflective Essay. The essay prompts can be found here.
The application opens on October 1 of each year and can be completed online. In the application, you must upload an unofficial transcript from the high school in which granted your diploma and any post-secondary institution you have attended (including any dual enrollment courses). If admitted, you will be required to submit official transcripts.
If you receive an error message asking you to remove the password protection from
the document this may be due to a digital signature in the document. To resolve this
issue, we suggest you choose one of the following options then re-upload the transcript
to the application.
Option 1: Open the PDF, go to print and choose Adobe PDF as the printer. This will
create a copy of the PDF without the digital signature.
Option 2: Take a photo of the printed document, convert the .png or .jpg file to a
PDF.
Admission Criteria
The University of Michigan School of Public Health considers the following academic factors in determining admission for external transfer students:
- Number of credit hours completed in transferable course work by proposed term of entry. See the transfer credit page for more information on how courses transfer.
- Level of achievement in college coursework.
- Successful completion of prerequisite courses.
- To determine course equivalency please visit the transfer credit page.
- Engagement with community and/or campus organizations.
- Demonstrated interest in Public Health. Be sure to highlight what makes the public health major right for you given your interests, goals and experiences.
Advising
Prospective external transfer applicants are strongly encouraged to set up an advising appointment with an undergraduate admissions team member (sph.inquiries@umich.edu) to discuss transferable credits, progress toward the prerequisite courses, and the application process before applying.
During your advising appointment, you can expect to go over the transferability of any college-level coursework that you have completed. While other schools and colleges at the University of Michigan may require completion of the Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA), this is not required for admission to the School of Public Health. Our focus is on your progress towards the prerequisite courses as well and the amount of transferable credits you would have when starting the program. Applicants should have around 54 transferable credits by the time they would begin the program.
Ready to Apply?
Start with our Admissions page to learn about specific degree application deadlines and requirements.
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Questions?
For more information about the undergraduate admissions process, contact our admissions team at sph-inquiries@umich.edu or 734-764-5425.
If you would like to receive more information about a specific department or program, please join our interest list. You can also request a phone, zoom or in-person appointment.