Transfer Students

Are you considering transferring to University of Washington Seattle to study geography? Would you like to explore issues related to healthcare, social justice, migration, education, environment, data visualization, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and more? We'd love to meet you!

Advising

You are welcome to visit us during a Transfer Thursday event hosted by the UW Seattle Office of Admissions! Click the link to review available dates and register. We offer dedicated time with an adviser as part of the schedule for the day. Can't make it to Transfer Thursday? Please visit our Advising page to schedule an appointment.

Preparing to Transfer

Whether your transcript shows lots of geography coursework or you are just starting to wonder "what is geography?", we can help! The Department of Geography at the University of Washington crosses disciplinary boundaries so we can work with you to figure out how many of your credits might count toward the major, and how many will count toward general UW requirements. Transfer students are required to complete a minimum of 25 upper-division (300- and 400- level) credits in GEOG coursework in-residence at the University of Washington.

The geography major is a minimum-requirements major, which means students must meet the following requirements in order to declare the major:

  • Complete any GEOG-prefix course at the 200-level or higher with a minimum grade of 2.0.
  • Minimum cumulative UW GPA of 2.00.

Because of this, students transferring to UW from other colleges or universities may use prior GEOG coursework to meet the minimum requirement, however students must establish a UW GPA before being eligible to declare the major. Students who meet the minimum requirements listed above may declare the major in any quarter. There is no application required.

Martin Achievement Scholarship

The Martin Family Foundation established the Martin Achievement Scholarship program to fund students who have demonstrated signs of exceptional ability in art, humanities, music, science, and/or leadership at any community college in the state of Washington. The program will select Martin Achievement Scholars early in the first year of their community college career and will fund, encourage and support their second year of study and eventual transfer to the University of Washington in Seattle.

The award is dependent on successful admission to the University of Washington in Seattle as a matriculated student. Financial need may be considered during the selection process but is not a requirement.

Bellevue College

If you plan to transfer from Bellevue College, please review the transfer credit handout available here. All of the geography coursework at Bellevue College has been mapped to UW general geography major requirements.

Seattle Central College

Students completing the Equity & Social Justice Emphasis at Seattle Central College may be able to transfer up to 5 credits of approved coursework from the emphasis into the elective requirement of the geography major. Approved courses include AME 201; HUM 210; WMN 200; WMN 213; CMST 205. Please visit an advisor for details to make those transfer courses count toward your geography major.

Other Colleges and Universities

Please reach out to us directly via our Advising page linked above. We are happy to talk with you about transfer credit! You can also review the UW Office of Admissions Equivalency Guide for Washington State colleges online.

Transferring to UW

Congratulations on your admission to UW as a transfer student! Please be sure that you sign up for an Advising & Orientation session online. As part of the session you will be invited to meet with a department adviser to review your transcripts and register for classes. As soon as your final quarter at your previous institution is complete, please order an official transcript to be delivered to the UW Seattle Office of Admissions so that the university can award credit for the most current coursework.

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