ACADEMIC INFORMATION
`Transcripting and the Transfer of Credit
All courses taken are awarded Tufts credit in the corresponding department (or as “All-College” credit if there is no corresponding department at Tufts) automatically. Courses taken abroad are given a Tufts course number (340) and a letter (distinguishing between the history courses taught at the various UK universities). So, for example, UCL’s HIST 0039 “The Industrial Revolution in Britain” becomes Tufts’ HIST 340A “The Industrial Revolution in Britain”. This process happens when the director submits the course lists you have given her to the Tufts Registrar.
However, it is up to each Tufts department to decide if and how courses will count towards major/minor requirements, and to the relevant committee to consider petitions for foundational and distributional requirements. For more information please see your Tufts in London/Tufts in Oxford handbook and the Tufts’ Global Education pages.
You can find the departmental transfer of credit representative here, and may request approval for a course taken at your UK university to be designated either as a direct equivalent to a Tufts course or as upper- or lower-level major credit by submitting an 'Equivalence Request for Tufts Programs Abroad' in SIS here.
The undergraduate degree petition page is here.
Course Registration
Once you have finalised your module selection, you must email your official UK course registration page (screen grab, PDF) to Tufts in London by the given deadline. Your UK course listings will then be ‘translated’ as above and given to the Tufts registrar for entry into SIS. Please note that this transfer process is done by humans, not machines; it is essential that you check the entries are correct, notifying TiL if any course information changes by the deadlines given. Your instructor for all courses (as far as Tufts is concerned) is the Director.
Assessment
Different subjects are assessed in different ways – some may use ongoing assignments and others expect you to take a single final exam. It is common for a single assignment – a paper or an exam at the end – to be 100% of your grade. Talk to your professors when you start so you are clear about what to expect, and be aware that, once again, English is not the “common language” you assume – “paper”, “course”, “tutorial” and “class” all have different meanings depending on who is using them to refer to what.
Please be very sensitive about cultural differences and expectations -- US students are used to asking for grades to be ‘reconsidered’. This is absolutely not part of the culture here, and students who do this risk getting a reputation as obnoxious rather than someone who it is rewarding to teach. It is the easiest way to change a valuable recommendation for the future into a damning “X was my student”. If you feel there’s been a genuine mistake, please talk it over with us before doing anything else.
Grade conversion and transcripts
Each course is worth 4 SHU.
Year-long courses will be listed twice, once in the fall and once in the spring, counting for a total of 8 SHU (4 SHUs in the fall, 4 SHU in the spring) “I” and “II” is used to distinguish between the semesters (eg UK “Development Economics” becomes Tufts’ EC 340A “Development Economics I” (fall) and EC 340A “Development Economics II” (spring).
Grades which go to decimal points will be rounded up/down -- 0.0 to 0.49 down, 0.50 to 0.99 up.
The specific university grade rubrics are
Grade entry is done once Tufts receives the UK university transcript to convert into Tufts’ grades, which can be several months after you leave, and may not be until the end of the academic year (Summer 2024). This can be an issue when applying to graduate/medical school or for scholarships so please contact the director for help if needed.
Pass/Fail, Drop and Withdrawal
Students must be fully enrolled at their UK university to meet visa and participation requirements. The deadlines below apply only to the Tufts transcript.
To take a course pass/fail, drop or withdraw you must send an email to Dr Hyde, copying in Melanie Armstrong, clearly stating which course you wish to P/F, drop or withdraw by the Tufts in London deadlines below. Please remember that the usual Tufts rules apply re courses taken P/F and talk to your advisor before making a decision.
Tufts in London/Fall (the Tufts in London fall semester is UK term 1)
DROP deadline Monday, Oct 23th, 5 pm
WITHDRAWAL deadline Monday, Nov 27th, 5 pm
PASS/FAIL deadline. Monday, Nov 27th, 5 pm
Tufts in London/Spring (the Tufts in London spring semester is UK terms 2&3)
DROP deadline Monday, Feb 12th, 5 pm
WITHDRAWAL deadline Monday, Mar 25th, 5 pm
PASS/FAIL deadline. Monday, Mar 25th, 5 pm
For full year courses at UCL and LSE the Spring deadline applies and the P/F option will be applied for both semesters.
For Oxford's termly deadlines, please see the Tufts in Oxford handbook
Extenuating Circumstances
Each university and department have their own procedure for extenuating circumstances, and you should read the details carefully. If you apply for extenuating circumstances for final assignments/for your final grade you must inform the director in writing that you have done so no later than the end of term.
Please be aware that because of the way grading works in the UK having extenuating circumstances may significantly delay your final grade. If, for example, you’re a fall term senior, and apply for EC for a Fall 2023 grade, you may not receive the grade in time to graduate in May 2024.
Academic Support
There is a variety of support available, so please always feel free to talk to us if you feel you are struggling. All the UK universities offer a variety of support, including everything from writing an essay UK university style to time management. We strongly recommend you take advantage of what is on offer, as previous students have told us how valuable they’ve found these services.
Academic Accommodation
Each university has their own service and they are there to ensure you receive the support you need to make the most of your courses here. However, they do work differently from the support you may be used to at Tufts, and not every accommodation will be available or operate in the ways with which you are familiar. It is very important that you reach out to them as early as possible so there is time to set up what you may need.
We are happy to help you navigate the UK process, and you can draw on the resources of the StAAR Center at any time .