Evaluation and Equivalencies

Note: Western students planning to take a course(s) at another university (either on a Letter of Permission or on an Exchange) and students admitted to Western with transfer credits from another university/college, must follow certain steps/processes to have the courses evaluated for equivalency to Western courses.

The manner in which courses are evaluated is the same for both transfer students who need to have their background evaluated and Western students wishing to take courses elsewhere. The course(s) must be evaluated by a counselor in the department at Western offering courses in the same subject area to determine how the course(s) fit into the student's module/degree. To evaluate a course properly, the departmental counselor will need as much of the following information as possible:

  • list/sequence of lecture topics
  • text or texts used
  • laboratory content (yes/no and # of lab hours)
  • method of assessment (tests, exams, assignments, labs)
  • course weight at other institution (full or half course)
  • level of course, as it fits into the other institution's curriculum

See the list of Departmental Counsellors for the various Science and Basic Medical Science Departments for contact information. For more information contact Psychology Counselling at: psycouns@uwo.ca After having courses evaluated by a departmental counsellor, the information must be submitted to the Academic Counselling Team in North Campus Building 280 (exception: Neuroscience and BMSc students going out on an exchange). See below for more details.

Letter of Permission

Students wishing to take a course at another university who are registered in either a BMSc or a BSc degree, must see the Academic Counselling Team for Science/BMSc students (North Campus Building, Rm 280) to request a Letter of Permission. Check out the steps on the Academic Counselling Website.

Exchange

Visit the International Student Services website for information about outgoing exchanges. Neuroscience students who are either interested in or have been approved for an outgoing exchange should see an Academic Counselor in North Campus Building 280 before embarking on the Course Approvals process. Departmental counsellors must evaluate the courses at the exchange institution and fill in the evaluations/equivalencies on the Course Approvals Form. The Academic Counsellor must then sign off on the form, granting final approval before the form is submitted to the Exchange Office.

Students on exchange often wish/need to revise their courses, after arriving at the exchange institution. In this situation, students should email the appropriate departmental counsellor with the desired revisions so that the courses can be evaluated and approved as quickly as possible. Academic Counsellors do advise students to have more than the minimum number of courses evaluated, as a backup, in case courses revision is necessary.

Transfer students to Western

After receiving acceptance to Western (admission decisions are made by the Admissions Office), transfer students will need to see an Academic Counselor in the Faculty of Science (North Campus Building 280) to begin the process of determining how the transfer credits fit into the module/degree at Western. Information about the transfer process is located on the Academic Counselling website under New Students.

Please note that transfer students are not permitted to register in the Honors Specialization in Neuroscience during their first year at Western. Students must complete one year at Western before being considered for admission.