We encourage students to apply for exemption of a required course if they've already acquired most of the skills taught in that course outside of the particular program of study. If you exempt a course, you must replace it with another. In general, you will not be granted an exemption from a project course requirement.
How can you earn an exemption?
To receive an exemption, you must either take a qualifying exam or petition the instructor. Exemption exams are given prior to or at the beginning of the semester for which the course is offered. Exams for courses offered in both semesters must be taken prior to the fall semester. You will be notified of the exemption exams that will be offered during orientation and procedures for those exams.
For courses that do not use an exam, you may petition to exempt a course by following these steps:
- Download a Petition for Course Exemption form (.pdf)
- Complete this form, and attach an official course description or syllabus from the prior course(s) you took, including the professor's name, textbooks used, and particular chapters covered. Also attach a copy of your official transcript showing the grade you received for the course.
- Meet with the instructor to discuss the course and your prior study.
- Obtain the recommendation and signature of the instructor of the course.
- File the petition with the Associate Dean’s Office.
We'll determine from this if you have mastered the skills which the course is intended to teach. Mastery does not mean that you're familiar with all of the material taught in the course, but rather you know enough that your time would be more productively spent pursuing alternate coursework. If your petition is granted, you may need to learn some particular skills taught in an exempted course on your own time. Also note that we very rarely grants exemptions based on work experience.