IB,  transfer credits

an IB mystery

Hi aska,
I’m going to be a first year student in September and I have 3 transfer credits from IB. So I was trying to enroll into a 6th course, and I realized that some of the courses have *percentage score as part of the prerequisites*.
Say for CHM249H1, the prerequisite is:
CHM151Y1/CHM138H1, CHM139H1 with a minimum grade of 63%…since for CHM222H1, the prerequisite is (CHM138H1CHM139H1/CHM151Y1 with a minimum grade of 63%, MAT135H1, MAT136H1/MAT135Y1/MAT137Y1/
MAT157Y1, PHY138Y1/PHY140Y1/(PHY131H1,PHY132H1)/(PHY151H1, PHY152H1). Noticing the existence of the square brackets in CHM222H1 and the lack thereof in CHM249H1, *I’m assuming the “with a minimum grade of…” for CHM249H1 is only for CHM138/139H1(so it’s either CHM151Y1 or 63% in both CHM138H1 and CHM139H1)*. Since I have chemistry HL, it seems that, from the IB transfer credit page, I should have: CHM1**Y(unspecified first year credit).
*The only 1**Y course in the CHM course list is CHM151Y1, so it should be what I got.* However, the degree explorer says *I have a CHM1**Y (CHM139H) credit out of 1.0.* For math and physics, I got the appropriate 135+136/131+132 half-credits, all of which are shown as* CR* on degree explorer which suggests that *I don’t have a percentage mark for them.*
So this is the problem:
*I don’t know if I have CHM151 or CHM138+139.*
*CHM151 excludes with CHM138+139, so I can’t take CHM151Y1 if I have CHM139H1, so if the chemistry credit I got is CHM139H1 AND is CR’d, it seems that I won’t be able to take CHM249H1 as I can’t take one of the prerequisite options and don’t have percentage marks for the other.*
tl;dr:
1. For CHM249H1, does the percentage requirement apply to both the options (perhaps because of the lack of a uniform rule on the matter) or only the latter?
2. I have the transfer credits but they are shown as CRs, so is that still possible to enroll into such courses that require specific marks as prerequisites?
3. Which chemistry transfer credit am I getting?
Thanks,
confused IB student
(Sorry for the long email, hope it helps that I bolded the key points)

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hey there,

yeahh, i really appreciate you bolding the key points, but unfortunately, that formatting was wiped out by my e-mail inbox. darn this technological age. hopefully i can address the important things anyway.

1. hmm, CHM249H1‘s prereqs are kinda confusing, aren’t they? i think your comparison to CHM222H1 might not be entirely accurate, because that course requires some math courses as well, so i think what they’re trying to say is that you need a 63% in 151 or 138+9, plus math/physics. if you take a look at CHM223H1, however, you’ll see that one prerequisite course clearly requires a certain mark, while the other one doesn’t.

based on that, i would say that CHM249H1 requires a 63% in EITHER CHM151Y1 OR CHM138H1+9H1.

2. it depends on the department, and the course you want to get into. you’ll have to contact chemistry with that one.

3. if degree explorer says you have a 1** credit, that means that you have an unspecified, first-year credit. so if you have CHM1**Y1, then you have 1.0 general, first-year chem credits. you do not have CHM151Y1 or CHM138+9, and if you need any of those courses for a program or as a prerequisite for other courses you want to take, then you’ll probably need to take them.

i say “probably” because of one line in this document on interpreting your transfer credit assessment which states: “Unspecified credits may be used to meet prerequisite, program or breadth requirements as long as permission is obtained from the relevant Program Advisor or College Registrar.”

just a tip – if you’re going to talk to anyone about trying to use your unspecified credit as a – well, specific – credit, make it the chem. undergraduate advisor rather than your college registrar. i can tell you right now they’ll know more about their own credits than any college will.

hope that helps!

aska

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