Agreement with Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Requirements
Transfer and GPA Requirements
- Students must have a minimum of a 2.70 cumulative grade point average at OCC for acceptance to Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Students who complete an AA or AS degree and have a 3.0 GPA or higher at OCC, will be guaranteed acceptance into HWS.
- With a few exceptions, individual courses of 3, 4, or 5 credits in which the student earned a grade of "C-" (1.70) or higher will transfer toward the 32 courses required for graduation at HWS, up to a maximum of 16 courses.
- Any student who transfers to Hobart and William Smith Colleges having completed an AA or AS degree will automatically be considered to have met the General education requirements at HWS. Additionally, individual courses at OCC that fulfill SUNY General Education requirements will be considered as satisfying the matching General Education requirements at HWS.
- Students who complete an Associate of Arts degree, an Associate of Science degree, or an Associate of Applied Science degree at OCC and who have followed the recommended guidelines as stated within this agreement may enter Hobart and William Smith Colleges at junior status. However, depending on the intended major at HWS and the program completed at OCC, it may not be possible to complete the bachelor's degree in two years. Note, also, that all students must complete a minor or second major in addition to the primary HWS major.
- Transfer students who are accepted with a GPA over 2.7 are guaranteed a scholarship of at least $30,500.
- Students transferring without having earned an AA, AS, or AAS will be limited to transferring 7 courses completed while in high school.
Programs
Students initially apply to Hobart and William Smith Colleges in general and not to a specific program or major. HWS has over seventy programs and students will work with an HWS Dean and faculty advisor before declaring a major upon enrollment. OCC students in particular programs are likely to find the programs below matching their interests.
| Onondaga Community College | Major at Hobart and William Smith |
|---|---|
| Architectural Design Studies, AAS | Art & Architecture, BA |
| Art, AAS | Studio Art, BA |
| Business & Entrepreneurship, AAS | Business Management and Entrepreneurship, BS |
| Business Administration, AS | Business Management and Entrepreneurship, BS |
| Liberal Arts & Sciences: Mathematics & Science: Chemistry, AS | Chemistry, BA/BS |
| Communication Studies, AA | Media & Society, BA |
| Computer Information Systems, AAS | Computer Science, BA/BS |
| Computer Science, AS | Computer Science, BA/BS |
| Creative Writing, AA | English & Creative Writing, BA |
| Early Childhood, AAS | Teacher Certification Program |
| Engineering Science, AS | Physics, BA/BS |
| Health Sciences, AS | Biology/Health Professions, BA/BS |
| Laboratory Science, AS | Biology/Chemistry, BA/BS |
| Liberal Arts & Sciences: Adolescence Education, AA | Education/Teacher Certification Program, BA |
| Liberal Arts & Sciences: Childhood Education, AA | Education/Teacher Certification Program, BA |
| Liberal Arts & Sciences: Humanities and Social Sciences, AA | Anthropology/History/Sociology/English, BA |
| Liberal Arts & Sciences: Mathematics and Science, AS | Biology/Chemistry, BA/BS |
| Music, AS | Music, BA |
| Social Media and Digital Communication, AS | Media & Society, BA |
| Sound Recording, AS | Music, BA |
HWS Majors include: Africana Studies; American Studies; Anthropology; Anthropology and Sociology; Architectural Studies; Art History; Asian Studies; Biochemistry; Biology; Bodies, Disability, and Justice; Business Management and Entrepreneurship; Chemistry; Classics; Computer Science; Dance; Economics; Educational Studies; Engineering; English and Creative Writing; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; European Studies (minor only), French and Francophone Studies; Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectional Justice; Geoscience; Greek; Green and Roman Studies; Health Professions.
Transfer Guidelines
To earn a degree at Hobart and William Smith, a transfer student must pass minimally 16 courses at Hobart and William Smith with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0. Students must pass at least 28 courses (between OCC and HWS) with a grade of "C-" or higher and take at least 30 full-credit courses prior to graduation. A minor or a second major must be completed in addition to the primary HWS major. In addition, candidates for the bachelor's degree must address each of Hobart and William Smith's integrated and aspirational goals:
1. The essential skills which serve as a foundation for effective communication.
2. The essential skills which serve as a foundation for critical thinking and argumentation.
3. The ability to reason quantitatively.
4. An experiential understanding of scientific inquiry.
5. A critical and experiential understanding of the artistic process.
6. A critical understanding of social inequalities.
7. A critical understanding of cultural difference.
8. An intellectual foundation for ethical judgment as the basis for socially responsible action.
Upon enrollment, transfer students will meet with a HWS dean and a faculty advisor to decide which courses (OCC and HWS courses) address these goals. Aspirational goals 3-8 underscore the imperative of a liberal arts education to provide a breadth of knowledge and the means to express that knowledge effectively. Integrated goals 1 and 2 (effective communication and critical thinking) are embedded in the curriculum through First-Year Seminars, a writing-enriched curriculum, and the senior capstone experience. Transfer students (with guidance from the Deans and faculty advisors) will use other courses to satisfy the First Year Seminar portion of these integrated goals.