General Studies Writing Program

GSW 1120 is the final course in the GSW sequence of composition courses and it is required of all students who attend BGSU. Students transferring to BGSU who have taken English composition courses at another university will find that the Office of Registration and Records / Transfer Evaluations can usually determine the proper transfer credit for composition courses taken elsewhere. However, sometimes students may believe that a composition course should transfer to BGSU as our GSW 1120, but upon receiving their transfer evaluation, find that the course did not transfer as GSW 1120.

The most frequent reason students do not receive transfer credit for GSW 1120 is that the previous institution’s course description does not include a research unit and an 8-10 page argumentative synthesis research paper requirement for the course. Students who believe transfer credit has been improperly evaluated regarding GSW 1120 may wish to make an appointment with the Assistant Director of General Studies Writing to discuss the situation.

The student must bring the following information to the appointment:

• The BGSU Transfer Credit Evaluation form which was sent to the student by the Office of Registration and Records/Transfer Evaluation
• A course description of the course taken elsewhere (from course catalog).
• A syllabus clearly showing the work required in the original course (including the type of writing, the length, required source materials, etc.) and that highlights GSW 1120 skills as course objectives. 

For a course to transfer as GSW 1120, it must have required several multi-sourced, argumentative essays, including at least one fully-documented argumentative research paper. Source synthesis must have been a primary focus of the class.

The Assistant Director of GSW will direct the Office of Registration and Records to transfer the composition course as BGSU's GSW 1120 only if the composition course required the components mentioned above. Research papers written in classes other than the composition course the student is trying to transfer as GSW 1120 will have no bearing on the transfer credit decision for GSW 1120.

If the Assistant Director determines that the course is not transferable as GSW 1120, the student will need to take GSW 1120 prior to graduation, preferably as soon as possible. In particular cases, completing the GSW 1120 exemption process also may fulfill the student's GSW 1120 requirement.

Helpful links:

Office of Registration and Records/Transfer Evaluations (opens in a new tab)

Please contact Elizabeth Zemanski, the Assistant Director of General Studies Writing, with any questions about transferring in writing course credits.