First-Year Entrants with Advanced Standing

First-Year Entrants with Advanced Standing

Advanced Standing as described below may be awarded by The Center for Academic Support and Advising (CASA) to students who are in good academic standing. This policy applies to students who have completed fewer than 15 semester or 23 quarter credits of college work post high school graduation, and students who have completed college work during high school. The guidelines for academic progress should be carefully reviewed to determine eligibility to use advanced standing. It is important to note that advanced standing may not be used to make up for academic deficiencies. Students’ academic records are reviewed at the end of the first year of enrollment to determine eligibility to apply advanced standing to Division I electives, and are reviewed again in Division II to determine the eligibility to apply advanced standing to Division II.

Students may use a total of eight advanced standing courses and exams combined towards their Hampshire degree with the following restrictions:

Courses must be full academic courses[1] taken at a regionally accredited college or university, evidenced by a college transcript, and graded C or better. Eligible exams include Advanced Placement (AP) exams with scores of 4 or 5 and International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher-Level exams with scores of 5 or higher. The courses described above may be used either for Division I electives, in Division II or a combination of both. The exams described above may only be used for up to three Division I electives in Division I.

Students must fulfill all Division I requirements in their first two semesters, including fulfillment of CEL-1/Race and Power requirements, to be eligible to apply outside college courses and/or AP/IB exams towards Division I requirements. They should consult with their advisor and contact the Division I dean in CASA for approval to use advanced standing in Division I at the end of their first year of enrollment after the evaluations and any Five College grades for all seven courses have been recorded. Final approval from the Division I Dean is required to make advanced standing available for selection in Division I forms on TheHub. Hampshire and Five College courses that are not used to complete Division I requirements may be included in Division II with committee approval.

Students should discuss the possibility of using advanced standing courses with their committees early in Division II. The committee will determine if the courses are appropriate for the student to include. Final approval from a Division II Dean in CASA is required to make advanced standing available for selection in Division II contracts on TheHub.

Request for Timeline Adjustment
Students with advanced standing are encouraged to complete the full program of eight semesters along with their entering cohort to benefit fully from Hampshire’s rich academic program. However, students with a semester or more of advanced standing may, with CASA approval and the support of their Division II committee, request a timeline adjustment at the beginning of the anticipated final full semester of Division II.  (For a student on an eight-semester timeline, the final semester of Division II is the 6^th semester of enrollment.)

The request for a timeline adjustment will be considered if the student has maintained good academic standing in addition to fulfilling all Division I requirements in their first two semesters and are on track to fulfill the requirements of Division II early. The student should initiate a conversation with the committee, who must write a letter of support directed to the appropriate dean in CASA. If approved, the student’s timeline will be adjusted by one or, in some cases, two semesters.

[1] Full academic courses carry at least 3 semester credits at a community college; 4 semester credits at a four-year college or university; or 4.0 quarter credits for institutions operating on a quarter- system. Courses must be comparable in academic demands and disciplines to those offered at Hampshire and be graded C or better. Courses carrying less than the above-mentioned number of credits may be taken into consideration for advanced standing in combination with similar courses.