Applying For Advanced Standing

Let’s say you’ve been working for several years, you already have a great deal of education and knowledge under your belt, and now you want to go back to college or university to pick up another degree. It doesn’t make sense to have to complete yet another round of courses that you already have credit for. If you feel you fall into that category, ask the university or college administration about applying for advanced standing. Advanced standing offers students the opportunity to have formal training recognized and applied to the first full year of education. This usually involves requesting advanced standing right up front on your application and including all relevant transcripts. You may be required to meet with the academic advisor for an interview, complete some testing, or provide detailed documentation to prove that your prior formal education meets the learning outcomes of each course. In addition, you may be required to submit detailed unit/subject syllabuses including the following information:

• The level of subject in course
• Subject content, number of contact hours for lectures, tutorials, and laboratory sessions for each individual topic of subject
• Textbooks and reading list of courses taken
• Details of individual weighting of each assessment method, number and length of assignments and examinations
• Credit weighting of subject

Applying for advanced standing is a detailed process; however, provided you have the documentation, it can be accomplished. The amount of documentation and detail required will vary from university to university.