Requirements & Equivalencies for School of Arts & Sciences

Writing is fundamental to a liberal arts education, and is therefore a Foundation Requirement in the School of Arts and Sciences. Liberal Arts students are required to take two semesters of college writing in order to graduate.

Students should complete this requirement in their first year except under extraordinary circumstance. Most students do so by taking English 1 (or English 3) in the first semester and English 2 (or English 4) in the second semester, when the majority of such classes are offered.

First-Year Writing courses are sequential in nature. Therefore English 1 (or 3) must be taken before English 2 (or 4) or an English 2 equivalent course.

Equivalencies & Pre-Matriculation Credits

Liberal Arts students may fulfill one or both parts of the writing requirement if they have taken certain standardized tests and met the criteria in the following table. Some standardized tests will also grant three pre-matriculation credits (listed in the table as "three Tufts Credits"). Guidelines governing pre-matriculation credits are outlined in the Tufts Bulletin.

Please note that SAT exemptions have been eliminated as of Fall 2017. Students who matriculated in prior years may be granted exemption from the first half of the writing requirement dependent on their score (see table).

Students who have fulfilled both parts of the writing requirement are eligible to enroll in upper level English classes for which "fulfillment of the writing requirement" or "English 1 and 2" is a prerequisite.

It is the student's responsibility to ensure that the results of standardized tests are sent to Tufts and appear on their transcript. Students should contact the Student Services desk in Dowling Hall (617-627-2000) should they need assistance with this.

School of Arts and Sciences Equivalencies and Pre-Matriculation Credits