How to get Swarthmore credit for International Entrance Exams

AP Credit Guide

Swarthmore degree credit is possible, depending on departmental and registrar approval, for widely recognized International Entrance Exams, such as the

British System A-Levels,

French Baccalaureate,

German Abitur,

Italian or Swiss Maturita, etc.,

To receive credit for any of these exams, follow these general instructions:

1) Get the official, original document showing your official results and bring it to the Registrar's Office. The document we need is the one which lists in detail the subjects you studied and the exam marks you earned for each of these subjects studied. We need to see the official, original document.

2) We will photocopy the original, keeping the photocopy for us and return to you your original document, which we recommend you save forever in a highly secure place.

3) We will give you additional copies of your document for you to bring to the Swarthmore departments where the courses would have been taught if they had been taught here. You go to those departments and present not only the official document showing your scores, but also any other documentation they request to understand what you studied. Such things can include syllabi, text books, notes, papers, exams, etc. You may need to explain which of these things they request are still available, and which are not. You should be prepared to "validate" your work by way of oral interview, written examination, or taking a course here prior to getting any credit for the work done before - whatever the department advises.

4) Departments will generally only consider awarding credit for scores in the US Equivalent grade A (or, sometimes, B) range. This is a very high standard. If you need help determining US equivalency for your scores, please ask the registrar, Martin Warner, for help with this.

5) There is no limit on the amount of credit you can receive. In the past, students presenting these documents have received from zero to three or four course credits. Please note that Swarthmore does not automatically award credit. How much credit you get depends on how well you can substantiate your requests on a subject by subject basis.

6) In awarding credit, departments usually follow practices similar to the ones they have established for AP/IB credit awards, so a review of departmental AP credit award practice will inform what might be possible.

At any time in the process, please feel welcome to ask for help from me or my staff.

Best wishes! -Martin Warner