Each department sets its own policy about awarding credit or advanced standing, and some departments require a placement examination or a course taken at Swarthmore to validate a student's previous work. The timing of credit awards varies from department to department. Most decisions are made after the first semester. Students not hearing a decision by the end of the second semester should contact the relevant department.
Departmental credit awards are provisional pending receipt of official scores by the College Registrar. Swarthmore credit will be recorded by the Registrar only on receipt of (1) official scores from the College Board, etc., and (2) credit validation from the relevant department.
Swarthmore's CEEB number (our College Board number) is 2821.
There is no College-wide maximum limit to the amount of AP or IB credit that can
be received.
Credit awarded for work done elsewhere appears on the student transcript.
Departmental policies are subject to change. Web page last revised April 01, 2013.
The Chemistry policy for the Classes of 2015 appears below. The Chemistry policy for classes 2014 and earlier is: "Students with a score of 5 on the Chemistry AP exam (taken their junior year in high school or later) or a score of 6 or 7 on the Higher
Chemistry IB exam receive one credit and if continuing take CHEM 010H; however, no AP credit is received if students take CHEM 001 or CHEM 010."
| Program |
Score of AP or IB exam
|
Credit |
Advanced Placement in
courses |
Comments
|
| Art History |
AP- 5,
Higher IB- 6 or 7 |
1 |
-- |
Students who receive a 5 on the AP exam in art history will be granted one unit of credit upon completion of an art history course in the department.
|
| Biology |
AP- 5,
Higher IB- 6 or 7,
British A levels- 'A' |
1 |
Possible Adv. Placement for
Bio 010-039, with instructor's permission |
Credit awarded after completion
of 1 Swarthmore Bio course with lab (Bio 001, 002 or 010-039) |
| Chemistry |
AP-5, (taken Jr or Sr yr HS),
Higher IB- 6 or 7
Students must indicate they have achieved these scores using the "Chemistry Placement" process accessed through the Deans Office online Orientation forms. |
none |
Option to place into
Chem 10H |
Placement without credit. First year students can use the Chemistry Placement Exam to place into CHEM 010H in the absence of AP/IB credit.
|
| Classics |
AP- 5 Latin (Vergil),
Higher IB- 6 or 7 |
1 |
Advanced placement for listed score; possible adv placement with lower score.
|
|
| Computer Science |
AP- 4 or 5 |
1
(max) |
-- |
Credit awarded after completion of 1 Swarthmore CS course. Students are encouraged to discuss placement with any CS faculty member.
|
| Dance |
Higher IB-6 or 7 |
1 |
-- |
One unit of credit awarded after the completion of a composition, history or theory course in the Dance program. |
| Economics |
AP- 5 (Macro AND Micro),
Higher IB- 6 or 7 |
none |
Option to place out of Econ
001 |
If option is used, must take
another Econ course before taking Econ 011 or 021. |
| Educational Studies |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
| Engineering |
-- |
-- |
-- |
Prior college-level work
may be awarded credit by individual application, not as matter of policy
|
| English Language & Composition
|
AP- 4 or 5,
Higher IB- 6 or 7 |
1 |
No exemptions from Dept.
prerequisites |
Does not count toward English
Major or Minor |
| English Literature & Composition
|
AP- 4 or 5,
Higher IB- 6 or 7 |
1 |
No exemptions from Dept.
prerequisites |
May count toward ENGL Major or Minor
|
| Environmental Studies |
Environmental Science
AP- 5 |
1 |
Credit does not satisfy divisional distribution require- ments. |
Must complete 1 course counting for Tri-Co
ENVS credit (not a cognate course).
|
| History (US, European, World)
|
AP- 4 or 5,
Higher IB- 6 or 7 |
1 for each
exam
(2 max) |
Possible placement in advanced
courses, with instructor's permission. |
Must pass with straight C or better one Hist course
(001-011) for first AP/IB credit; must pass with straight C or better any other Hist course for
2nd credit. Only one AP/IB credit will count towards completion of a History major. |
| Linguistics |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
| Mathematics |
AP- 5 (Calculus BC exam) |
2 |
|
Equals Math 015, 025
|
| " |
AP- 5 (Calculus AB, or AB- subscore),
Higher IB- 6 or 7 |
1.5 |
|
Equals Math 015, the first
half of 025, and placement into 026 |
| " |
AP- 4 (Calculus BC or AB,
or AB- subscore),
Higher IB- 5 |
1 |
|
Equals Math 015 |
| " |
Dept. Calculus placement
exam |
-- |
Possible adv. placement up
to two semesters |
|
| Modern Languages and Literatures
|
AP- 4 or 5,
Higher IB- 6 or 7 in
Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish
|
1
(max 1 per lang.) |
Placement tests are required for all languages except Russian; which needs the instructor's approval. |
After completing a one credit
course in that language at the College |
| Music Theory |
-- |
-- |
Possible adv. placement |
|
| Philosophy |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
| Physics |
AP- 5 (Mechan C) |
1 |
Possible adv. placement |
Equals Physics 003 if you
pass a representative Physics 003 test administered
by the department |
| " |
AP- 5 (Electr/ Mag C) |
1 |
Possible adv. placement |
Equals Physics 004 if you
pass a representative Physics 004 test administered
by the department |
| " |
Higher IB- 6 or 7 |
2 |
Possible adv. placement |
Equals Physics 003 &
004 if you pass representative Physics
003 and 004 tests administered by the department |
| Political Science |
AP- 5 (either US Govt &
Pols or Comp Govt & Pols, but not both) |
1
(max) |
-- |
|
| Psychology |
AP- 5,
Higher IB- 6 or 7 |
No credit
|
Possible placement out of
Intro Psychology |
For exemption from Psyc 001,
consult Dept. for guidance and admission to suitable first Psyc course. |
| Religion |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
| Soc / Anth |
Higher IB- 6 or 7 |
-- |
-- |
Considered on a case by case
basis. |
| Statistics |
AP- 4 or 5 |
1 |
|
Equals Statistics 011 |
| Studio Art |
AP- 5,
Higher IB- 6 or 7 |
1 |
|
May waive STUA 001 with presentation
of portfolio |
| Theater |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
