Questions about AP Credit
How are Advanced Placement and other test credits used in Trinity College?
Trinity College recognizes credits earned from several standardized exams that students take while in high school, including Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB). A complete list of placement exams we recognize is found in our handbook of academic requirements. There are two main ways in which these credits can be used by Trinity students:
- As elective credit toward the 34 credits required for the bachelor’s degree
- For placement into higher-level courses
How many AP and other eligible credits can be used toward degree requirements?
Most Trinity students will be able to apply two AP credits (or equivalent) toward the 34 credits needed for graduation. You don't have to choose which credits will count toward graduation: Our student-records system will do it for you automatically. When your AP scores are received by the Office of the University Registrar at Duke, any scores that yield eligible credit will be posted to your Duke academic record and displayed on your academic history, which you can view online once you are matriculated as a Duke student. If you have more than two eligible AP or test credits, all of them will be posted, because they all could be useful when you are making decisions about course placement.
AP and other test credits cannot be used to satisfy the general education curriculum requirements in Trinity College. For example, if you have a score of 4 or 5 on the AP Calculus BC exam, you will receive equivalent credit for Duke’s introductory calculus courses, MATH 31 and MATH 32. However, even with these credits on your Duke record, you still will have to take two Quantitative Studies (QS) courses during your undergraduate career at Duke. (QS courses are not limited to Mathematics; they are offered in several Duke departments.) Nevertheless, having these AP credits for MATH 31 and MATH 32 places you out of introductory calculus, which is required for many of Duke’s natural- and physical-science majors. Thus, having AP and other test credits may reduce the total number of courses you must take for particular programs of study.
How can AP and other test credits be used for placement into Duke courses?
Having AP or equivalent credit in subjects offered at Duke may mean that you can place out of introductory courses and begin at a more advanced level. A comprehensive list of AP placement guidelines is available.
We suggest that Trinity students follow the placement guidelines recommended by Duke’s academic departments, as they are based on many years of experience with first-year students. If you enroll in a course for which you already have the equivalent AP (or other approved) test credit, you will lose the test credit and it will be removed from your academic record. In some cases, you may be asked by the department to change your course enrollment so you are registered for a course that is appropriate to your AP or other test background.
Should students accepted to Duke take additional AP exams in the spring of their senior year of high school?
Students accepted to Duke often ask whether it's worthwhile to take additional AP exams during the senior year. We encourage you to call or e-mail the Academic Advising Center of Trinity College (919-684-6217,
) for advice that is specific to your situation. Generally, we recommend that you take advantage of any opportunity to earn at least two AP credits that can be used toward your 34-credit graduation requirement. A normal course load at Duke is four courses per semester (4.0 course credits), which totals 32 credits over 8 semesters. Because 34 credits are required to graduate, gaining 2 additional credits via eligible AP test scores can be useful.
Taking additional AP exams that may place you out of introductory courses also can reduce the total number of courses you need for certain majors. This is especially true for these subjects:
- Biology
- Calculus
- Chemistry
- Computer science
- Economics (both Macro- and Micro-)
- Environmental Science
- Foreign language
- History
- Physics
- Psychology
- Statistics
