Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Credit and Placement

Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) Exams

At CMC, credit and/or placement for AP and IB examinations is evaluated on a subject-by-subject basis by the appropriate departments and is subject to final approval by the faculty. In some subjects, students will receive credit for AP scores of 4 or 5, and IB higher level (HL) exam scores of 6 or 7. In other subjects, they may receive placement and no credit. The maximum amount of credit students may receive for any combination of AP or IB examinations is the equivalent of four (4) CMC courses. Students cannot receive credit for more than one course or examination covering the same subject matter and students lose credit for an AP or IB course if they repeat the same or a lower-level course. CMC does not grant credit for exams in subjects not offered at the College. For CMC’s credit and placement policies, see AP/IB Credit Summary and AP/IB Placement Summary below.

Official copies of AP score reports or IB transcripts must be received by the CMC registrar no later than the first semester of the junior year to be considered for credit or placement.

AP/IB Credit Summary

CMC awards credit in the following areas, up to a maximum of 4 total units.

Field	Exams/Scores	Notes

Foreign Languages	Any AP language or literature exam in French, Spanish, German, Latin, Chinese, or Japanese with score of 4 or 5	One unit of credit equivalent to the third semester in exam language, and fulfillment of the foreign language requirement. *

	Any IB (HL) language exam bearing A or B designation with score of 6 or 7

Science	Chemistry AP exam with score of 4 or 5	One unit of elective credit.

	Chemistry IB (HL) exam with score of 6 or 7

	Any AP physics exam with score of 4 or 5	One unit of elective credit. (No additional credit for multiple exams.)

	Physics IB (HL) exam with score of 6 or 7

* For foreign languages offered within The Claremont Colleges but not at Claremont McKenna College, the policy of the sponsoring college or department will be honored.

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Policy Addendum

Students earning an AP, IB, or SAT Subject Test score in the 2020 examinations satisfying the foreign language general education requirement must demonstrate commensurate foreign language competency through a placement examination before the credit may be issued. Students who fail to place into the fourth college semester (or above) will not earn credit from their AP/IB exam and will not satisfy the foreign language general education requirement.

See COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Policies for more information.

AP/IB Placement Summary

CMC awards placement in the following areas. No credit is awarded for these exams.

Field	Exams/Scores	Notes

Economics	Microeconomics and Macroeconomics AP exams with combined score of 9 or 10	Students may satisfy the ECON 050 CM social sciences general education requirement with ECON 101 CM or ECON 102 CM .

	Economics IB (HL) exam with score of 6 or 7

English	English Literature or English Language AP exam with score of 5	Students may request Literature Department Chair permission to satisfy their FWS 010 CM general education requirement with a CMC Lit course numbered 60 or above.

	English IB (HL) exam with score of 7

Mathematics	Calculus AB AP exam with score of 4 or 5	Placement in MATH 031 CM .

	Calculus BC AP exam with score of 4 or 5	Placement in MATH 032 CM .

	Any IB (HL) mathematics exam with score of 6 or 7

Psychology	Psychology AP exam with score of 5	Students may take any CMC psychology course numbered below 100 in lieu of PSYC 030 CM .

	Psychology IB (HL) exam with score of 7