Advanced Placement credit

UC grants credit for all College Board Advanced Placement tests on which a student scores 3 or higher. The credit toward graduation may get specific subject credit and/or credit toward general education/breadth requirements, as determined by evaluators at each campus.

Please encourage students to take AP tests when appropriate. Although the College Board reports all AP tests results to us, students should be aware AP test scores lower than 3 will not adversely affect their chances for admission.

Units granted for AP tests are not counted toward the maximum number of credits required for formal declaration of a major or the maximum number of units a student may accumulate prior to graduation. Students who enter UC with AP credit do not have to declare a major earlier than other students, nor are they required to graduate earlier.

We grant credit for AP tests as described in the box below.

(Credit is expressed in quarter units. For Berkeley and Merced, divide total quarter units by 1.5 to convert to semester units.)

UC Eligibility Code: E=English, M=Mathematics, H=Humanities, B=Behavioral and Social Sciences, S=Biological and Physical Sciences

Art, Studio

 2-D Design Portfolio: 8
3-D Design Portfolio: 8
Drawing Portfolio: 8
(8-unit maximum for all three tests)

Art, History of (UC-H)

8

Biology (UC-S)

 8

Chemistry (UC-S)

 8

Computer Science

 Computer Science A: 2
Computer Science AB: 4
(4-unit maximum for both tests)

Economics (UC-B)

 Microeconomics: 4  
Macroeconomics: 4

English

 Language and Composition (UC-E): 8  
Literature and Composition (UC-E/H): 8  
(8-unit maximum for both tests)

Environmental Science (UC-S)

 4 

Government and Politics (UC-B)

 United States: 4  
Comparative: 4 

History (UC-B/H)

 United States History: 8 
European History: 8 
World History: 8 

Human Geography (UC-B)

 4 

Language Other than English (UC-H)

Chinese Language and Culture: 8 
French Language: 8 
French Literature: 8 
German Language: 8 
Italian Language and Culture: 8 
Japanese Language and Culture: 8 
Spanish Language: 8 
Spanish Literature: 8 

Latin (UC-H)

 Latin Literature: 4 
Vergil: 4 

Mathematics (UC-M)

 Calculus AB: 4 
Calculus BC: 8
(8-unit maximum for both tests)

Music Theory (UC-H)

 8 
(Listening and Literature no longer offered)

Physics (UC-S)

 Physics B: 8 
Physics C Mechanics: 4 
Physics C Electricity and Magnetism: 4 
(8-unit maximum for all three tests)

Psychology (UC-B)

 4 

Statistics (UC-M)

 4 

In many cases, satisfaction of subject requirements or credit toward specific requirements also is awarded by the campuses.

At all campuses, a maximum of 8 quarter units are allowed in each of the following areas: Art (Studio), English, Mathematics, Music and Physics. A maximum of 4 quarter units are allowed in Computer Science.

AB subscore on Calculus BC examination

Students who take the Calculus BC examination and earn a subscore of 3 or higher on the Calculus AB portion will receive credit for the Calculus AB examination, even if they do not receive a score of 3 or higher on the BC examination.

Music Theory subscore

We grant credit for the full Music Theory exam. Students who earn only a subscore will not receive exam credit.

Duplication of AP and college courses

Please advise students that college courses taken before or after attending UC may duplicate IB or AP examinations. If the student does duplicate an exam with a college course or vice versa, we will award credit for only one.