Office of the Registrar

AP & IB Credit

Incoming first-year and transfer students may receive credit toward graduation, provided their examinations meet Oberlin’s academic requirements.

Credit is awarded for AP, IB, or international entrance exams only if taken prior to matriculation.

AP and IB credit is granted on the condition that the student does not enroll in an equivalent course at Oberlin; if they do, the credit must be relinquished.

Oberlin accepts only higher-level scores for International Baccalaureate credit.

Please note that departmental policies are subject to change.

Please note: the comments column references the home department's application of the AP/IB equivalency for their major. If you would like to apply the AP/IB equivalency to a different major, review the catalog for information on how the AP/IB equivalency would be applied.

Home Department Score of AP or IB Exam Awarded Advanced Placement in Oberlin Courses Comments
Art History 5 - AP 1 Full Course ARTH 600 Not for major credit
Will count toward total credit for graduation
Biology 4 or 5 - AP 1 Full Course BIOL 604 Not for major credit
Will count toward total credit for graduation
Biology 6 or 7 - HL IB 1 Full Course BIOL 604 Not for major credit
Will count toward total credit for graduation
Chemistry 4, 5 - AP 1 Full Course CHEM 101 Counts toward major
Chemistry 6 or 7 - HL IB 1 Full Course CHEM 101 Counts toward major
Chemistry A - Level Scores A*, A, or B - - *May petition Dept. Chair to begin Chemistry with 102
Computer Science 4, 5 - AP (A) 1 Full Course CSCI 150 Counts toward major
Computer Science 5, 6 or 7 - HL IB prior to Spring 2020* 1 Full Course CSCI 150

Counts toward major*

*prior to Spring 2020

Please contact department for how to proceed if HL IB taken Spring 2020 or beyond.

English 5 - AP (Lit and Comp) 1 Full Course ENGL 600 Not for major credit
Will count toward total credit for graduation
English 5, 6, 7 - HL IB 1 Full Course ENGL 600 Not for major credit
Will count toward total credit for graduation
Environmental Studies 5 - AP 1 Full Course ENVS 600

Not for major credit
Must take an additional upper level social science or humanities course from the program’s list of approved courses as a substitute for ENVS 101
Will count toward total credit for graduation

French 4, 5 - AP (Liti or Lang) 1 Full Course FREN 300 Counts toward major
French 6-7 - HL IB 1 Full Course FREN 300 Counts toward major
German 4, 5 - AP 1 Full Course GERM 300 Counts toward major
Hispanic Studies 5 - AP (Lit or Lang) 1 Full Course HISP 300 Counts toward major
Hispanic Studies 6 - 7 HL IB 1 Full Course HISP 300 Counts toward major
History 4, 5 - AP (World) 1 Full Course HIST 097 Not for major credit
History 4, 5 - AP (Europe) 1 Full Course HIST 098 Not for major credit
History 4, 5 - AP (US) 1 Full Course HIST 099 Not for major credit
History 6 - 7 HL IB 1 Full Course - Not for major credit
Latin 4, 5 - AP 1 Full Course LATN 600 Not for major credit
Will need Chair approval - a syllabus & samples of work required.
Latin 6 - 7 HL IB 1 Full Course LATN 600 Not for major credit
Will need Chair approval - a syllabus & samples of work required.
Mathematics 4, 5 - AP (BC) 2 Full Courses MATH 133, 134 Students receiving credit in one or more courses do not need to take the Calculus Readiness or Statistics Readiness Exam
Counts toward total credit for graduation
Mathematics 3 - AP (BC with AB Sub Score 4 or 5) 1 Full Course MATH 133 Counts toward total credit for graduation
Mathematics Spring 2020: 3 - AP (BC, no AB Sub Score required) 1 Full Course MATH 133 Counts toward total credit for graduation
Mathematics 4, 5 - AP (AB) 1 Full Course MATH 133 Counts toward total credit for graduation
Mathematics

6 or 7 -  HL IB AA

2 Full Courses MATH 133 & 134 Counts toward total credit for graduation
Mathematics

5 -

HL IB AA

1 Full Course MATH 133 Counts toward total credit for graduation
Mathematics

6 or 7 -

HL IB AI

1 Full Course MATH 133 Counts toward total credit for graduation
Music Theory 4, 5 - AP

1 Full Course  / 4 credits*

*dependent on division of student AS, CN or DD

MUTH 001 if score received by Registrar's Office prior to or on April 6, 2021

OR

MUTH 600 if score received by Registrar's Office after or on April 7, 2021

Not for major credit nor for placement within the MUTH sequence.
Will count toward total credit for graduation
Physics 4, 5 - AP (1) 1 Full Course PHYS 103 Counts toward major
Physics 4, 5 - AP (2) 1 Full Course PHYS 104 Counts toward major
Physics 4, 5 - AP (C Mech) 1 Full Course PHYS 110 Counts toward major
Physics 5 - AP (C E&M) 1 Full Course PHYS 111 Counts toward major
Physics 5, 6, 7 HL IB 1 Full Courses PHYS 600 Not for major credit
Will count toward total credit for graduation
Politics 5 - AP (Amer) 1 Full Course POLT 099 Only one of these three areas
counts toward major and graduation
Politics 5 - AP (Comp) 1 Full Course POLT 099 Only one of these three areas
counts toward major and graduation
Politics

5 - AP   (Gen. Polt)

1 Full Course POLT 099 Only one of these three areas
counts toward major and graduation
Psychology 4 or 5 - AP 1 Full Course PSYC 100 Counts toward major
Psychology 6 or 7 HL IB 1 Full Course PSYC 100 Counts toward major

For information on how to send International Baccalaureate results to Oberlin, visit the International Baccalaureate® website.

View International Baccalaureate: Getting Results 

 

The basic guidelines for requesting that an AP Grade Report be sent to Oberlin College is available on the College Board website.

View College Board: AP Score Reporting Services 

 

Oberlin 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

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

  1. Obtain the official, original document showing your official results and bring it to the registrar’s office. The document needed is the one which lists in detail the subjects you studied and the exam marks you earned for each of these subjects studied. The official, original document is required.
  2. A photocopy of the original will be made and the original document will be returned to you. We recommend you save this document in a highly secure place.
  3. You will be given copies of your document for you to bring to the Oberlin departments where the courses would have been taught, if they had been taught at Oberlin. You would go to those departments and present the official document showing your scores and any other documentation they request to understand what you studied. Such things can include syllabi, textbooks, notes, papers, exams, etc. You may need to explain which of these items are still available and which are not. You need to be prepared to validate your work.
  4. In awarding credit, departments usually follow practices similar to the ones they have established for AP/IB credit.