AP credits

Elective units awarded may be applied to UC graduation requirements for specific subjects and/or for general education requirements, as determined by each campus.

For transfer students, AP exams can also be used to meet transfer admission subject requirements in English (UC-E), Math (UC-M) and 4 other courses chosen from the humanities (UC- H), behavioral/social sciences (UC-B) and biological/physical sciences (UC-S).

Although the College Board reports all AP test 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.

Credit granted for AP exams

Credit is expressed in semester units for Berkeley and Merced, and quarter units for all other campuses. In the left column, the designations (e.g. UC-E, UC-M, etc.) indicate if the AP exam score can be used to meet one of the minimum junior transfer admission requirements. Note: Even an exam with multiple designations can only meet one requirement. 

Art and Design 

2-D Art and Design: 5.3 sem/8 qtr
3-D Art and Design: 5.3 sem/8 qtr
Drawing: 5.3 sem/8 qtr

(5.3 sem/8 qtr unit maximum for all three exams)

Art History (UC-H)

5.3 sem/8 qtr

Biology (UC-S)

5.3 sem/8 qtr

Chemistry (UC-S)

5.3 sem/8 qtr

Computer Science

Computer Science A: 5.3 sem/8 qtr 
Computer Science Principles: 5.3 sem/8 qtr

Economics (UC-B)

Microeconomics: 2.6 sem/4 qtr
Macroeconomics: 2.6 sem/4 qtr

English

Language and Composition (UC-E): 5.3 sem/8 qtr
Literature and Composition (UC-E/H): 5.3 sem/8 qtr 

(5.3 sem/8 qtr maximum for both exams)

Environmental Science (UC-S)

2.6 sem/4 qtr

Government and Politics (UC-B)

United States: 2.6 sem/4 qtr
Comparative: 2.6 sem/4 qtr

History (UC-B/H)

United States History: 5.3 sem/8 qtr
European History: 5.3 sem/8 qtr
Modern World History: 5.3 sem/8 qtr

Human Geography (UC-B)

2.6 sem/4 qtr

Language Other than English (UC-H)

5.3 sem/8 qtr for each:

Chinese Language and Culture
French Language and Culture
German Language and Culture
Italian Language and Culture
Latin 
Japanese Language and Culture
Spanish Language and Culture
Spanish Literature and Culture

Mathematics (UC-M)

Calculus AB: 2.6 sem/4 qtr
Calculus BC: 5.3 sem/8 qtr

(5.3 sem/8 qtr maximum for both exams)

Music Theory (UC-H)

5.3 sem/8 qtr

Physics (UC-S)

Physics 1: 5.3 sem/8 qtr
Physics 2: 5.3 sem/8 qtr
Physics C Mechanics: 2.6 sem/4 qtr
Physics C Electricity and Magnetism: 2.6 sem/4 qtr

(5.3 sem/8 qtr maximum for all tests)

Psychology (UC-B)

2.6 sem/4 qtr

Statistics (UC-M)

2.6 sem/4 qtr

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 4 quarter units for the Calculus AB examination, even if they do not receive a score of 3 or higher on the BC examination (note that the maximum credit awarded for both exams is 8 quarter units).

Music Theory subscore

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

Duplication with college courses

Students should be advised that college courses taken before or after attending UC may duplicate AP, IB and/or A-Level examinations. Additionally, exams may duplicate each other (for example, an AP or IB exam in the same subject area).

If the student does duplicate an exam with another exam of the same subject content, and/or an exam with a college course, we will award credit only once.