Advanced Credit Guide (2019/2020)

About Advanced Credit

As a new student at Boston University, you may be eligible for advanced credit based upon:

  • college courses completed during high school or during the summer
  • Advanced Placement (AP) examinations
  • International Baccalaureate examinations
  • GCE Advanced-Level examinations
  • French Baccalaureate examinations
  • German Abitur examinations
  • Italian Maturitá examinations
  • Swiss Maturité examinations

For specific information about credit awarded for IB, GCE, French Baccalaureate, German Abitur, and Italian Maturitá examinations, please see www.bu.edu/admissions/apply/forms.

Credit that you receive may be awarded toward:

  • BU Hub (general education) requirements
  • requirements for majors and minors
  • elective credit

Advanced credit offers flexibility, which can be helpful if you are planning for:

  • a double major
  • a Dual Degree program
  • a combined BA/MA or BS/MS program
  • early graduation

Please note that students accepted into the Accelerated Medical program cannot receive advanced credit.

Advanced Placement Credit

Advanced Placement (AP) credit is college credit students earn before they matriculate at (officially enter) Boston University, and may be applied toward the degree requirements as specified by the individual programs, schools, and colleges of Boston University. To be eligible to receive AP credit, first-time freshmen must take the AP exam prior to matriculation at Boston University. To ensure accurate degree planning and effective advising, students should submit all scores before the first day of their first semester at Boston University. For transfer students, AP credit awarded by a prior institution will be reevaluated as part of the transfer credit evaluation process. All students must submit official examination scores via the College Board. Please use BU’s College Entrance Examination Board code, 3087.

Most programs at Boston University award credit for test scores of 4 or 5 on most AP examinations. AP credit is awarded as outlined in the chart below.

Credit for College Coursework

For transfer students matriculating at Boston University before Fall 2020, the curricula of the schools and colleges at BU are structured around core courses in the liberal arts. A liberal arts course will generally transfer if:

  • the course was completed at a regionally accredited post-secondary institution
  • the grade earned is C or better
  • the content and depth of the course was similar to a course offered at Boston University

Credit for professional courses will be transferred at the discretion of the school or college of admission.

Transfer credit is not granted for physical education, health, dance, or ROTC courses, or for non-academic activities.

The basic unit of credit at BU is the semester hour. Transferable coursework completed under a semester credit-hour system is awarded with an equal number of credit hours. Coursework completed under a quarter-hour system is converted by awarding two-thirds of the total number of quarter hours.

High School/Dual Enrollment Credits: Any college courses used to fulfill high school graduation requirements are not eligible for credit at Boston University. The Dual Enrollment Verification Form must be signed and submitted by your high school counselor to verify this. The coursework must also be completed at an accredited college or university.

For more information on Dual Enrollment Credits, see our credit policies at the Transfer of Undergraduate Credit from US Institutions policy.

International Baccalaureate Credit

Most programs at Boston University award eight credits for test scores of 5, 6, or 7 on most higher-level International Baccalaureate examinations. For more information, see the IB course equivalence chart at www.bu.edu/admissions/apply/forms.

Swiss Maturité Examinations

Credit may be awarded for the Schwerpunktfach (main) subject and for the First Language subject with a score of 4 or higher on the exam. For more information, please contact intadmis@bu.edu.

Boston University reserves the right to change policy regarding AP credit without advanced notice.

Advanced Placement (AP) Exam Credit

New students will be awarded AP credit as outlined below. Please note: credit will be accepted at the discretion of each school or college.

Examination Schools/Colleges Score Credits Course Equivalents BU Hub Units*
Art History all 4, 5 4 AH 100 N/A
Biology all 4 4 BI 105 or BI 107 or BI 108 or NS 201 SI I
5 8 BI 105 & BI 108 or BI 107 & 108 or NS 201 & NS 202 SI I & SI II
Calculus AB all 4, 5 4 MA 123 QR II
Calculus BC all any score + sub-score 4, 5 4 MA 123 QR II
4, 5 + sub-score 4, 5 8 MA 123 & MA 124 QR II & QR II
Chemistry all 4, 5 4 CH 131 SI I
Chinese Language & Culture all 5 4 LC 212 GCI
Computer Science A all, except ENG 4, 5 4 CS 111 QR II
Computer Science Principles all, except ENG 4, 5 4 CS 101 QR I
Economics: Macro all 4, 5 4 EC 102 SO I
Economics: Micro all 4, 5 4 EC 101 SO I
English Language & Composition all 4, 5 4 WR 099 N/A
English Literature & Composition all 4, 5 4 EN 100 or HU 1XX N/A
Environmental Science all 4, 5 4 ES 107 SI I
European History all 4, 5 4 HI 098 N/A
French Language & Culture all 4 4 LF 212 GCI
5 4 LF 212 or LF 303 GCI
German Language all 4 4 LG 212 GCI
5 4 LG 212 or LG 303 GCI
Government & Politics: Comparative all 4, 5 4 PO 151 SO I
Government & Politics: United States all 4, 5 4 PO 111 SO I
Human Geography all 4, 5 4 GE 100 SO I
Italian Language & Culture all 4 4 LI 212 GCI
5 4 LI 212 or LI 303 GCI
Japanese Language all 5 4 LJ 212 GCI
Latin: Virgil all 4 4 CL 212 N/A
5 8 CL 212 & CL 3XX N/A
Latin: Literature all 4 4 CL 212 N/A
5 8 CL 212 & CL 3XX N/A
Music Theory all 4, 5 4 MT 105 AEX
Physics 1 all, except ENG 4, 5 4 PY 105 SI I
Physics 2 all, except ENG 4, 5 4 PY 106 SI II
Physics C: Mechanics all 4, 5 4 PY 211 or PY 251 SI I
Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism all 4, 5 4 PY 212 or PY 252 SI II
Psychology all 4, 5 4 PS 101 SO I
Spanish Language all 4 4 LS 212 GCI
5 4 LS 212 or LS 3XX GCI
Spanish Literature & Culture all 4 4 LS 212 GCI
5 4 LS 212 or LS 307 GCI
Statistics all, except ENG 4, 5 4 MA 115 or QM 221 QR II
United States History all 4, 5 4 HI 099 N/A

 

*BU Hub Units
AEX Aesthetic Exploration
GCI Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
QR I & II Quantitative Reasoning I & II
SI I & II Scientific Inquiry I & II
SO I & II Social Inquiry I & II