Office of Undergraduate Admissions

Baccalaureate degree candidates may earn course credit by successfully completing approved examinations, including Cambridge International A Level, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), College Level Examination Program (CLEP), Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) and exams administered by Ofqual-recognized AS/A Level boards, such as Cambridge International, Oxford International AQA, and Pearson Edexcel.

• AP Credits

  AP Exam Area	AP Score	Credit Earned	AP Score	Credit Earned
  African American Studies	3	AFAM 201
  American Government and Politics	3	POLI 201
  AP Research Course	3	UNEL 002T
  AP Seminar Course	3	UELC 002T
  Art History	3	ARTE 101	4	ARTH 105
  			5	ARTH 105 and 106
  Art Studio, 2-D	3	ARTS 103
  Art Studio, 3-D	3	ARTS 104
  Art Studio, Drawing	3	ARTS 111
  Biology	3	BIOL 101 and 101L	4, 5	BIOL 101, 101L, 102 and 102L
  Chemistry	3	CHEM 111 and 111L	4, 5	CHEM 111, 111L, 112 and 112L
  Chinese	3	CHIN 121	4, 5	CHIN 121 and 122
  Comparative Government and Politics*	3	POLI 103C
  Computer Science-A	3	CSCE 145
  Computer Science Principles	3, 4, 5	CSCE 101
  Economics-Macro	3	ECON 222
  Economics-Micro	3	ECON 221
  English Language and Composition OR English Composition and Literature	3 (on either)	ENGL 101	5 (on either or both)	ENGL 101 and 102
  	3 (on both)	ENGL 101 and 102
  Environmental Science	3	ENVR 101 & ENVR 101L
  European History	3	HIST 101	4, 5	HIST 101 and 102
  French Language OR French Literature**	3 (on either)	FREN 121	4, 5 (on either or both)	FREN 121 and 122
  	3 (on both)	FREN 121 AND 122
  German**	3	GERM 121	4, 5	GERM 121 and 122
  Human Geography	3	GEOG 210
  Italian	3	ITAL 121	4, 5	ITAL 121 and 122
  Japanese	3	JAPA 121	4, 5	JAPA 121 and 122
  Latin**	3	LATN 121 and 122	4	LATN 301
  	5	LATN 321
  Mathematics-Calculus AB	3, 4, 5	MATH 141
  Mathematics-Calculus BC***	3, 4, 5	MATH 141 and 142
  Music Theory	3	MUSC 114	4	MUSC 117
  			5	MUSC 115 and 117
  Physics I	3	PHYS 201 and 201L
  Physics II	3	PHYS 202 and 202L
  Physics B (DISCONTINUED)	3	PHYS 201 and 201L	4, 5	PHYS 201, 201L, 202 and 202L
  Physics C-Mechanics	3	PHYS 201 and 201L	4, 5	PHYS 211 and 211L
  Physics C-Electricity and Magnetism	3	PHYS 202 and 202L	4, 5	PHYS 212 and 212L
  Precalculus	3	MATH 111	4, 5	MATH 115
  Psychology	3	PSYC 101
  Spanish Language OR  Spanish Literature**	3	SPAN 121	4, 5 (on either or both)	SPAN 121 and 122
  	3 (on both)	SPAN 121 and 122
  Statistics	3, 4	STAT 201 if exam taken through December 2010; STAT 110 if exam taken January 2011 or later	5	STAT 201 if exam taken through December 2010; STAT 110 and STAT 201 if exam taken January 2011 to December 2015; STAT 110 and STAT 206 if exam taken January 2016 or later
  United States History	3	HIST 111	4, 5	HIST 111 and 112
  World History	3	HUMA 002T****

  * Meets core social science requirement and / or prerequisite in the majors of political science and international studies.

  ** Students scoring 1 or 2 must take USC’s foreign language test. If you wish to continue your language study at USC, you must take the PHASE II Language Test to help determine your correct placement. For details, visit our testing page.

  *** Students who score a 1 or 2 but receive a 3 or above on the Calculus AB subscore will earn credit for MATH 141.

  **** AP test scores of 3 or higher will earn credit for HUMA 002T for exams taken 2014 or later or for COLA 298 if taken prior to 2014. 

• A Level Credits

  A Level Subject	A Level Grade	Credit Earned
  Biology	E, D, C B, A	BIOL 101, 101L BIOL 101, 101L, 102 and 102L
  Computer Science	E, D, C, B, A	CSE 101 and CSCE 001T
  Chemistry	E, D, C  B, A	CHEM 111 and 111L CHEM 111, 111L, 112 and 112L
  Economics	E, D C, B, A	ECON 221 ECON 221 and 222
  English Language	E, D, C, B, A	ENGL 101 and 102
  English Literature	E, D, C, B, A	ENGL 101 and 102
  Geography	E, D, C, B, A	GEOG 103
  History: U.S.	E, D, C, B, A	HIST 112
  History: European	E, D, C, B, A	HIST 102
  History: International	E, D, C, B, A	HIST 001T
  Marine Science	E, D, C, B, A	MSCI 210
  Mathematics	A, B, C	MATH 141 and 142
  Physics	E, D, C B, A	PHYS 211 and 211L PHYS 211, 211L, 212 and 212L
  Psychology	E, D, C, B, A	PSYC 101
  Thinking Skills	E, D, C, B, A	PHIL 001T

• AS Level Credits

  AS Level Subject	AS Level Grade	Credit Earned
  Biology	E, D, C, B, A	BIOL 101 and 101L
  Chemistry	E, D, C  B, A	CHEM 111 and 111L CHEM 111, 111L, 112 and 112L
  Computer Science	E, D, C, B, A	CSCE 101 and CSCE 001T
  Economics	E, D C, B, A	ECON 221 ECON 221 and 222
  English Language	E, D, C, B, A	ENGL 101
  English Literature	E, D, C, B, A	ENGL 101
  Environmental Management	E, D, C, B, A	ENVR 231
  Geography	E, D, C, B, A	GEOG 103
  History: U.S./International/European	E, D, C, B, A	HUMA 001T
  Marine Science	E, D, C, B, A	MSCI 210
  Physics	E, D, C, B, A	PHYS 211 and 211L
  Psychology	E, D, C, B, A	PSYC 101
  Thinking Skills	E, D, C, B, A	PHIL 001T

• IB Credits

  IB Exam Area	IB Score	Credit Earned	IB Score	Credit Earned
  Arabic	4	ARAB 121
  Biology	4	BIOL 101 and 101L	5, 6, 7	BIOL 101, 101L, 102 and 102L
  Business and Management	4	MGMT 371	5, 6, 7	MGMT 371 and 376
  Chemistry	4	CHEM 111 and 111L	5, 6, 7	CHEM 111, 111L, 112 and 112L
  Computing Studies	4	CSCE 145 and 210	5, 6, 7	CSCE 145, 146 and 212
  Dance	4, 5, 6, 7	DANC 160
  Design Tech	4	HUMA 002T
  Economics	4, 5	ECON 221	6, 7	ECON 221 and 222
  English A Literature OR English A Language and Literature* English B exams (NOT AWARDED FOR CREDIT)	4 (on either)	ENGL 101	5, 6, 7 (on either or both)	ENGL 101 and 102
  	4 (on both)	ENGL 101 and 102
  Film	4	HUMA 002T
  French B*	4, 5	FREN 122 and 209	6, 7	FREN 209 and 210
  Geography	4	GEOG 103
  German B*	4, 5	GERM 122 and 210	6, 7	GERM 210 and 211
  Global Politics	4, 5, 6, 7	POLI 101
  History of the Americas	4	HIST 102 and 112
  History of Africa and the Middle East	4	HIST 104
  History of Asia	4	HUMA 002T
  Information Technology in Global Society	4	HUMA 002T
  Islamic History	4	HUMA 002T
  Italian B*	4, 5	ITAL 122 and 221	6, 7	ITAL 221 and 222
  Latin B*	4	LATN 121 and 122	5, 6	LATN 122 and 301
  			7	LATN 301 and 312
  Mandarin B**
  Mathematics	4	MATH 141	5, 6, 7	MATH 141 and 142
  Mathematics Analysis and Approaches	4	MATH 141	5, 6, 7	MATH 141 and 142
  Mathematics Applications and Interpretation	4	MATH 141	5, 6, 7	MATH 141 and 142
  Music	4	MUSC 114	5, 6, 7	MUSC 115
  Philosophy	4	HUMA 002I
  Physics	4	PHYS 201 and 201L	5, 6, 7	PHYS 201, 201L, 202 and 202L
  Psychology	4	PSYC 101
  Social Anthropology	4	ANTH 102
  Spanish B*	4, 5	SPAN 122 and 209	6, 7	SPAN 209 and 210
  Sports, Exercise and Health Science	4	EXSC 191
  Theatre Arts	4	THEA 200
  Visual Arts	4	ARTS 103	5 or higher	ARTS 103 and 104

  * Scores of 4 or higher on any higher level IB foreign language exam are not required to take USC’s foreign placement exam. Students receiving credit through the IB foreign language exam will not receive additional advanced-standing credit for 100-level courses.

  ** Scores of 4 or higher are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and include an oral interview.

  This information is subject to change and is intended as a guide only. Credit awarded may change without notice.