Advanced Credit and Placement

Depending on your experiences prior to Notre Dame, there are a number of ways you may be able to earn Advanced Credit and/or placement into appropriate math or language courses:

• Advanced Placement (AP) exams
• International Baccalaureate Higher Level (IB HL) exams
• SAT II language exams
• ND Calculus Readiness Test (taken online in May; does not grant credit)
• ND Math Credit Exam (taken in person in August or January)
• ND language placement exams (does not grant credit)
• Pre-matriculation transfer credit

Advanced Credit and Core Curriculum Requirements

Credit by exam cannot be used to satisfy Core Curriculum requirements. 

A score of 4 or 5 on the AP English Language and Composition exam or a score of 6 or 7 on the IB English HL exam earns credit for Writing and Rhetoric. 

Students with AP or IB credit for WR take instead a Writing Intensive course (any course that has been given the WRIT attribute). The WRIT course does not have to be taken in the first year and, in some cases, can double count with another Core, college, or major requirement.

Advanced Credit and College/School and Major Requirements

In some cases, credit by exam can be used to satisfy college/school or major requirements or for placement into an appropriate level course (language courses, for example). 

Life science and pre-health majors cannot use AP or IB credit for biology, chemistry, or physics courses and must take these courses at Notre Dame. Students in these majors can use credit by exam for calculus.

Advanced Credit and Total Credit Hours

Credit by exam will appear on your transcript. In many cases, these credits will count toward the total number of credits needed to graduate even if they do not satisfy any specific requirements. 

If you have credit by exam for a course but take the equivalent course at Notre Dame, only the credit from the Notre Dame course will count toward your total credits needed for graduation. For instance, if you receive a 5 on the AP Chemistry exam but take CHEM 10171 in your first semester as required by your major, your AP Chemistry credit will not count toward your total number of credits.