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Exemption, Advanced Placement, and Credit by Examination

Exemption without credit from a prerequisite for any course listed in this Catalogue may be granted by the instructor. Exemption without credit from one or more of the general education requirements for the B.A. or B.Mus. degree is granted by some departments for superior achievement on certain examinations or for prolonged study of a subject in high school. (See general education requirements for B.A.)

A student may receive credit by examination for a maximum of seven courses (no more than two such credits may be in any one department). The examinations for all but one of these courses must be completed by the end of the student's ninth term at Cornell. Credit by examination granted by another institution will not automatically transfer to Cornell; but where the examination is one that is used by Cornell, credit will be given if the student's performance meets Cornell's standards.

Cornell accepts the following examinations:

1. All College Entrance Examination Board's Advanced Placement (AP) Examinations except those in Studio Art, Art History, and Music Listening and Literature. For a score of 4 or 5 the student will receive course credit and exemption and advanced placement; for a score of 3, only exemption and/or advanced placement.
2. CLEP subject examinations in the following disciplines only (the minimum passing score and other criteria for granting exemption or credit are given in parentheses): American Government (55), either American Literature or English Literature, but not both (50 and departmental pass on essay), General Chemistry (60 and departmental pass on problems), Introductory Economics (48), Geology (49 and departmental pass on problems), and General Psychology (45 for exemption, 55 for exemption with credit). Please note that Cornell does not grant exemption, advanced placement, or credit for any of the CLEP general examinations.
3. The Oxford and Cambridge A-level Examinations or their equivalents. One or two course credits, depending upon whether the exemption is for one or two courses, are granted for scores of E or higher.
4. The International Baccalaureate. Two course credits are granted for each score of 4 or above on a Higher Level examination, and one course credit for each score of 4 or above on a Subsidiary Level examination.

A student who receives credit for a course by examination and repeats that course at Cornell will have the examination credit subtracted. Likewise a student who has successfully completed a Cornell course may not also receive credit for passing an examination covering similar topics. Credit will not be granted twice for passing two relatively similar examinations. Students who believe that the two are significantly different should consult the department chair for permission to receive credit for both. If granted, the chair must notify the Registrar in writing of this fact. Students are not eligible to receive credit by examination for a lower-level course after they have completed or begun a course for which the other is a prerequisite.

Examinations prepared and administered by Cornell departments at their option are an additional means of earning credit by examination, subject to the following conditions:

1. Credit by examination may be given only for courses listed in this Catalogue.
2. Credit by examination may not be given for any independent study, internship, group or individual project, tutorial, seminar, special topic, or research course.
3. Credit by examination is an option offered to students who have mastered more or less the full contents of a catalogue course in high school, at another college (provided that the course has not been given credit by transfer), through some life experience, or by studying the material on their own.
4. A student who audits a Cornell course or who is tutored by a Cornell faculty member is not eligible to receive credit by examination for such work. An independent study (Individual Project, etc.) is the appropriate vehicle for receiving faculty guidance and tutoring.
5. Students desiring credit by examination must first receive permission from the department to take an examination. Examinations are given in September and October. Those who wish to take them later in the year must petition the Academic Standing Committee at least four terms before the anticipated testing date. The Committee reserves the right to deny permission on the grounds that the examination does not fall within the guidelines stated in 1-4 above and/or that the proposed examination date is unsatisfactory. The purpose of establishing a timetable is to minimize any conflict between the time spent by a student preparing for the examination and the time required for her or his regular courses.
6. A department, in order to be able to award credit by examination, must submit to the Academic Standing Committee a list of all its courses for which it is willing to offer credit by examination and indicate the method of evaluation and its criteria for granting credit.

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