International College-level Exam Credit

*** Subject to change ***

How Credits are Awarded

The College of Arts and Sciences offers advanced standing credit and/or advanced placement for many international college-level examinations. What follows describes the College’s policy regarding these examinations. We encourage you to contact us and the appropriate Departmental Undergraduate Director if you have questions about receiving advanced standing credit or advanced placement for any of these examinations. You may also locate departmental phone numbers by calling University directory assistance at 434-924-0311.

The College of Arts and Sciences grants advanced standing credit and advanced placement for qualifying examination scores in the Higher-Level International Baccalaureate, the French Baccalaureate, the British A-Level, the German Abitur, the Swiss Maturity Certificate, and certain other examinations. We award advanced standing credit or placement based upon qualifying examination scores (and, where applicable, subject coefficients or value) and the recommendation of the appropriate Arts and Sciences departments.

Credit and advanced placement are generally determined on a case-by-case basis, on the student’s initiative, by the Dean’s Office in the College of Arts and Sciences and by the Director of Undergraduate Programs in the appropriate department(s). We do not award credit based upon the length of study of a particular program. Since approved credit is advanced standing credit, not transfer credit, we base the award of credit solely upon examination results and not upon completed courses.

Advanced standing credit is included among “non-U.Va. credits” on students' transcript and, along with transfer credit, is limited to a total of 60 semester hours. The College of Arts and Sciences and individual departments may limit the number of advanced standing credits awarded to an individual. Students may receive at least one, and not more than two, semesters of introductory-level credit per qualifying examination score. Departments have their own policies on the use of advanced standing credit for their major or minor requirements.

We do not award credit for foreign language subject examinations of English language or literature.

Requesting Credit

The College does not automatically award credit for international college-level examinations. To receive credit, students must provide an official copy of their examination certificate, including an official English translation if requested. The certificate should be sent directly to the College of Arts and Sciences, P.O. Box 400133, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4133, or should be delivered in person in a sealed envelope. Students must be prepared to provide to the departmental undergraduate directors official course descriptions, syllabi, and copies of examinations. No special form is required from the department to verify the award of credit. Recommendations, however, should be made on departmental letterhead stationery. Students should request that the undergraduate directors call Dean Papovich at 924-3350 if they have questions.

We are pleased to assist students with the review of international college-level examinations. Questions may be directed to Dean Papovich at 924-3350.

The International Baccalaureate

The College of Arts and Sciences offers possible credit for scores of 5, 6, or 7 on most higher-level IB examinations. We award no credit for standard-level examinations. Upon departmental recommendation, we will consider an award for one, and no more than two, semesters of College introductory-level credit. Scores below a 5 on the higher-level exam may be sufficient for higher-level placement (no credit will be awarded). Such advanced placement decisions must be made by the appropriate department. The College of Arts and Sciences accepts only IB scores sent directly from IB North America. Their web address is http://www.ibo.org/

Below are the pre-approved departmental equivalencies for qualifying higher-level IB examination scores:

Subject	Score	U.Va. Equivalents
Arabic B	5 or 6	No credit; exemption
	7	300-level course to be determined by the dept.
Art/Design	5 or 6	No Credit
Art/Design	7	ARTS 100 (3 credits)
Biology	5, 6, or 7	BIOL 201 (3 credits) and BIOL 202 (3 credits)
Business and Management	6 or 7	COMM 180 (4 credits)
Chemistry	5, 6, or 7	CHEM 141 (3 credits) and CHEM 142 (3 credits)
Chinese (including Mandarin) A1, A2, B		Confer with the Asian Lang. Placement Coord. for recommendation at (434) 924-3247.
Computer Science		Placement test given during Fall Orientation; confer with the Office of the Dean, SEAS, (924-3164)
Economics	5, 6, or 7	ECON 201 (3 credits), ECON 202 (3 credits)
English A1	5, 6, or 7	ENLT 249 (3 credits)
English A2	---	No Credit
English B	---	No Credit
French A1 or A2	5, 6, or 7	FREN 331 (3 credits)
French B	5 or 6	No credit; exemption
	7	FREN 331 (3 credits)
German A1 or A2	5, 6, or 7	GERM 201 (3 credits), GERM 202 (3 credits)
German B	5 or 6	GERM 201 (3 credits)
German B	7	GERM 201 (3 credits), GERM 202 (3 credits)
Geography	5, 6, or 7	EVSC 101 (3 credits)
Greek	5, 6, or 7	GREE 202 (3 credits)
History	6	HIST 000T (3 credits)
History	7	HIST 000T (6 credits)
Italian A1 or A2	5, 6, or 7	ITAL 201 (3 credits) and ITAL 202 (3 credits)
Italian B	5, 6, 0r 7	Confer with the Italian Lang. Placement Coord. for recommendation at (434) 924-7159.
Japanese A1, A2 and B		Confer with the Asian Lang. Placement Coord. for recommendation at (434) 982-2353.
Japanese B		Confer with the Asian Lang. Placement Coord. for recommendation at (434) 982-2353.
Latin	5, 6, or 7	LATI 202 (3 credits)
Mathematics	5, 6, or 7	MATH 131 (4 credits) and MATH 200T (3 credits)
Music		Confer with the Undergraduate Director for recommendation (924-6497)
Philosophy		Confer with the Undergraduate Director for recommendation (924-7701)
Physics	5, 6, or 7	PHYS 201 (4 credits) and PHYS 202 (4 credits)
Philipino A1	5, 6, or 7	AMEL 200T (6 credits)
Portuguese A1 or A2	5, 6, or 7	PORT 111 (4 credits) and PORT 212 (4 credits)
Portuguese B	5 or 6	PORT 111 (4 credits)
	7	PORT 111 (4 credits) and PORT 212 (4 credits)
Psychology	5, 6, or 7	PSYC 101 (3 credits)
Social Anthropology	5, 6, or 7	ANTH 101 (3 credits)
Spanish A1 or A2	5, 6, or 7	SPAN 201 (3 credits) and SPAN 202 (3 credits); students may enroll in SPAN 411; no credit given for SPAN 311.
Spanish B	5 or 6	3 credits for SPAN 201; students must complete SPAN 202
	7	6 credits for SPAN 201 and 202 students may enroll in SPAN 311
Theater Arts		Confer with the Undergraduate Director for recommendation (924-8962)
Turkish A1	5, 6, or 7	TURK 201 (3 credits) and TURK 202 (3 credits)

For higher-level examinations not listed, confer first with Dean Frank Papovich and then with the Departmental Undergraduate Director; they will review your syllabus/exam and confer regarding possible credit.

British System Advanced-Levels, including AICE (A- and AS-Levels)

The College of Arts and Sciences offers possible advanced standing credit for scores of A, B, and in some cases C. Upon departmental recommendation, students may receive one, and no more than two, semesters of introductory-level credit for each A-Level examination. No credit is available for O- or OA-Level examinations. One semester’s credit may be awarded for AS-Level examinations. Students should confer with departmental undergraduate directors for AS level credit. A-Level and AS-Level scores not eligible for advanced-standing credit may be considered for advanced placement (no credit will be awarded); such placement decisions must be made by the appropriate Departmental Undergraduate Director. The pre-approved departmental equivalencies for qualifying A-level examination scores are listed below:

Subject	U.Va. Equivalents
Accounting	COMM 200T (6 credits) 1
Biology	BIOL 201 (3 credits) and BIOL 202 (3 credits); No pre-approved lab credit.
Business Studies	COMM 180 (3 credits), COMM 200T (3 credits)
Chemistry	CHEM 141 (3 credits) and CHEM 142 (3 credits); No pre-approved lab credit.
Economics	ECON 201 (3 credits) and ECON 202 (3 credits); No credit for grades of C.
English	ENLT 200T (6 credits)
French	Confer with the the Foreign Language Coodinator for recommendation
Further Math	Confer with the Math undergraduate director for recommendation.
Geography	EVSC 101 (3 credits)
History	For grades of A or B only -- HIST 200T (6 credits); No credit for grades of C.
Mathematics	MATH 131 (4 credits), STAT 110 (3 credits)
Physics	PHYS 201 (4 credits), PHYS 203 (1.5 credits) PHYS 202 (4 credits), PHYS 204 (1.5 credits)
Spanish	Confer with the the Foreign Language Coodinator for recommendation

Notes:

1 Students who plan to transfer to the School of Commerce should contact Rebecca Leonard for placement in COMM 201 and 202.

No credit is offered for Law. For other examinations, students must obtain syllabi for the course(s) for which they wish to obtain credit, and confer with Dean Frank Papovich and the appropriate Departmental Undergraduate Director.

The French Baccalaureate

The College of Arts and Sciences offers possible advanced standing credit for scores of 12/20 or higher on examinations in subjects studied at a coefficient of 4 or 5. Upon departmental recommendation, students may receive one, and no more than two, semesters of introductory-level credit for each qualifying examination. Scores not eligible for advanced-standing credit may be considered for advanced placement (no credit will be awarded); such placement decisions must be made by the appropriate Departmental Undergraduate Director. The French Bac “total score” is not used to determine credit eligibility; credit in the College is based on examination subject scores alone.

The German Abitur

The College of Arts and Sciences offers possible advanced-standing credit for examination scores of 10 or higher (15-point scale). Upon departmental recommendation, students may receive one, and no more than two, semesters of introductory-level credit for each qualifying examination. Abitur scores not eligible for advanced-standing credit may be considered for advanced placement (no credit awarded); such placement decisions must be made by the appropriate Departmental Undergraduate Director. The Abitur “total score” is not used to determine credit eligibility; credit in the College is based on examination subject scores alone.

The Swiss Federal Maturity Certificate

The College of Arts and Sciences offers possible advanced-standing credit for examination scores of 4.5 or higher (on a 6.0 scale) for the core (or double value) subjects.   Upon departmental recommendation, students may receive one, and no more than two, semesters of introductory-level credit for each qualifying examination. Scores not eligible for advanced-standing credit may be considered for advanced placement (no credit will be awarded); such placement decisions must be made by the appropriate Departmental Undergraduate Director. The Maturity "total score” is not used to determine credit eligibility; credit in the College is based on examination subject scores alone.