AP and Transfer Credit
Advanced Placement (AP) courses
To gain Hamilton credit for AP courses, you should ensure that you have authorized the College Board to send your AP scores to Hamilton.
In general, the College’s policy for accepting AP credit is that you must have an AP score of at least 4, take a course at Hamilton in the field and attain a certain grade in that course in order to gain one Hamilton unit for the AP course.
Each department sets specific policies beyond this general policy. Some departments require an AP score of 5; some allow you to skip the introductory course, while others expect you to take it even if you had the AP course; each sets its own required grade level.
Courses taken at other colleges
Hamilton accepts credit for courses taken at other accredited institutions, including community colleges, if the courses are taught on a college campus (not in a high school), do not appear on your high school transcript, and are made up primarily of college students. They must also be courses in the liberal arts. In most cases, courses taken elsewhere will receive less than one full unit of Hamilton credit.
A-level courses
Credit may be awarded for A-level courses. A-levels follow the policies for AP credit. A grade of A on an A-level is usually equated to a score of 4 or 5 on an AP exam. Departmental approval is required to transfer A-level credits. Students should have an official certificate sent directly to the Registrars Office. A Transfer Credit Petition must be completed, with approval from the department for the A-level subject area, for credit to be applied.
International Baccalaureate
Credit may be awarded to students who complete the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme and earn the IB Diploma. A maximum of 8 units (1 full year of credit) may be awarded, but students may request fewer credits. Students must wait until the end of their second semester to request IB Diploma credit.
Requirements
- The course subject must be acceptable to Hamilton (i.e. A Liberal Arts Subject).
- All IB credit is dependent on approval from the applicable department.
- IB credit may not count towards the student’s concentration or minor, with the exception of ECON.
- Only one unit of IB credit may be awarded for one individual subject.
Theory of Knowledge credit is at the discretion of the Philosophy department. Student must have been granted an IB Diploma and received a B or better on Theory of Knowledge. The transfer credit will not count towards a Philosophy concentration or minor. The course will be applied as “Other” with an assigned course number.
Extended Essay credit is at the discretion of the applicable department the essay was written in.
- Transfer credit requirements per IB subject group
