Advanced Placement (AP) is a College Board program that offers college-level courses in high school, each ending with a standardized exam whose score can earn college credit or placement.

How the program works

  1. A high school offers an AP course (for example AP Biology or AP U.S. History) built on a College Board course framework.
  2. Students take the course during the school year, usually for a weighted GPA bonus at schools that weight grades.
  3. In May, students sit the AP Exam for that subject.
  4. The exam is scored on a 1 to 5 scale, and the student sends the score to colleges.

The class grade and the exam score are separate. You can earn an A in the course and a 2 on the exam, or the reverse.

What the score gets you

According to the College Board, AP Exams are scored 1 to 5, and many US colleges grant credit, advanced placement or both for scores of 3 and above. Each college decides which scores it accepts for which courses, so the same 3 can earn credit at one school and nothing at another. Check the college’s AP credit page before assuming. The meaning of each score is explained under AP score.

Estimating your score

AP Exams combine multiple-choice and free-response sections into a composite before converting to 1 to 5. The AP score calculator estimates that conversion for each subject, with dedicated versions such as AP Calculus AB and APUSH.

AP vs. honors vs. dual enrollment

Honors classes are designed by your school and have no external exam. Dual enrollment classes are actual college courses with a college transcript. AP sits in between: a standardized national curriculum and exam, taught at your high school. For test prep strategy that keeps AI help honest, see our guide to AI for test prep.

Frequently asked questions

Do AP classes count for college credit?
The class itself doesn’t; the exam score does. Many US colleges grant credit or placement for AP Exam scores of 3 and above, but each college sets its own policy and some require a 4 or 5 for certain subjects.
Do I have to take the AP class to take the AP exam?
For most subjects, no. The College Board recommends the course but doesn’t require it. The exceptions are AP Seminar, AP Research and AP Computer Science Principles, which include course work that counts toward the score. Registration goes through a school’s AP coordinator.