Undergraduate Study / AdmissionsTransfer of AP / IB Credits
You may receive Northwestern credit for your Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) test scores and/or be able to skip introductory courses in some sequences.
Please follow these procedures to ensure that your AP / IB credits are properly transferred.
For Incoming First Year Students
For information on submitting AP or IB scores, please review the score submission guidelines section on the Office of the Registrar's Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB).
For Upper-Class Students
For students that entered prior to the 2026-2027 academic year, reference previous AP/IB credit tables here.
If your AP/IB credit does not appear on your unofficial transcript on CAESAR, check with the Office of the Registrar at nu-registrar@northwestern.edu or phone: 847-491-5334.
Northwestern Credits Granted
The matrix on this page shows what credit (if any) is granted for a particular score on a particular exam. This matrix may be altered on a yearly basis and will show the information for the current academic year. Credit is not final until it has been posted to your Northwestern transcript by the Office of the Registrar.
The next question after determining how many and which units of credit you have been awarded, is how they can be applied to McCormick degree requirements. See the section below for further specifics.
AP Credit Table: *Currently Being Updated for the 2026-2027 Academic Year*
|
Exam |
Score |
Course Credit Authorized |
Area to Allocate Course |
|---|---|---|---|
Recognition for International Baccalaureate Testing
The following list is not exhaustive. Northwestern grants credit for sufficiently high scores on most HL (Higher Level) IB exams. Northwestern does not grant credit for any SL (Standard Level) IB exams.
*Currently Being Updated for the 2026-2027 Academic Year*
|
IB Higher Level Exam |
Score |
Northwestern Credit |
Area to Allocate Course |
|---|---|---|---|
* A student who earns a score of 6 or 7 on the IB Mathematics HL examination may be eligible for additional credit if their examination includes the Calculus Option (credit for MATH 220-2 and MATH 226-0) or the Statistics and Probability option (credit for STAT 210-0). To apply for additional credit, the student must have their high school IB Diploma Programme Coordinator submit a copy of the student's IB Registration Summary to the Office of the Registrar.
If you have taken an exam not listed here (British A-Levels, for example) and wish to discuss earning credit, please e-mail your McCormick first year adviser for further information.
