AP Credit, Transfers, and Substitutions

Students who score a “4” or “5” on either of the Princeton AP English examinations (English Language and Composition, or, English Literature and Composition) are awarded three credits, except in the College of Arts and Sciences where students need a score of “5” to be awarded three credits. These credits are awarded automatically; no additional examination, or application to the John S. Knight Institute or the Department of English, is required. How these credits may be applied to first-year writing or other distribution requirements depends on which college you are enrolled in. All students who score “5,” except Architecture majors, may apply their three credits towards the writing requirement of their colleges. Of students who score “4,” only Agriculture & Life Sciences students may apply three credits towards the writing requirement of their college. For more information about advanced placement, please contact your college registrar and/or consult

To have a course taken at another institution considered for possible acceptance as equivalent to a First-Year Writing Seminar, students must provide evidence that the course was offered on a college campus as part of its normal curriculum and that the work done was comparable to that in a First-Year Writing Seminar (see the guidelines--it is not sufficient to write, say, one 30-page term paper). Courses not taken in the academic year must be at least six weeks long. Students must earn a B- or better in the course. To request writing credit for courses taken elsewhere, students must submit, to 101 McGraw Hall, an "Application for Transfer Evaluation." Because course descriptions can be misleading and courses may change, the Institute cannot certify a course as equivalent before the student completes it.