AP Calculus AB Exam Information

Score and placement info for AP: Biology | Calculus AB | Calculus BC | Chemistry | English Language | English Literature | European History | Physics B | Psychology | Spanish Language | Statistics | U.S. Government | U.S. History | World History

The AP Calculus AB exam covers functions, graphs, limits, derivatives and integrals. In 2008, over 200,000 students took the exam. Most colleges and universities have a math or quantitative reasoning requirement, so a high score on the AP Calculus AB exam will sometimes fulfill this requirement. Note that AP Calculus AB, unlike AP Calculus BC, does not cover polynomial approximations and series. The AP Calculus BC exam often offers higher placement and more course credit than AP Calculus AB.

The chart below presents some representative data from a variety of colleges and universities. This information is meant to provide a general overview of the scoring and placement practices related to the AP Calculus AB exam. For schools not listed here, you'll need to search the college's website or contact the appropriate Registrar's office to get AP placement information.

For more information on AP classes and exams, check out these articles:

• Is My AP Score Good Enough?
• AP Classes - Why They Matter

The distribution of scores for the AP Calculus AB exam is as follows (2008 data):

• 5 - 22%
• 4 - 21%
• 3 - 18%
• 2 - 15%
• 1 - 24%

To learn more specific information about the AP Calculus AB exam, be sure to visit the official College Board website.

AP Calculus AB Scores and Placement
College	Score Needed	Placement Credit
Georgia Tech	4 or 5	MATH 1501 (4 semester hours)
Grinnell College	4 or 5	4 semester credits (conditional credit for a 3); MAT 123, 124, 131
LSU	3, 4 or 5	MATH 1431 or 1441 (3 credits) for a 3; MATH 1550 (5 credits) for a 4 or 5
MIT	4 or 5	no credit; placement in accelerated calculus
Mississippi State University	3, 4 or 5	MA 1713 (3 credits)
Notre Dame	3, 4 or 5	Mathematics 10250 (3 credits) for a 3; Mathematics 10550 (4 credits) for a 4 or 5
Reed College	4 or 5	1 credit; placement determined in consultation with the faculty
Stanford University	4 or 5	MATH 42 (5 quarter units) for a 4; MATH 51 (10 quarter units) for a 5
Truman State University	3, 4 or 5	MATH 192 Essentials of Calculus (4 credits) for a 3; MATH 198 Analytic Geometry & Calculus I (5 credits) for a 4 or 5
UCLA (School of Letters and Science)	3, 4 or 5	4 credits and Calculus for a 3 or 4; 4 credits and MATH 31A for a 5
Yale University	5	1 credit