Credit By Examination

Credit by examination (graduation credits earned by demonstrating knowledge of course subject material but without enrolling in the course) may be obtained in a number of ways, as described below. Entering students most often obtain Credit by Examination through National Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate examinations or by taking Placement Examinations offered by the various departments at Rose-Hulman. Students already in attendance may use Course Examination and By-Passing.

A student who receives Credit by Examination for a course may use it to satisfy graduation requirements and may enroll in more advanced courses. Note that Credit by Examination does not carry a grade and hence does not influence the student's GPA.

Credit by Examination Options:

Advanced Placement (AP)
Cambridge Exams
International Baccalaureate (IB)
CLEP Exams
RHIT Dept. Exams
Course Examination
Course By-Passing

National Advanced Placement Examinations (AP)

Students who receive a score of 4 or 5 on a national AP examination will receive credit by examination as described below. The decision whether or not to grant credit for courses other than those listed will be made by the appropriate Department Head.
AP Exam Conversions for RHIT Credit

AP Score
of 4 or 5

RHIT Credit Hours RHIT Course Equivalent
AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES 4 HUM H000
ART HISTORY 4 ARTS H442
BIOLOGY 4 Score 4=BIO101; Score 5=BIO110
CALCULUS AB 5 MA111
CALCULUS BC 10 MA111 & MA 112
CHEMISTRY ** Score 4=8 cr hrs for CHEM 111, 113;
Score 5=12 cr hrs for CHEM 111, 113, 115
CHINESE LANG & CULTURE ** Score 4=8 cr hrs of foreign lang;
Score 5=12 cr hrs of foreign lang
COMPUTER SCIENCE PRINCIPLES 4 4 cr hrs 200-level CSSE elective
COMPUTER SCIENCE A 8 Eligible for CSSE 220. Upon successful completion of CSSE 220, student is awarded 4 credits for CSSE 120 and 4 credits for CSSE 220.
ECON - MAC 4 ECON S152
ECON - MIC 4 ECON S151
ENG LANG/COMP 4 ENGL H100
ENG LIT/COMP 4 ENGL H000
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 0 No credit
EUROPEAN HISTORY 4 HIST H000
FRENCH LANG & CULTURE ** Score 4=8 cr hrs of foreign lang;
Score 5=12 cr hrs of foreign lang
GERMAN LANG & CULTURE ** Score 4=GE 111 & GE 112 (8cr hrs);
Score 5=GE 111, GE 112, & GE 113 (12cr hrs)
GOV & POL COMP 4 POLS S103
GOV & POL US 4 POLS S101
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY 4 GEOG S110
ITALIAN LANG & CULTURE ** Score 4=8 cr hrs of foreign lang;
Score 5=12 cr hrs of foreign lang
JAPANESE LANG & CULTURE ** Score 4=8 hours of foreign language;
Score 5=12 hours of foreign language
LATIN - VERGIL 4 4 additional hours of foreign language
MUSIC THEORY 4 MUSI H101
PHYSICS B, or 1 and 2 0 No credit
PHYSICS C - E&M 4 PH112
PHYSICS C - MECH 4 PH111
PSYCHOLOGY 4 PSYC S100
RESEARCH 4 RH131
SPANISH LANG & CULTURE ** Score 4=SPAN L111 & SPAN L112 (8cr hrs);
Score 5=SPAN L111, SPAN L112, & SPAN L113 (12 cr hrs)
SPANISH LIT 4 4 additional hours of foreign language
STATISTICS 4 MA100-Level Free Elective
STUDIO ART: DRAWING 4 ARTS H142
STUDIO ART:2D DESIGN 4 No credit
STUDIO ART:3D DESIGN 4 No credit
US HISTORY 4 HIST H000
WORLD HISTORY 4 HIST H223

Cambridge Exams

In general, a student who receives an A or B on the A-level Cambridge exam will receive Credit by Examination for the corresponding course at Rose-Hulman. Credit is not granted for AS-level exams.

CAMBRIDGE SCORE/GRADE OF A OR B

RHIT Credits

RHIT Equivalent

Art & Design

4

ARTS H244

Economics

4

ECON S151 & ECON S152

History

4

HIST 1XX

Psychology

4

PSYC S100

International Baccalaureate Exams (IB)

In general, a student who receives a score of 5 or better on a higher level examination in the IB program will receive Credit by Examination for the corresponding course at Rose-Hulman.

International Baccalaureate Conversions for RHIT Credit - Group 1 (first language)

IB score of 5 or better

RHIT Credits

RHIT Equivalent

English A: Literature

4

ENGL H000

English A: Language & Literature

4

RH131

International Baccalaureate Conversions for RHIT Credit - Group 2 (second language, incl. Latin and ancient Greek)

IB score of 5 or better

RHIT Credits

RHIT Equivalent

Language A2

0

Must take placement exam and receive "C" or better for credit

Language B

4

FL H000

Language ab

0

Must take placement exam and receive "C" or better for credit

International Baccalaureate Conversions for RHIT Credit - Group 3 (Individuals & Society)

IB score of 5 or better

RHIT Credits

RHIT Equivalent

Business & Management

4

Free Elective

Economics

4

ECON S151 & ECON S152

Geography

4

GEOG S110

Global Politics

4

POLS S102

History

4

HIST H000

History: Americas

4

HIST H000

History: Europe

4

HIST H000

History: Islamic World

4

HIST H000

Info Tech in a Global Society

**

see Dept. head

Philosophy

4

PHIL H101

Social & Cultural Anthropology

4

ANTH S101

Psychology

4

PSYC S100

International Baccalaureate Conversions for RHIT Credit - Group 4 (Experimental Sciences)

IB score of 5 or better

RHIT Credits

RHIT Equivalent

Biology

4

BIO110

Chemistry

0

A score of 5 or better is placed in Honors Chemistry

Design Technology

**

see Dept. head

Environmental Systems

**

see Dept. head

Physics

**

see Dept. head (student may wish to take placement exam)

International Baccalaureate Conversions for RHIT Credit - Group 5 (Mathematics)

IB score of 5 or better

RHIT Credits

RHIT Equivalent

Mathematics Methods

**

see Dept. head

Further Mathematics

**

see Dept. head

Mathematics Higher Level

5

MA111

Mathematics Studies

**

see Dept. head

Computer Science

4

Eligible for CSSE 220. Upon successful completion of CSSE 220, student is awarded 4 credits for CSSE 120.

Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HL

5

MA111

International Baccalaureate Conversions for RHIT Credit - Group 6 (The Arts)

IB score of 5 or better

RHIT Credits

RHIT Equivalent

The Arts: Film

4

ENGL H241

Visual Arts

4

ARTS H242

Music

4

MUSI H000

Theater Arts

4

ENGL H000

CLEP Examination

Some institutions offer credit for successful performance on the CLEP (College Level Examination Program) given by the College Examination Board. This exam tests for college level experience obtained primarily by non-traditional means, such as correspondence courses, courses taken at non-accredited institutions or in the armed services or in industry or by independent study.

However, due to the strict accreditation requirements for the science and engineering curricula, these exams are not applicable at Rose-Hulman. The Institute will set its own examinations for entering students who feel that their previous experience would enable them to bypass certain courses. (See below under "Course By-Passing.") The decision whether or not to grant credit for such exams is made by the appropriate Department Head.

Rose-Hulman Departmental Placement Examinations

An entering student who takes a departmental placement examination may receive Credit by Examination and be placed in more advanced courses in the following areas:

Chemistry: Students (except those exempted on the basis of AP or IB credit) may take the online chemistry placement examination prior to enrollment. A student with a sufficiently high score on the departmental examination will be given the option of enrolling in CHEM112, General Chemistry Honors, which carries 5 hours of credit. The student will then be exempted from the required chemistry sequence--CHEM111 and CHEM113, General Chemistry I and II--which carries 8 hours of total credit. Upon completion of CHEM112 with a passing grade, the student will also be granted 3 additional hours of Credit by Examination, (so that the total of 8 credits represents the 8 credits normally earned in CHEM111 and CHEM113).

Computer Science: Students with computer science experience not assessed by an AP exam may take the online computer science placement examination prior to enrollment. A student with a sufficiently high score on the placement examination will be given the option of enrolling in CSSE220 or CSSE230, depending on their score. Upon successful completion of that course with a C or better, the student will also receive Credit by Examination for the course or courses bypassed. Additionally, if a student has already placed into CSSE220 due to the AP exam, they may use the placement examination to try to place into CSSE230.

Foreign Language: A student who qualifies through the foreign language examination will be permitted to enroll in the appropriate level of German, Spanish, or Japanese as determined by the foreign language faculty. Upon successful completion a quarter of more advanced language at Rose-Hulman with a grade of C or better, the student will be granted 4 hours of Credit by Examination for each quarter of language by-passed. (Note: a minimum of two terms of college language must be completed in order to receive Humanities credit.) Students may take the online foreign language placement examination prior to enrollment.

Mathematics: A student may elect to take a Calculus Credit Exam for one or more of the freshmen calculus sequence courses: MA111, MA112, and MA113. The exam will be administered during Freshmen Orientation week, and registration information will be sent to students prior to their arrival on campus.

Military Science/Air Science: A U.S. veteran with one year's service and members of a reserve component of the U.S. armed forces may be given Credit by Examination for Basic Military/Air Science. Also, see Military/Air Science.

Physics: A student who qualifies through the physics placement examination administered during Freshman Orientation Week will be given 4 hours of Credit by Examination for PH111, Physics I.

Course Examination

A student may receive Credit by Examination through successful performance on a comprehensive examination covering the material of a course. The student must apply to the head of the appropriate department for such an exam and it is subject to the following limitations.

  • The granting of Credit by Examination is normally limited to courses or areas available at Rose-Hulman or compatible with the curricula offered at Rose-Hulman.
  • Credit by Examination cannot be used to make up a course failure (F or WF).
  • Credit by Examination carries no grade and does not affect the student's GPA.
  • Evaluation of special examinations will be made by the head of the department to determine whether a sufficient demonstration of knowledge of the particular course has been made to warrant Credit by Examination.

Course By-Passing

A student might, by reason of previous experience, be challenged little by a particular course. In such a case, the student may, with the approval of the advisor, the head of the department in which the course is offered, and the instructor concerned, enroll in the succeeding course in the same subject and, on completing that course with a grade of C or better, be granted Credit by Examination for the course(s) by-passed.

Exceptions & Questions: Contact Head of the appropriate department with questions. Exceptions must be applied for through the Curriculum Committee.

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