Do High School Math Classes Transfer to College Credit?

I've taken some advanced math courses during high school, and I'm curious whether these might count for college credit. Is this something that can happen, or do colleges not typically transfer high school course credits?

Typically, regular high school math courses won't be counted as college credit. But if your high school offers Advanced Placement (AP) math classes such as AP Calculus AB/BC or AP Statistics, and you take the corresponding AP Exams and score well on them, many colleges might award you credit for those courses, or at least allow you to place out of introductory-level math classes.

However, not all colleges treat AP scores in the same way. Some might require a score of 4 or 5 to accept AP credit, while others might offer credit for scores of 3 or higher. Policies also vary by subject and by specific classes within those subjects.

There are other ways to get college level math credits as well. For example, some high schools might offer dual enrollment programs, where students take college-level classes at a local community college or another partner institution. These classes typically follow a college curriculum and you earn college credit upon completion.

That being said, you should check with the specific colleges you're interested in regarding their policy on high school credits or AP exam scores. Each college will have its own policy for awarding credit based on high school coursework or AP tests, and some might not award any credit at all.

Just to illustrate this with an example, at a university like Brown, you could skip MATH 0190 (Introductory Calculus, Part II) if you got a 5 on the AP Calculus BC exam. But if you still decided to take MATH 0190 at Brown, they wouldn't count your AP score, and you wouldn't get extra credit for the class. All this to say, it's truly unique to each school.