For any school to accept advanced placement credit, the credits must have been awarded by Princeton to replace Princeton courses and recorded on your transcript. Scores will not appear on the unofficial transcript, but they do appear in TigerHub and on the official transcript (which you can request through TigerHub). If you are unsure of whether your scores have been received and appear on your transcript, check with your residential college deans.
Professional school policies regarding Advanced Placement credit may differ. Some will accept AP credit as long as it appears on your transcript. Some will accept advanced level courses that supplement AP to satisfy requirements. Double check specific schools of interest and your public state schools for the most recent guidance. The recommendations below will satisfy the majority of medical schools. For questions regarding other professions of interest, contact HPA.
Recommendations by Academic Discipline
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Biology
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- Many medical schools require (or strongly recommend) two semesters of Biology with Lab.
- All students should take MOL 214 as one of the two semesters.
- For the second biology course with a lab:
- All students who may be interested in the EEB major should take EEB 211.
- Past students have taken advanced lab-based biology courses including Core Lab (MOL 350, NEU 350), Comparative Physiology (EEB 314), Ecology (EEB 321), Human Adaptation (ANT 215/EEB 315).
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Chemistry
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- As of 2023-24, students can only receive one unit of advanced placement via AP exam credit/placement test.
- Exemption from one semeter of General Chemistry via Princeton placement test (with or without AP credit): we recommend taking one semester of General Chemistry (202 or 215), two semesters of Organic Chemistry, one semester of Biochemistry, and one semester of advanced CHM. Many schools will not require the extra advanced CHM semester, but some popular schools do.
- Past students have taken advanced chemistry courses including The Quantum World (CHM 305), Physical Chemistry (CHM 306), and Principles of Macromolecular Structure: Protein Folding, Structure and Design (CHM 542). Other courses with a chemistry prerequisite are also likely to satisfy medical schools.
- Some schools may require additional courses (see HPA spreadsheet for school by school recommendations)
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Mathematics
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- Students with advanced placement credit in math do not need to take further calculus; your advanced placement credit in this subject, without more advanced coursework in college, will be accepted. This is the exception to the recommendation to supplement advanced placement with advanced coursework.
- Princeton does not offer credit for advanced placement in statistics (although ECO offers an exemption from statistics for concentrators with a certain AP score, this is not the same as offering credit). Students should plan to take statistics.
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Physics
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- Students with advanced placement credit in Physics should take at least one semester of additional physics coursework, preferably with lab / research experience.
- Past students have taken physics courses including: Physics for the Life Sciences (PHY 108), CHM 305, CHM 306, Topics in Modern Astronomy (AST 204), Global Geophysics (GEO 371).
- Although Princeton no longer offers credit for AP physics, the placement test results are still recorded as AP on the transcript in 2023-24.
Medical School AP Policies
This google sheet compiles Advanced Placement credit policies for US MD and DO programs.
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