AP and Transfer Credits

Home Undergraduate Program AP and Transfer Credits

Advanced Placement Exams

Students who complete Advanced Placement (AP) Exams in high school may receive college credit. The AP Psychology Exam with a passing score of 4 or 5 equates to 4 quarter credits, and will satisfy the Psychology 1 requirement and one General Education course in social science. The AP Calculus AB Exam with a score of 3, 4, or 5 equates to Math 11A, Calculus, allows 4 quarter credits, will satisfy the major's precalculus requirement, may be used as the prerequisite for Psychology 2, and satisfies one General Education course in natural science. These credits count toward graduation requirements. Meet with a Psychology Undergraduate Advisor for course substitution of these exams. The AP Statistics exam, with a score of 4 or 5, will satisfy the statistics requirement.

Transfer Students

Before transferring to UCSC students should try to complete all of the lower-division requirements, especially Introductory Psychology, Precalculus, Statistics, and Research Methods. These introductory courses are prerequisites to each other and are not always offered every quarter. If you transfer without these courses you will find it much more difficult to complete the degree in two years. It's expected that most all course work in the junior and senior years should be devoted to upper-division courses and independent studies with faculty.

Transfer Courses

Students who want to fulfill major or minor requirements with courses taken at other institutions should contact the Psychology undergraduate advising staff in order to substitute courses. This is very important for students because:

• Certain prerequisites need to be completed prior to enrollment in courses;
• Particular courses may or may not count toward major or minor requirements and other campus requirements;
• It's important to avoid duplication of academic credits.

Community College courses are considered lower-division and will not satisfy upper-division requirements. Community Colleges keep lists of transferable or articulated courses. Students may also review the Statewide Transfer Information for California schools on the ASSIST web site.

The University of California limits community college transfer credits to a maximum of 105 quarter credits. You can go the ASSIST web site to review the Psychology Department's community college articulation agreements for lower-division psychology courses that transfer to UCSC to satisfy major requirements. The courses listed on the document have been reviewed and approved for transfer. Note that substitutions do not occur automatically. Students should contact the Psychology undergraduate advising staff to have courses from other institutions approved for major requirements. The UCSC Math Department's web site contains lists of transferable math credits from other schools.

Based on department pre-approval, a maximum of 10 quarter credits from other four-year universities and colleges may be substituted for the upper-division major requirements; a maximum of 5 quarter credits may be substituted for the minor requirements. The one exception: courses completed on EAP/Education Abroad Program. A maximum of 15 quarter credits may be substituted for major requirements. Courses earning these credits must be in three different areas of psychology and must be pre-approved by the Psychology Undergraduate Advisor.

Note: Courses with "D" or "F" letter grades, or transfer courses with "C-," "D" or "F", may not be used to satisfy major or minor requirements or prerequisites (campus policy).

After completion of courses at other schools, send an official transcript from the school to: Registrar's Office, 190 Hahn Bldg., University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, and provide a copy of all psychology transferable courses to the Psychology Department.

Prerequisites for Upper-Division Courses

Upper-division courses assume that you enter them with the knowledge you should have acquired in prerequisite courses. Course prerequisites are listed in the catalog description of every course. The Advance Enrollment system checks for completion of prerequisites before students are allowed to enroll in courses. Substitutions of equivalent courses occur during new student orientations or by contacting the Psychology undergraduate advising staff. Course equivalencies are entered onto the campus enrollment system through each department on campus, not by the Admissions Office.