Transcript Evaluation Services awards credit for External Exams (AP/IB/CLEP) following the SMCCCD External Exam Equivalency Guide.

External Exam credit is applied to the students’ academic record and is visible in DegreeWorks and on their SMCCCD transcript.

Students will receive a message from the SSL asking them to Accept/Decline their External Exam evaluation. In that message they can:

• Accept all awarded external exam credit
• Accept some awarded external exam credit, Decline some awarded external credit
• Decline all awarded external exam credit

The email advises that there may be transfer implications with using external exam credit in certain situations. They are also encouraged to meet with a counselor at their campus as soon as possible to determine the best option.

Yes. If, at a later date, the student would like to change any or all of the external exam credit that has been previously accepted or declined, they can email Transcript Evaluation Service (TES) at transevaluation@smccd.edu. Please note: if a degree or certificate awarded by one of the colleges in the San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD) utilizes the awarded external exam credit, it cannot be removed from the student’s transcript.

Please allow 3-5 working days to process or update a student’s official AP scores, upon receipt for External Exam evaluations.

Transcript Evaluation Services, when appropriate, leaves a “note” in the students SSL Advisee Case with any unique information about the students evaluation that they would like to communicate to counselors.

SMCCCD does not put a limit on the number of external exams students may earn credit for; however, transfer destinations may put limits on credit for multiple similar exams (e.g., the CSU prohibits credit for more than one AP Computer Science exam, more than one AP Physics exam, and credit for more than one Calculus exam). Please discuss these limitations with your student and work with them to request appropriate modifications to their CPL exam credit.

Prior to April 22nd, 2024, AP scores were not entered with course matches. If, as a Counselor, you deem a course match would benefit a student’s academic progress, feel free to submit a request to transevaluation@smccd.edu.

In DegreeWorks, TES AP entries will begin with the prefix “AP –“.

Placement: If a student has a passing score on the AP English Language exam, they are eligible to go straight into ENGL 110 or 165. To place into ENGL 110/165, they need to go through the prerequisite equivalency process and have a score report available/on file. To check if this has taken place, reference SOATEST in Banner.

Credit for AP English Language and AP English Literature: If a student has passing scores on both AP English Language (fulfills CSU Area A2, IGETC Area 1A, local GE areas) and AP English Literature (fulfills CSU Area C2, IGETC Area 3B, local GE areas), they must take ENGL 165 (NOT ENGL 110) to fulfill the Critical Thinking GE (CSU Area A3 and IGETC Area 1B). If a student takes ENGL 165, AP credit will be applied in area 3B for AP English Literature.

Credit for AP English Literature and English 110: If a student has AP credit for ENGL Literature and takes ENGL 110, they will not get credit for both.

What if a student has both and is applying to UC Berkeley or a university that asks for ENGL 110? The student will need to take ENGL 110 and not receive credit for AP English Literature.

AP exams in ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, PHYSICS C: MECHANICS, and PHYSICS C: ELECTRICITY/MAGNETISM allow community colleges to apply 3 semester units to IGETC CERTIFICATION for IGETC AREAS 5A and 5C. Only 3 units are applied to meet the 5A and 5C areas. As a result, the student needs an additional 4 units to meet this area. The student needs a minimum of 7 units for IGETC AREA 5 to be certified as complete. The additional 4 units can be either:

• a 4-unit lecture course in AREA 5B or
• a 4-unit lecture/lab course in AREA 5B or
• the student can take 2 three-unit lecture courses in the needed area.

Yes, whenever there is a specific course identified in the SMCCCD AP Credit Equivalency Guide for an AP test, the specific courses are identified in DegreeWorks and the AP credit will show wherever that specific class is an option. However, there are several exams that do not have identified SMCCCD course equivalents; in those cases, please use your local course substitution process to ensure that a student gets credit for a specific course when applied to the major or local GE pattern.

Unfortunately, the student would not get credit for both. The SMCCCD credit takes precedence over the AP credit, so the AP score would be excluded in favor of the course. Sometimes it is necessary for a student to take a course that they have received AP credit for due to transfer requirements and restrictions. Please be sure to work with students individually in these circumstances to determine what is best for them.

TES is responsible for inputting AP credit into a student’s file and for it to populate on DegreeWorks. The scribing on this is set to match the SMCCCD AP Credit Equivalency Guide – if there is a direct course equivalent for an AP score, that gets noted and the AP credit appears whenever that course option appears in DegreeWorks. If there is not a direct course equivalent for an AP score, the AP credit will appear in a GE area, where applicable, or at the bottom of a student’s DegreeWorks in the lists of Degree Applicable Electives or Non-Degree Applicable Electives.

Counseling Faculty are responsible for working with students to determine what credit is best applied based on a student’s educational goal, including transfer goals; to determine if any course substitutions are needed; to determine if any prerequisite equivalencies are needed; to determine where the credit may be best applied in a GE pattern if there are multiple options for where an AP score may be applied; to determine if it is in a student’s best interest to request that an AP score be removed, etc.

No. If N/A appears under “SMCCCD Course Equivalent” on the Worksheet, then the exam credit will only apply to General Education.

The TES team researched the UC/CSU practices for applying Calculus credit. For example, a Calculus BC exam score of 4 or 5 gives a student credit for MATH 251 & 252. A score of 3 equates to MATH 241. However, it is always good practice to research specific requirements for the transfer destination of your students. For the UC, refer to this website: UC AP Credits.

If you would like the student record updated, send TES an email at transevaluation@smccd.edu.