I need clarification about the AP US History credit requirement. In the book I received at BamaBound in June, it stated that a score of 3 in US History would get me 6 credits. However, on courseleaf online, it says I need a 4 to receive credit. I scored a 3 on the AP test so I’m confused on whether or not I will receive college credits for it.
Thanks in advance.
It does appear UA raised the required AP U.S. History score for credit to a 4. They also raised Euro History and World History from 3 to 4 for credit.
They did raise the requirement from a 3 to a 4. Incoming freshman who had the credit from previous years were allowed to use the old requirement. Freshmen who took it this year have to use the new guidelines which seems pretty unfair to me.
You may want to call The Office Of The University Registrar at 205-348-2020 and ask them directly. They may have made the change after the Bama Bound books had been published. Or, hopefully, the class of 2019 will go by the Bama Bound book.
When schools change their requirements (in this case to be more stringent), someone is bound to be affected. You can’t expect them to grandfather in prior requirements year after year. I do not find UA’s policy at all unfair: Those who took the AP course before the changes are being assessed on one criteria, and those who took the course while the changes were made (or after the changes were made) are assessed using another criteria. I doubt someone made a decision to take an AP course over 12+ months ago in high school (i.e., January-May of their sophomore year for a course they took this past year as a junior, and receive a score this summer prior to their senior hs year when they apply to use the AP credits…), knowing that they would get a certain amount of credit for that course at UA. Most students don’t even know where they are going to go to college that far in advance. UA has one of the most generous AP credit policies around. Suck it up. By the same token, if y’all (politely) asked them to apply your credits under the old criteria, they might just do so, because they are just that awesome.
My S was one of those planning sophomore, test taking junior, and now rising senior. He was sure he made a 3 on the AP US History and was excited to know he was not going to have to take history in college. Well he did make a 3 and I had to break the bad news to him. I just wished they would give at least 3 hours credit for a three and then give the 6 hours credit for a four.
I agree with @aeromom most students do not know which AP classes will be be accepted and how many credits they will be worth, until they have applied to and selected their college choice. Personally, I think the policy was a little lenient before. In my opinion, I didn’t think that a score of 3 on an AP test was adequate for that many credits or showed a mastery of the course material.
If one gets a 4 in AP Euro or World History, that would get him/her out of the history requirement as well, I believe.
There is another way to test to get credit for the two American History classes. If you go to the UA website ans search “CLEP” it lists the scores needed to receive credit for various gen ed classes. There is a CLEP test for each freshman US History class and a 52 (out of 80) score is required. If your student recently took AP Us History (or even regular US History in high school) it is a great time to prep a little and take the CLEP test this summer. Clep tests are 90 minute multiple choice only tests and you get the results the same day. They are offered at lots of colleges every week and cost about $100. Also middle/high school students can take the tests too - so if your student is a junior and got a 3 on the AP test they can CLEP this summer while it is fresh in their mind. (My daughter CLEPed her fist college class when she was 12!)
My son hasn’t had history in three years (and it was a a mediocre non-honors high school history class) and recently learned he needed a 6 hour history or lit sequence. (Because he decided he wanted two degrees instead of a double major he had to fill the Gen Ed requirements for “not-engineers”) He studied the US History II REA CLEP prep book and the second half of a AP US History review book for a couple of weeks in the evenings and just passed the US History II test with lots of room to spare. He’s now got the US History I book and will use that with the first half of the AP prep book to prepare for the US History I test later this month. This will complete the 6 hour sequence required for one of his degrees.
At UA this summer the tests are given every Tuesday.
This is great information! My son just took the CLEP Western civ 1 and 2. He now has 6 Gen Ed credits to add to his AP and Dual credits. He used the REA Western civ 1 and found it very helpful. He didn’t need anything for the Western civ 1, he is a history buff. 
Yes! Those who got a 3 should take the CLEP exam. CLEP is sometimes easier.
It is unfortunate that those who got a 3 didn’t get at least 3 credits, but these decisions are often based on later information that, for instance a 3, doesn’t demonstrate enough proficiency to warrant 6 credits.
I guess they don’t give 3 credits because they don’t know which part of the exam gave the student trouble…the part that the first semester covered or the part that the second semester covered.
Of course, someone who took the class 1-2 years ago may not remember enough to take a CLEP test, but if the student took a more recent AP history class and didn’t get a 4+, then try CLEP.
For those who got a 3 on one AP history, and a 4 on another AP history, then really it doesn’t matter.
I was worried about this as well, as DS only scored a 3 on the history AP. However, he did take the exam in 2014 & we sent it to UA not too long ago. He did get the AP credit & the 6 credits at UA. I am very happy about that.
One other thing. He took the placement test & qualified for SP 103, but students don’t get the “credits” for the 2 lower levels of Spanish. So even though he wasn’t interested in taking a CLEP exam, he is going to take the one for Spanish & if he scores well enough get the credits for it at UA.