Can high schools bar you from taking an AP exam without the course?

Hi, I am a junior who has watched the entire Khan Academy playlist on Calculus out of my own interest for months, and I know how to answer the questions on the BC exam. However, I have taken neither AP Calculus AB or BC. Initially I didn’t know that it was possible to take an AP exam without actually sitting the course, but when I found it was possible to ‘self-study’ I was very pleased because I might be able to receive college credit. However, my school said students who wanted to self-study had to print out a waiver and have it signed by the department head for the subject. When I brought the waiver and asked the math dept. head to sign it, he refused saying that only under “very special circumstances” could someone take the exam without the course. However, I see lots of articles/posts online about people self-studying.

Are there other schools out there that will bar students from the exam if they haven’t taken the course? Is there a way to get around this (for example, can I take the AP exam somewhere else)?

It is possible to take the exam at various schools, but you are probably too late for registering at a different school.

One approach you could try is see if you can register for the CLEP exam. Typically it is offered at community colleges or universities. Ours you can walk in and register any time and they are scheduled about a week out. The results are given immediately. If you walk out of the CLEP exam with a score in the 70s, you would probably be able to meet with someone to argue your position with strong evidence. Universities that give credit for the CLEP exam don’t usually require that high of a score.

You can take the AP exam anywhere that offers it that agrees to do it- [url=<a href=“https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/takingtheexam/registering-for-exams%5DHere%5B/url”>https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/takingtheexam/registering-for-exams]Here[/url] is the College Board guide to finding a test center. Unfortunately you have missed this year’s cut off dates. Your school could still late-register you (it’s more expensive though), but obviously you would have to get the Math department person to change their mind.