The College

Advanced Standing

To earn a Brown undergraduate degree, students who did not transfer to Brown are expected to complete eight full-time semesters of enrollment at Brown.

You may apply to advance your standing by one semester level and 4 enrollment units, and thus complete the degree in seven semesters, if you have three to six approved and transcripted placement credits from qualifying Advanced Placement (AP) exam scores, international certificate program exam credits, or college credits for transfer from an approved program of study at another institution. Such pre-matriculation credits may be combined for the purpose of seeking one semester of  advanced standing, only if all the credits were earned prior to matriculation at Brown.

Students applying for a semester of advanced standing on the basis of Advanced Placement (AP) credits should take note that APs confer placement credit only and do not confer course credit to increase total credits toward the minimum number of course credits needed to earn a Brown degree. This means that students who use AP credits for advanced standing must earn thirty Brown course credits in seven rather than the standard eight-semesters of enrollment.

Applying for Advanced Standing

In order to allow adequate time for students to consider their learning goals and options in the context of  Brown’s curricular and co-curricular offerings, consult with faculty members and deans, and then develop their academic plans in an informed and intentional, non-transfer students may not apply for advanced standing before their third semester in residence at Brown or before declaring their concentration. (Transfer students may request advanced standing in their second semester at Brown if circumstances warrant doing so.) Students wishing to apply for one semester of advanced standing must do so no later than the end of their fifth semester standing at Brown. This deadline applies to all requests for advanced standing based on credits for international exam scores, AP scores, and pre-Brown college courses. Once students apply for and are granted advanced standing, they may not rescind the request.

To be eligible for advanced standing does not mean that a student must accept it. In fact, most students who are eligible for advanced standing do not apply for it, preferring instead to take advantage of a full four-year Brown education. Students should discuss the implications of advanced standing with the Advanced Standing dean before they apply.

Pre-Brown College or University Courses

Courses completed at an accredited, degree-granting college or university that were taken during high school and appear on the high school transcript will not be eligible for transfer to Brown or for use toward advanced standing without clear, official documentation that these courses did not count toward the high school diploma. Courses must have been taken directly at a college or university. Courses taken at a high school for college or university course credit are not eligible for transfer to Brown or for use to apply for advanced standing, even if they appear on a college or university transcript.

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