Duke: a rigorous academic experience akin to the Ivy League, but without the harsh New England winters and with lots of southern charm. To live this dream life, you will need to prove to the admissions officers that you have what it takes to do the work there. This usually includes taking an AP® class or two. Or three. But once you get there, what are you supposed to do with all the credits you have earned? Will they get you anything at college, or will you be forced to leave them behind in high school?

Wonder no more, because we have the answers!

This blog will answer each and every question that you have ever had about Duke AP® credits. We will map out the school’s required courses, its AP® scores transfer procedures, and how to ensure that you receive credit for the difficult work you did in high school.

Let’s dive in!

Fast Facts about Duke

•  Duke University is located Durham, North Carolina.University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University are close by, so making friendships – or rivalries – is fairly easy.

•  Duke is a private university and was founded in 1838.

•  The school’s colors are dark blue and white.

•  If you go to a sport’s game, you’ll be rooting for the aptly named Blue Devils.

The Numbers

According to the CollegeBoard as of 2015, Duke has…

•  6,639 undergraduates

•  8,465 postgraduate students

•  1,756 first-time freshmen

The school also boasts a hefty $3.4 billion dollar endowment fund and a competitive 11% admission rate.

In 2015, 30,112 students applied, but only 3,566 were accepted.

Based on these numbers, it’s pretty easy to tell that it is difficult to be accepted to Duke. To get in, you will need amazing standardized test scores, a strong extracurricular record, and a competitive high school transcript and GPA. To craft this GPA, you will need to take, and ace, a few AP® classes. But once you get your scores back, what are you supposed to do with them? Keep reading to find out!

Advanced Standing at Duke

Before we get into the specifics of Duke’s AP® credit policy, we need to make sure everyone is on the same page about what exactly it is that these credits can do for you once you get to college.

By taking upper-level courses in high school, you can earn what is called Advanced Standing. Basically, at Duke everyone enters as a freshman, but depending on your high school course load, you might be able to transfer in enough credits to do any of the following things:

•  Take a semester off and still graduate on time.

•  Graduate a semester or even an entire academic year early.

•  Skip lower-level classes to take more interesting ones.

If you want to graduate early, you will need to contact your academic advisor and dean to start the process. The process usually starts at the beginning of your sophomore year with a final deadline of the end of your 5^th semester at Duke. You can find the details of the process of the Duke website, as we explain below.

Duke has two undergraduate schools:

If you enroll in Trinity College, you can find information on accelerating your education here. You are allowed to apply 2 AP® credits towards the 34 credits needed for graduation.

If you enroll in the Pratt School of Engineering, you can find everything you need to know about acceleration here. Each department determines the number of AP® credits you can use.

If you just want to get out of lower-level classes, but still spend the full four years at Duke, then keep reading.

Duke’s AP® Credits Policy

If you didn’t take AP® classes in high school, or if your school did not offer the AP® class for the subject you wish to test out of, don’t panic! There is more than one way to earn Advanced Standing. Duke considers the following alternatives to AP® tests:

•  International Baccalaureate (IB) higher level exams

•  British A-Level exams

•  Placement tests offered by some academic departments

Now, without further ado, here is what your AP® scores will get you at Duke:

Art

English

Language

Math

Music

Science

Social Studies

We pulled all of this information straight from the Duke academic policies page, so if you want to check for yourself, or see how your IB scores might serve you, now you know where to look.

Duke accepts quite the array of AP® courses, and is very transparent about what your scores will earn you while you are studying there.

As is the case with many other schools, if you intend to continue the study of a foreign language while at Duke, transferring in AP® credits can really speed up the process.

Here are some other quick facts about Duke’s Advanced Placement Credits:

According to the CollegeBoard, Duke says:

All Advanced Placement Exams completed with a score of 4 or 5 are recorded on a student’s permanent Duke record. The classes may be used for placement into higher-level courses and to satisfy departmental major and minor requirements, as allowed by the individual departments. Trinity College of Arts and Sciences students may apply up to 2 of these elective course credits toward the degree requirement of 34 course credits, with up to 6 additional credits awarded for acceleration toward the degree. The Pratt School of Engineering evaluates AP® credit as Trinity College does, but students may receive credit and placement for all qualifying classes.

Good to know, right? At Duke, you can use AP® credits to satisfy major requirements and even speed up the pace that you get your degree. Usually, you only get to use AP® credits for classes you would take during your first year of college. Because of this, as soon as you are admitted to you need to make sure that Duke has an official, electronic copy of your AP® scores, straight from the College Board.

Duke’s Undergraduate Academic Requirements

Like many schools, Duke has a set of core classes that each student, regardless of their major, has to take.They are as follows:

•  Arts, Literatures, and Performance (2 courses)

•  Civilizations (2 courses)

•  Natural Sciences (2 courses)

•  Quantitative Studies (2 courses)

•  Social Sciences (2 courses)

You can read more about each requirement on Duke’s website here. Remember, you can only use two AP® credits to get out of these, so choose carefully!

Campus Vibe

Duke students are crazy about their men’s basketball team, often camping out for days, sometimes even weeks, to get tickets in a practice known as tenting. This area of campus is known as Krzyzewskiville, after former coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Duke also has a huge emphasis on a building a global society. More than half of its undergraduates study abroad, and the school makes it really easy. Every single major has opportunities abroad, often in direct exchange programs with foreign universities.

Overall, Durham is a fun and engaging place to spend four years!

A Quick Review

Here are a few things to remember as you plan your Duke course load with AP® results in mind: 

•  Duke accepts AP® scores of 5 (and rarely 4) for course credit.

•  Duke has certain classes that everyone has to take called distribution requirements.

•  You can use AP® credits to get out of these distribution requirements.

•  You can also use AP® credits to satisfy major requirements.

So now you know everything you need to about Duke AP® Credits. Remember, there is not a magical formula that will get you into Duke, but AP® classes definitely help.

What are the next steps?

Alberto.io is here for you on every step of your AP® journey! We have study guides for nearly every topic. If you need help with AP® Chemistry, AP® Biology, or AP® Physics, we have the answers you need!

We also have two handy lists to help you choose your AP® classes. Here is one on the easiest AP® classes, and here’s one on the hardest.

Good luck!

Let’s put everything into practice on Albert.io:

Looking for more AP practice?

You can find thousands of practice questions on Albert.io. Albert.io lets you customize your learning experience to target practice where you need the most help. We’ll give you challenging practice questions to help you achieve mastery of the AP.

Start practicing here.

Are you a teacher or administrator interested in boosting AP® student outcomes?

Learn more about our school licenses here.