Advanced Placement Information | Mathematics at Dartmouth

This page is a brief summary of placement information in mathematics for students admitted to Dartmouth. Detailed information can be found on our Canvas site: 2021's, 2022's , 2023's , 2024's , 2025's .

By late July, every incoming first-year student should have received an email concerning Math Placement.
If you do not receive an email before orientation, please contact Professor van Erp.

As detailed in the email, all math placement issues will be handled via the Math Placement System hosted on Canvas.

If you have previously taken an exam (AP, IB (HL), or British A-level), refer to the placement diagrams below for an overview, and to the Canvas pages 2021's, 2022's ,2023's , 2024's , 2025's for further explanation.

If you have not taken such an exam, but have acquired a background which you think merits advanced placement and/or credit, you can take our local placement exams which can also award advanced placement and credit. Local placement exams for credit and/or placement will be available on the Canvas site during the first week of August. Every credit/placement exam must be completed by noon on September 8, 2021 to ensure correct placement before enrolling in classes.

Taking the department's placement exam can only provide you with more options; you cannot receive a lower placement by taking the department's exam, so you are strongly encouraged to take it if you have taken some advanced mathematics in the past. It is often the case that students midway through their career decide to add a minor or second major and discover they need credit for a calculus course as prerequisite. It costs you very little time right now, but the potential payback is enormous.

Also, as mentioned in the information mailed to you over the summer, it is in your best interest to review prior to attempting these exams. You can try them only once, and if you fail a placement exam, the default placements will stand. This is not negotiable.

Finally a word about these prematriculation credits. Courses for which you acquire credit through (local/internal or external) placement exams will appear on your transcript as courses for which you have received credit. Such prematriculation credits do not count towards the number of courses required for graduation, however, they do serve internally to satisfy prerequistes for other courses you may wish to take, and also appear to the outside world (e.g., medical schools) as courses for which you have received credit.