USNA Course Validation Policy
There are many opportunities for midshipmen to earn validation credit for USNA courses. While the majority of validation occurs during plebe summer, midshipmen may validate upper level courses at other times. To be considered for validation of a course, a midshipman must have one or more of the following:
- equivalent college level experience elsewhere,
- high AP or IB test scores as indicated below, and/or
- good performance on one or more validation test(s).
In general, validation for a particular course is determined by the academic department in which the course is offered. Midshipmen who wish to validate courses for which opportunities are not provided during plebe summer may visit the relevant department to make appropriate arrangements nearly anytime after plebe summer.
A summary of our validation policies is shown in the table below. Additional information about validation is available here.
| Department | Validation opportunities during plebe summer | Validation requirements for upper level courses |
|---|---|---|
| Division of Engineering and Weapons | ||
| Aerospace Engineering | No validation tests are administered during plebe summer. | Interview, test. |
| Electrical and Computer Engineering | ||
| Mechanical Engineering | ||
| Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering | ||
| Weapons and Systems Engineering | ||
| Division of Mathematics and Science | ||
| Chemistry | Tests administered for Chemistry 1 and Chemistry 2. Biology AP=5 or IB>6 validates Biology 1. | Interview, test. |
| Computer Science | No validation tests are administered during plebe summer. | |
| Mathematics | Tests administered for Calculus 1 ("AB" AP>=4 validates), Calculus 2 ("BC" AP>=4 validates) and Calculus 3. Statistics AP>=4 validates SM219. | |
| Oceanography | No validation tests are administered during plebe summer. | |
| Physics | Tests administered for Physics 1 and Physics 2. | |
| Division of Humanities and Social Sciences | ||
| Economics | Test administered for Introductory Economics. Micro+Macro AP>8 validates. | Some combination of syllabus, transcript, interview and test. |
| English | Tests administered for English 1 (AP=5 or IB=7, Literature or Language, validates) and English 2. | |
| History | No validation tests are administered during plebe summer. AP World History plus either AP European History or AP American History >10 validates | Syllabus, transcript and interview. |
| Political Science | No validation tests are administered during plebe summer. American Government AP=5 validates FP130. | Syllabus, transcript and interview. |
| Languages and Cultures | Tests administered for French 1&2 (AP>3 validates) and French 3&4 (AP>4 validates). Tests administered for German 1&2 (AP>3 validates) and German 3&4 (AP>4 validates). Tests administered for Japanese 1&2 and Japanese 3&4. Tests administered for Russian 1&2 and Russian 3&4. Tests administered for Spanish 1&2 (AP>3 validates) and Spanish 3&4 (AP>4 validates). | Interview, test. |
| Division of Professional Development | ||
| Seamanship and Navigation | No validation tests are administered during plebe summer. | Interview, test. |
| Division of Leadership Education and Development | ||
| Leadership, Ethics, and Law | No validation tests are administered during plebe summer. Introductory Psychology AP>4 validates. | Syllabus, transcript and interview. |
Last update: 24 June 2013
