Advanced Credit in Chemistry

Advanced Credit exams for CHM 11100, 11200, 11510/11520, and 11610/11620 are administered four times during the Academic Year (August, October, January, and March) by the Purdue Testing Center.

Contact the Purdue Testing Center at (765) 496-6168 or testingservices@purdue.edu for further information, or questions regarding scheduling.

The following guidelines for Advanced Credit (Test-Out) exams in Chemistry are effective immediately:

1. Only ONE attempt is allowed for each Chemistry Advanced Credit Exam.

2. To be eligible to take an Advanced Credit exam a student must: A) have no established grade for the course except a “W” and, B) cannot be enrolled in the course after the fourth (4th) week of the semester.

3. To be eligible to take the CHM 11200 exam, you must have credit for CHM 11100 (or equivalent).

4. Advanced Credit Exams for CHM 115 and 116 will consist of two parts, with a 50 question exam for the lecture (CHM 11510 or 11610) course and a 10 question exam for the laboratory course (11520 or 11620), taken in a single sitting. Students must pass the lecture exam (11510 or 11610) in order to get credit for the lab, and students who do not pass the lecture exam (graded immediately on Brightspace) will not be allowed to take the lab exam.  Students are not allowed to take the lab exam without taking the lecture exam, regardless of courses taken.  Students not eligible to take the lecture exam cannot take the lab exam. The number of points needed to pass depends on the number of questions on the exam, but for each exam, >55% correct is considered passing.

5. To be eligible to take the CHM 11610 and 11620 exams, you must have credit for CHM 11510 and either CHM 11520 or CHM 11530 (or equivalent). Students who have recorded passing credit for both CHM 11100 AND CHM 11200 are eligible to take the CHM 11610 and 11620 exams.

6. If you take an exam for which you are ineligible, it will not be scored for credit. You will not be allowed another attempt and will forfeit your credit by exam fee.

7. For each advanced credit exam you wish to take, you are required to meet with your academic advisor to complete a Form 231. Only a single form is required to take CHM 11510/11520 or CHM 11610/11620.

   • Take the completed Form 231 with you to your scheduled exam. Your Form 231 must be filled out and signed within the academic year in which you intend to take the exam. No outdated forms will be accepted.

8. After meeting with your academic advisor, use the Advanced Credit Checklist (Page 2) attached to the Form 231 to ensure that you complete ALL of the registration steps.

   • You are responsible for completing all of the necessary registration steps and reviewing the Purdue Testing Center policies on the checklist.

9. If you are registered in a course for which you plan to take an Advanced Credit Exam, you are responsible for attending and completing all work in that class until it is confirmed that you have passed the exam. If you do pass, you should then drop the course.

Good Luck,

Paul Wenthold
Director of Undergraduate Studies and Teaching
Director of General Chemistry

Revised August 2025

Scoring Examples:

CHM 11100:  Passing Score for CHM 11100 Credit:  35/58.  Scores are based on the number of correct answers; there is no penalty for wrong answers.

CHM 11200:  Passing Score for CHM 11200 Credit:  36/60.  Scores are based on the number of correct answers; there is no penalty for wrong answers.

CHM 11510 and 11520:  Passing Score for CHM 11510 (lecture) Credit:  28/50.  Scores are based on the number of correct answers; there is no penalty for wrong answers. Passing Score for CHM 11520 (lab) Credit: 6/10

• If you pass the lecture section of the exam, you will earn credit for CHM 11510.  If you pass the lab section of the exam, you will also get credit for CHM 11520.  You will earn credit for CHM 11510 if you pass the lecture section, even if you do not pass the lab exam.  However, if you do not pass the lecture section of the exam (11510), you cannot get credit for CHM 11520.

CHM 11610 and 11620:  Passing Score for CHM 11610 (lecture) Credit: 28/50.  Scores are based on the number of correct answers; there is no penalty for wrong answers. Passing Score for CHM 11620 (lab) Credit: 6/10

• If you pass the lecture section of the exam, you will earn credit for CHM 11610.  If you pass the lab section of the exam, you will also get credit for CHM 11620.  You will earn credit for CHM 11610 if you pass the lecture section, even if you do not pass the lab exam.  However, if you do not pass the lecture section of the exam (11610), you cannot get credit for CHM 11620.