Admissions & Academic Testing
There are 69 admissions & academic testing credentials in the TestPrepPilot directory: 69 national certifications awarded by a single body.
College and graduate admissions, AP, CLEP, high-school equivalency, English proficiency and placement tests.
- Credentials
- 69
- Specialisms
- 10
- National
- 69
How do the main admissions & academic testing credentials compare?
Verified figures for 10 of the national admissions & academic testing credentials, drawn from each awarding body's published material. Fees change — confirm with the body before you book.
| Credential | Awarded by | Exam fee | Length | Pass mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP Biology | College Board | $99 (US) / $129 (intl) | 3 hours | 3 (1-5 scale) |
| AP Calculus AB | College Board | $99 (US) / $129 (intl) | 3 hours 10 minutes | 3 (1-5 scale) |
| AP Calculus BC | College Board | $99 (US) / $129 (intl) | 3 hours 10 minutes | 3 (1-5 scale) |
| AP Chemistry | College Board | $99 (US) / $129 (intl) | 3 hours 15 minutes | 3 (1-5 scale) |
| AP Computer Science A | College Board | $99 (US) / $129 (intl) | 3 hours | 3 (1-5 scale) |
| AP Computer Science Principles | College Board | $99 (US) / $129 (intl) | 2 hours (exam) + project during year | 3 (1-5 scale) |
| AP English Language and Composition | College Board | $99 (US) / $129 (intl) | 3 hours 15 minutes | 3 (1-5 scale) |
| AP English Literature and Composition | College Board | $99 (US) / $129 (intl) | 3 hours | 3 (1-5 scale) |
| AP Environmental Science | College Board | $99 (US) / $129 (intl) | 2 hours 40 minutes | 3 (1-5 scale) |
| AP European History | College Board | $99 (US) / $129 (intl) | 3 hours 15 minutes | 3 (1-5 scale) |
Which admissions & academic testing credentials lead to the highest published pay?
Ranked by the median annual wage published for the occupation each credential unlocks — the most recent figure per occupation, quoted from the source named in the guide (usually the BLS occupational series). A credential is the entry ticket to an occupation, not a pay guarantee: these are occupation medians, not starting salaries.
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Medical College Admission Test
≥$239,200 median for physicians and surgeons (BLS OOH, May 2024) — the end-state salary the MCAT gates.
The MCAT has no pass rate — it is scored 118-132 per section (472-528 total) and read by percentile; the AAMC reports a mean total score near 500.5, MD applicants in 2024-25 averaged 506.1, and enrolling students averaged 511.8.
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Dental Admission Test
The DAT gates dental-school admission: dentists earned a $179,210 median in May 2024 (BLS)
The DAT has no pass/fail line; sections score 1-30 and schools weigh scores against their applicant pools
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Law School Admission Test
$151,160 median annual wage for lawyers, SOC 23-1011 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2024)
LSAC publishes no pass rate because the LSAT is not pass/fail — it is scored on a 120-180 scale, and LSAC publishes score distributions and percentile conversions instead
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Pharmacy College Admission Test
No current exam — and the career it fed pays a median of $137,480 (BLS, May 2024): pharmacists, SOC 29-1051
No pass rate exists — the PCAT is retired, and it never had one: it was a norm-referenced test scored by percentile, not a pass/fail exam
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Casper Situational Judgment Test
$130,020 median for physician assistants — a representative health-professions career CASPer applicants target (BLS, May 2024)
CASPer is not scored pass/fail — candidates receive a percentile ranking, and there is no published pass rate
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GMAT Focus Edition
The GMAT gates MBA access: master’s-degree median weekly earnings were $1,732 in 2024 (BLS)
The GMAT Focus has no pass/fail line; totals run 205-805 and targets are set by each program’s admitted-class profile
Advanced Placement 23 credentials
- AP Biology Prove first-year college biology mastery and skip intro bio with a 3 or higher.
- AP Calculus AB Bank first-semester college calculus credit with limits, derivatives, and integrals.
- AP Calculus BC Earn a full year of college calculus credit plus an automatic AB subscore.
- AP Chemistry Skip freshman chemistry with a strong score on the AP Chemistry exam.
- AP Computer Science A Prove Java programming skill and earn college intro-CS credit by exam.
- AP Computer Science Principles Show breadth in computing ideas and build a real project for college credit.
- AP English Language and Composition Earn freshman-composition credit by mastering rhetoric and argument.
- AP English Literature and Composition Close-read poetry, prose, and drama for college literature credit.
- AP Environmental Science Earn intro environmental-science credit while studying the planet.
- AP European History Cover European history from 1450 to today for college history credit.
- AP Human Geography Earn intro human-geography credit by mapping people, place, and space.
- AP Macroeconomics Earn intro macroeconomics credit with national income and policy.
- AP Microeconomics Earn intro microeconomics credit with markets, costs, and behavior.
- AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based Earn algebra-based intro physics credit covering motion through fluids.
- AP Physics 2: Algebra-Based Earn second-semester algebra-based physics credit across E&M and modern topics.
- AP Physics C: Mechanics Earn calculus-based mechanics credit for engineering and physics majors.
- AP Precalculus Bank college precalculus credit and strengthen your math foundation.
- AP Psychology Earn intro psychology credit by exploring behavior and mental processes.
- AP Spanish Language and Culture Show Spanish proficiency across the four skills for college language credit.
- AP Statistics Earn intro college statistics credit with data, probability, and inference.
- AP United States Government and Politics Earn intro American-government credit with institutions and the Constitution.
- AP United States History Cover U.S. history from 1491 to today for college history credit.
- AP World History: Modern Cover global history from 1200 CE to today for college world-history credit.
CLEP & Credit by Exam 17 credentials
- CLEP American Government Bank three U.S. government credits in one 90-minute sitting instead of a semester of lectures.
- CLEP Biology Cover a full year of general biology in one exam and earn up to six credits.
- CLEP Calculus Test out of first-semester calculus with 44 questions on limits, derivatives, and integrals.
- CLEP Chemistry Clear a full year of general chemistry in one sitting for up to six credits.
- CLEP College Algebra Skip one-semester college algebra with 60 questions on functions, equations, and operations.
- CLEP College Composition Earn composition credit through multiple choice plus two scored essays.
- CLEP College Mathematics A broad quantitative-literacy exam for non-math majors worth three credits.
- CLEP Financial Accounting Test out of first-semester financial accounting with three credits.
- CLEP History of the United States I: Early Colonization to 1877 Clear the first half of the U.S. history survey from colonization to 1877.
- CLEP Humanities A broad survey of literature, art, and music for three general-education credits.
- CLEP Introductory Business Law Clear a semester of business law with three credits.
- CLEP Introductory Psychology Test out of introductory psychology with three broad credits.
- CLEP Natural Sciences Satisfy a science distribution requirement with six credits, no lab required.
- CLEP Precalculus Place into calculus by proving your command of functions and trigonometry.
- CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics Knock out introductory macroeconomics with three credits.
- CLEP Principles of Microeconomics Master consumers, firms, and markets for three microeconomics credits.
- CLEP Spanish Language Demonstrate one to two years of Spanish for up to nine credits.
Graduate & Professional Admissions 7 credentials
- Casper Situational Judgment Test An open-response situational judgment test required by many health-professions programs.
- Dental Admission Test The computer-based admissions test for US dental schools covering science, perceptual ability and reasoning.
- GMAT Focus Edition The current GMAT with Quantitative, Verbal and Data Insights sections and a 205 to 805 total.
- GRE General Test The standard US graduate admissions exam measuring verbal, quantitative and analytical writing skills.
- Law School Admission Test The standard admission test for US and Canadian law schools.
- Medical College Admission Test The seven-and-a-half-hour medical school admissions exam scored 472 to 528 across four sections.
- Pharmacy College Admission Test A retired pharmacy school admissions test that ended in January 2024.
College Placement 6 credentials
- ACCUPLACER Advanced Algebra and Functions The STEM-track placement test covering quadratics, functions, radicals, logs and trigonometry.
- ACCUPLACER Arithmetic The foundational math placement test on whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percentages.
- ACCUPLACER Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics The general-track math placement test on rational numbers, ratios, linear equations and stats.
- ACCUPLACER Reading The college placement test measuring comprehension, rhetoric and synthesis across passages.
- ACCUPLACER WritePlacer The ACCUPLACER essay scored 1 to 8 on a 300 to 600 word written response.
- ACCUPLACER Writing The placement test on revising and editing multiparagraph text for ideas and conventions.
College Admissions 5 credentials
- ACT The Enhanced ACT is a 1 to 36 college-admission test covering English, Math and Reading, with optional Science and Writing, accepted at every US four-year college.
- PreACT 8/9 PreACT 8/9 is the ACT Inc. practice test for grades 8 and 9, scored on the same 1 to 36 style scale with a career-interest inventory; schools order it.
- PSAT 10 The PSAT 10 is the spring tenth-grade SAT Suite test that gives a 320 to 1520 baseline without National Merit stakes.
- PSAT/NMSQT The PSAT/NMSQT is the autumn junior-year SAT Suite test that also enters students into the National Merit Scholarship competition.
- SAT The digital, adaptive SAT is the most widely used US college admissions test, scored 400 to 1600 across Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Math.
English Proficiency 5 credentials
- Duolingo English Test The one-hour, at-home English test accepted by thousands of colleges.
- IELTS Academic A four-skill English test scored 0 to 9 bands for university admission of international applicants.
- PTE Academic A fully computer-scored English test with results in about two days for university admission.
- TOEFL iBT The leading academic English test for university admission, scored 0 to 120 across four skills.
- TOEIC Listening and Reading Test The workplace English test scored 10 to 990 that measures listening and reading ability.
High School Equivalency 2 credentials
- GED Test The GED is the most widely accepted US high-school equivalency credential: four computer-based subtests scored 100 to 200, passing at 145 each.
- HiSET Exam HiSET is a five-subtest high-school equivalency exam scored 0 to 20 per subtest plus a 0 to 6 essay; you need 8 per subtest, 2 on the essay and 45 total. Developed by ETS and delivered by PSI.
K-12 Private School Admissions 2 credentials
Military & Aptitude 1 credential
Standardized State & National Assessments 1 credential
Frequently asked questions about admissions & academic testing credentials
How many admissions & academic testing credentials are there?
There are 69 admissions & academic testing credentials in the TestPrepPilot directory: 69 national certifications awarded by a single body.
How much do admissions & academic testing exams cost?
Across the 10 national admissions & academic testing credentials we have verified fee data for, exam fees run from $99–$99. Renewal, membership and study-material costs are additional and vary by awarding body — each guide breaks out its own full cost table.
Do you need a certification to work in admissions & academic testing?
None of the 69 credentials in this field is a state-issued licence — all 69 are national certifications awarded by a professional body. That usually means the certification is not legally mandatory, but employers, insurers or clients may require it as a condition of the work.
Which admissions & academic testing credential should you start with?
Start with the one your target employer or state board names. The most widely recognised national options in this field are AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC — each has a full guide with eligibility rules, fees and a week-by-week study plan.
How often do admissions & academic testing requirements change?
Fees are revised most years and eligibility rules change whenever a state legislature or awarding body acts. Every guide on TestPrepPilot links to the primary regulatory source it was verified against, and the "Sources" section is the authoritative place to confirm current figures before you book.