Did anyone else get that email about challenge exams for credit? Is this a new thing that Northeastern is doing this year?
Never saw that mentioned by anyone here before.
From what I’ve heard through the grapevine of friends still there, yes it’s new and is more or less an alternate way to get credit for incoming prior knowledge. If someone could post the full email text that’d probably be helpful! @XenoPixel
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We are excited to share that incoming undergraduate students will have the opportunity to take challenge exams for advanced standing credit at Northeastern.
These challenge exams will allow students who are not already receiving advanced credit, through exams such as AP and IB, the opportunity to place out of select first-year course requirements and receive the full corresponding academic credit.
Students may earn up to 32 advanced standing credits through challenge exams and AP/IB exam credits combined. Students are permitted to take each subject-specific challenge exam only one time, and information will be sent out over the summer regarding the topical areas each exam will cover. This new initiative will provide students with the opportunity to accelerate their academic journey while reducing overall tuition costs.
Challenge exams will be offered during the late summer in subject areas including: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Statistics, Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Psychology.
There is no cost for students to take the challenge exams. Students whose exam scores illustrate subject-matter mastery will have the option to place-out of the equivalent first-year course and receive full academic credit for the course. Due to the current global pandemic and the financial strain it has placed on many families, the fee associated with receiving academic credit has been waived for incoming students for academic year 2020-2021.
Additional information regarding how to take advantage of Northeastern’s challenge exams will be shared in the coming months.
Sincerely,
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Northeastern University
northeastern.edu/admissions
Thank you @fadiawesome ! It looks like it’s very much just another option like AP and likely inspired by the uncertainty of AP/IB during COVID-19. It will be interesting to see if this is a 1-year thing or if it will be offered every year from here on out!
I know that NEU students have a take certain courses to satisfy the NUpath requirements. If a student took and passed all these Challenge Exams, there would still probably be other first year classes required (if they did not have AP credit), is that correct? For example, College Writing would still be required along with a history class, am I understanding NUpath correctly?
@four4college You should look at what each class the challenge/AP exams map to satisfy for NUpath and see what’s missing. Generally though yes, I would expect some things still to be left, though it could be as little as 1-2 classes if you have a wide enough breadth of incoming credit.
For writing specifically, AP credit can be used for one course, but you will still need the advanced writing course, as well as the two writing-intensive classes satisfied by all majors. It does not appear they are offering a challenge exam for that likely given the level of detail needed to grade writing exams, while the subjects they chose are much more objective.
This link has everything you need to know. 