<p>so how hard is it to pass the english composition exam anyways?
percentage of those who pass?
difficulty?
any info at all would be great! =)</p>
<p>I only remember this statistic very faintly so I may be way off, but I think for the incoming class of 2010 about 1/3 failed it (which is very high and apparently out of the ordinary and far above what it was for class of 2009). I could be very off so could anyone else chime in here?</p>
<p>It's nothing to really worry about though. You can't really study for it anyway. The worst thing that can happen is you have to take a writing course (which should probably be done anyway).</p>
<p>When I took it 3 years ago, we were told that "1/3 receive a high pass, 1/3 a low pass, and 1/3 fail." Though since then they're changed the way the test is administered and graded, so that ratio might have changed. And like misterme said, worst case you have to take a writing course, which if you fail the test, I would recommend doing even if it wasn't required.</p>
<p>Well, the Registrar has already scheduled 7 sections of ENGL 103 (each capped at 20) for the fall, and they'll probably be several more sections of the class offered in the spring. Based on that, I'd assume that, like thelonius said, approximately 1/3 of test-takers will be given a "fail." However, my year (two years ago), it seemed that the most common score given was "low pass," and maybe the bottom 20% "failed."</p>
<p>Yea, I was part of that year. That's why 1/3 seemed so high.</p>
<p>word of advice: DON'T procrastinate on this... i did and had to pull an allnighter... pretty bad, considering the school year hadn't even started... also, read all of the materials given. it seems obvious but some people myself included didn't really read the really really long article last year and it hurt our grading.</p>
<p>At least we get to write these essays on our own time. If they were timed in some way (like AP exam essays or most of the essays I've written in high school) it would be more difficult. And the essays with all the materials to read sound like APUSH DBQ's.</p>
<p>I'm sure everybody will be OK. Just do your best and what happens, happens. I doubt the results of this exam are going to follow us around for the rest of our Rice career. It's just a placement thing. : )</p>
<p>Are transfer students also required to take the comp exam?</p>
<p>If you write something decently comprehensible, you should pass. There is no reason to stress over the comp exam.</p>
<p>Last year I believe a huge amount of people failed, with maybe a 55% from both passing rates combined. I low passed the thing, but a some friends didn't. </p>
<p>Anyways, the problem had to be from the grading, because there were some fantastic writers and people that made 4-5s on composition AP's that failed it. </p>
<p><em>shrug</em> I'd suggest following all the instructions, and make sure you develop your theme and arguments coherently. Making it beautiful prose probably won't help you much if the goals they want fufilled aren't.</p>