<p>There may be a better spot on CC for this post, but let's give this forum a try...</p>
<p>Just curious...D will take some placement tests during summer orientation. How do they use these, how tough are they, any recommended prep before hand (though I think she will be "out of the office" mentally in June and will want some chill time), etc.</p>
<p>Do they get "credit" (and $$ savings) if they "pass" a general level class?
I'm really in the blank about the whole process</p>
<p>This very much depends on the specific college and the specific test.</p>
<p>Case in point #1: My daughter will be going to Cornell, to the College of Arts and Sciences, this fall. To complete the foreign language requirement there, she will have to take one more Spanish class (everybody does, even if you have AP credit, which she does). She will have to take a Spanish placement test to be placed into the appropriate level. But it doesn't really matter which level she places in -- at all of the levels that she might conceivably end up in, the requirement is simply to take one more course. So she doesn't plan to spend much time this summer studying for the test, even though she did not take Spanish in her senior year and is a bit rusty.</p>
<p>Very different case in point #2. My son is a junior at the University of Maryland, which requires all incoming students to take a math placement test covering high-school-level math skills. Even if you have taken calculus in high school, if you flunk this test, you have to take precalculus over. And that's exactly what happened to my son. He did not bother to study, flunked the test, and had to take precal his first semester despite already having taken calculus -- which meant that he had to wait until the second semester to start his major in computer science (since precal is a prerequisite for the first course in the computer science major sequence).</p>
<p>So go read the fine print. No two situations are alike.</p>
<p>My son walked in cold. Took a foreign language test and a math test. Reported that they were simple. Placed out of stuff, but I can't recall the details.</p>
<p>S took required placement tests in English, math, various sciences, and foreign languages. He tested out of the foreign language requirement. With the other tests, it was a question of which level course was the most appropriate, so no $$saving.</p>
<p>They may be quite tough - if it is necessary for one test to sort out many levels of proficiency. In this case - finishing the test might be rare - but one would not have to finish in order to place into an appropriate class.</p>
<p>My best piece of advice is for the student to attempt to get some sleep before the test - although, with the excitement of orientation, this might be challenging!</p>
<p>Hi, at my s' school they don't have to take placement tests if they meet certain criteria. His school uses Accuplacer and also administers during student orientation for students who need to take the placement tests. If "your" school uses Accuplacer there are practice tests and more information on the collegeboard web site.</p>
<p>At Dartmouth, I will be able to use my 800 on the French SAT II to place out of the foreign language requirement. During orientation I can take a placement test that, if I pass, will let me place out of French 8 and allow me to take a second placement test that, if I pass (but apparently almost nobody does), will give me credit for French 10. I lived in Brussels when I was younger and have taken advanced French courses in the bilingual program at my current school since seventh grade, so I'll probably just review a bit to hopefully pass the second test and place directly into the upper-level literature courses.</p>
<p>Thanks, Marian---I just cut/pasted your post and sent to D.....warning her not to take the UMD math test too lightly! I am, however, confused between the link between AP credit and math placement due to the test. She got a 5 on AP Calc BC, and is currently taking Calc III, so I've assumed that unless she has a major brain cramp, she'll go in at a pretty high level?</p>
<p>astrophysicsmom, my understanding is that she will indeed go in at a high level -- except that she's going to have to take that pesky precalculus course if she flunks the math placement test (and if you flunk it REALLY bad, you have to take an even more basic course before you take the precal -- which did not happen to my son). Once that annoyance is out of the way, the student can then take whatever math courses her APs have qualified her for. At least that's my understanding of the situation. Don't trust me, though. I'm just somebody's mom.</p>
<p>"I am, however, confused between the link between AP credit and math placement due to the test."</p>
<p>It's confusing at my kid's school, too and I gave up trying to understand it last year. What it seems to boil down to, however, is that if they don't fluff the placement tests, they will have a lot more flexibility in their course of studies.</p>
<p>A word of caution on math placement tests. Some schools will NOT let you use calculators on their math placement tests. In fact, my D's hs had a problem with the local state u that rqd all incoming freshmen to take an algebra test w/o a calculator. If you did not pass that test they made you start with college algebra, even if you passed the calculus test (oddly, I can't remember if they were allowed to use a calculator for calculus; that D did not take calculus in hs, so did not take the calc test). The hs had taught math relying so much on calculators that they had the embarrassing problem of their calculus students flunking the algebra test and being forced to start over in algebra! These girls could not do algebra w/o a calculator.</p>
<p>It was not just that school either, D1 wanted to go to Auburn with a friend of hers, and they also rqd you to pass an algebra test w/o a calculator. Our hs had so many parents complaining they had to hire a math teacher from another school to remediate these girls and get rid of their calculator dependency. </p>
<p>So be warned, and yes, read the fine print at your school. I believe the state u had an option to take calculus if you passed the test, but you would only get credit for it if you got a "C" or higher (if you'd flunked the algebra test). Many students took more than one semester to pass Calculus 1 because several math professors would not allow calculators in Calc 1 either.</p>
<p>Waay back in the day, I took a test and got credit for the first YEAR of required English.</p>
<p>At one UC, my D had to take some placement tests, despite AP/SAT scores. At another UC, my other D took no placement tests, her APs allowed her to skip into certain higher level courses, if she chose.</p>
<p>Another friend at a public U in another state was required to skip the classes the AP gave her credit for, whether she wanted to or not!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Marian -
is there just one math placement test for everybody?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>At UMCP, yes. At UMCP there is also one set of general education requirements for everybody. Both situations may be different at other universities. At the university my other kid will attend, every college has different graduation requirements, and some have different placement tests.</p>
<p>One more thing, imho, is I don't think it's a good idea to have a kid "prep" for a placement test. The whole idea is the college wants to "place" the student at the appropriate level for learning the subject the way that college teaches it. Esplly if it's your major, you don't want to negatively impact future grades and gpa by skipping a class that is going to be the foundation for or integral to the major.</p>
<p>otoh, if you're a science major and you get the chance to skip a whole year of english, it might be a great idea (or vice versa).</p>
<p>
[quote]
Another friend at a public U in another state was required to skip the classes the AP gave her credit for, whether she wanted to or not!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is the sort of policy that students need to know about in advance. If a student wanted to take the course, she could have asked the AP people not to report the relevant score to the college.</p>
<p>At Smith, there are almost no cases where they will accept an AP or SAT score for placement purposes (though they do have special chemistry sections for those SAT IIs in chemistry of 750 or higher). My d. ended up taking three placement tests, one of which she aced resulted in her taking a different language (Italian) from the one she tested in.</p>
<p>At my S's school if you have taken AP Calc AB. and made a 2 on the exam, you're allowed to sign up for Calc. 1. If you made a 3 or higher, you could sign up for Calc. 2. If you made 3 or higher on BC then you culd sign up for Calc. 3
If you didn't take AP Calc. you had to take the math placement test. English placement is based on verbal SAT score. Only allowed to skip the first Eng. class if you made a 5 On the AP exam and submit a portfolio of writing samples for faculty review. If you took 3 years of foreign language in h.s. with a C average or 2 years with a B average, you are not required to take the placment test if your major does not require further foreign language. S took no placement tests.</p>
<p>my D didn't take any placement tests as far as I know.</p>
<p>No remedial classes offered, and while some students may use their AP test scores to test into a higher course ( especially for a lang) that is a case by case basis and had to be approved by prof/dept</p>
<p>While I have worked as a college advisor at a community college, that uses their own tests and doesn't accept SAT scores or classes from high school to place into English or Math, I didn't realize that other schools also disregarded SAT scores and courses from your high school transcript to require additional testing.
As D doesn't test well, and requires accomodations, that will be something to ask about.</p>
<p>Someone counseled against prepping for placement tests. I disagree, because often the student has not taken a particular math subject for years, and may be rusty. At the college I work at, the Accuplacer test covers lower level subjects as well as higher. I have seen many a student who took pre-calc in high school get placed in our lowest pre-algebra class, when a couple weeks of brushing up would've saved them a couple semesters slogging through remedial math, taught, at least here, very unevenly (miserable pass rates).</p>
<p>I'd also second the comments about calculators. It's a shame that high schools are not always supporting the student's ability to do pencil and paper math (my H has kids in his science classes who don't know the times table), and it really affects many of them on their placement tests here.</p>