Hi everyone. I’ll be entering the University of Iowa this fall as a music/English major. I just took the ALEKS math placement test and got a 47. I know that’s really bad. I’m concerned about the impact this will have on me when I start school in the fall. I’ve gotten A’s and B’s in my math classes during high school and I think that I was able to get a 4 on my AP Statistics exam. I hope to never take a math class at Iowa, but I’m worried with how low my score was compared to my math grades in everything else that I’ll be punished for it. What do you think I should do? Thanks.
I got a 34 on my ALEKS math placement test and they told me at orientation unless I plan to go into a math oriented field I would never have to take math again. I’m not sure what components go into deciding that but my only credit towards math would have been the passing score I got on my AP Statistics exam.
Since you’re a music/english major, I wouldn’t be concerned about this score at all! I’ve heard that the University usually requires you to take at least one math class (But i’m not sure about the AP Stats exam and what score you need to pass out of a math class at this school… I’m guessing a 4 will allow you to not even have to take a math class). But if you do end up having to take one, the University will make you do it just to satisfy the gen ed requirement for the math section (at least that’s what they made me do since I’m a health and human physiology major in the college of liberal arts and sciences), but they give you a lot of classes to choose from and it’s honestly no big deal. No one looked at my ALEKS score except for my advisor when I was picking classes just to make sure I was in a math class that was in the range that my ALEKS score was in, but other than that, I never got asked about it again. The ALEKS test is basically just to make sure you’re going to be taking a math class that will be at the right difficulty for you because the university doesn’t want you to be in a class that is too hard or too easy. I like to think of it as a tool for YOU to use to find a class that fits your needs. But anyway, like I said before, with your major and AP exam score, I wouldn’t stress too much about it! If you’re super concerned still, I would definitely send your advisor a quick email though… they’re REALLY good at helping with this kind of thing! Good luck and welcome to the University of Iowa!
I assume you’ve created your HawkID and have accessed your personal info on MyUI/ ISIS. There’s a place you can go on that portal to generate a degree audit. I would advise checking your degree audit (basically a list of all the courses you have to take and all other requirements) and it will tell you if you need to take any more math classes. There is a quantitative/ formal reasoning section for general education credits, but I got mine waived (as an art and education major) with my AP calculus score. I do not have to take a college math class at all. I do not believe you will have to take a math class, but I would check your degree audit if I were you just to be sure. This is also something you can talk to your advisor about.
The low ALEKS score only means that you have to take a more basic math course before Calculus etc. If your major has no math courses (look at the audit like someone suggested) it is no problem.