Language placement tests

<p>Has anyone here received language credit with a high score on the online exam? I would like to attempt this, but I'd like to get an idea of how rigorous the exams are and how well one must do. I would be taking Spanish.</p>

<p>I thought you couldn’t take these until August.</p>

<p>EDIT: Ok, never mind. I just checked and I’m wrong. :&lt;/p>

<p>Oh, my question wasn’t really addressed to 2014ers, since we won’t get our scores until September. I just wanted to know from current students or friends of current students what the Spanish placement exam is like and how feasible it is to place out of the language requirement by doing well on it.</p>

<p>I mean, if you can speak spanish pretty well, you’ll do fine on it…</p>

<p>Seems pretty obvio to me.</p>

<p>Is the test timed? Also, I am guessing some students will just look the answers up online and be exempt from the requirement. I wouldn’t do this personally, but it would be naive to assume that everyone else is completely honest.</p>

<p>I took the French test yesterday… the results are instant. You’ll immediately know what class you’re advised to take. </p>

<p>I had 60 minutes to complete my test… I spent about 45 minutes on it, and I was moving slowly.</p>

<p>IF you score high enough to opt out, you are required to have a meeting with the department people of your language for an interview, so that they can ascertain you weren’t cheating and can actually function in the language. Additionally, it just seems to hurt you if you cheat and somehow don’t get exempt… then you’re in a class way over your head. Plus you’re already breaking the honor code, so, really, how long are you going to last at Princeton?</p>

<p>zeinX: So there was no actual writing on the exam? The Spanish test says “Based on the results of this test – which will be available to you in this site after the make-up test time-period is over (10:30pm, 9/14; 5pm, 9/18), by clicking the Results link that will appear in the menu at left – you will be placed in SPA101, SPA103, SPA105, or SPA108”, so maybe it’s different? I assumed that there would be passages that would need to be scored by a person.</p>

<p>how difficult is it to place into 108?</p>

<p>I didn’t have any writing at all… you have to read lots of stuff but no writing. And I was just informed that my results would be instant- which they were; it also said if they weren’t instant, there was a problem and I should contact them… Remember though, I did French.</p>

<p>I’m thinking there’s a difference between the languages, other than just the obvious, haha. Maybe somebody who’s already taken the Spanish one will come along.</p>

<p>i’ve heard that there is: a) an essay component and b) an interview component. would anyone know what kind of essay they are expecting from us, and to what degree of sophistication we are required to write to place out of certain classes? i notice for some languages, there aren’t any 200-level classes…</p>

<p>has anybody taken spanish yet?</p>

<p>When I logged into the online placement test, there are several things to do besides the actual test (like writing an essay and scheduling an interview). Are these steps really necessary? Can I just take the test and not bother with anything else, or is this really strict?</p>

<p>I love you, SAT II.</p>

<p>They’ll take the highest of two subject tests right? </p>

<p>First time I took it, it was too low. My second score is right at 760.</p>

I just wanna know if there’s a listening section on the French placement test. If I have to, I’ll take FRE 108, but I really hope I can study my way out of it. I don’t wanna risk doing worse on the placement test second time around though (taking it as a rising sophomore), so I’ll only retake it if I can get above a 760 on the SAT Subject test (don’t think I’m qualified enough to grade my own essays / speaking sections, so I don’t wanna bother w/ the AP prep book I already have).