Did anyone receive a notice in the email about this math placement exam? We have no idea about this until this morning my son stumbled upon it while checking his housing status on AIS. I am very frustrated about this. If this is required, then why didn’t they send out a reminder? Son is taking AP Calculus, and if he doesn’t pass MPE then he is forced to take a remedial math course. This is ridiculous!
Yes, MPE is required of all students. There is a practice exam - highly suggest he takes it - the material is often from the past for more advanced math students so a review is needed to jog the memory. I don’t have a current new applicant, but I’m sure someone will chime in as to notification this year. You can retake the exam if needed after a waiting period but prior to the NSC date. Here’s a discussion from March with more info – http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/texas-m-university/1971152-math-placement-exam-question.html
^^ I misspoke - I guess now you have to take the MPE by May 20th,2017, versus the old schedule which was before your NSC.
Sorry you are frustrated but it is very clearly stated on the checklist on AIS that the MPE must be taken and is very clear that engineering students must take the test by May 20th.
I don’t remember seeing May 20th. Until recently it just said we have to take MPE before our NSC date. Seems like the date change to May 20th is new…Not sure how I could’ve missed that since I was practically camping in the TAMU portal 
I’m just saying that if this test is required, then a reminder would have been nice. Agreed with what Glee said!
I don’t want to be argumentative but we have known about the May 20th deadline since at least January of February. Good luck on the test. Just take the practice test and know that material and they will do fine.
It’s on the AIS portal on the bottom in the checklist it says the student is required to manage. It says the following on my son’s:
Complete Math Placement Exam at Texas A&M (required) Note: All freshmen must take the MPE (Engineering students must complete the exam by May 20, 2017).
From what I understand though, you can take it up to 3 times with a 2 week wait period in between each. I do believe you only have to have at least one try in before your NSC. If your score is 22 or above you can proceed to Calculus. If you click on MPE in the Howdy portal it has practice problems you can study prior to taking the online exam. My son was happy he looked at the practice questions because the test is algebra, geometry, trigonometry and pre-calculus and he had not done any of that in years.
Bad on our part of not paying attention on the deadline
By the way I was told 33 multiple-choice questions and need to score 22 to pass. Does that mean 22 out of 33 questions?
Yes it was one point per question. I think the practice had 40+ questions but there was only 33 on test.
In addition to determining their proper math course placement, the MPE is also used to recommend whether engineering students should start out taking Physics or Chemistry. They recommend that those with lower MPE scores (below a 24 or 26?) start out in Chemistry, and wait to take Physics once they have a stronger foundation in Calculus. I believe the May 20 deadline for engineering students has been around for some time as I believe that was my son’s deadline when he entered two years ago. As others have mentioned, spend time on the practice exam and allow time for a retake. Good idea to have your student begin monitoring their TAMU email daily – my son received several important reminders, as well as notice of a class cancellation after his early June NSC, via his TAMU email. This will be the way the school communicates with them going forward.
@realchk Although we knew about the MPE, there are so many things to remember that it’s tough to catch it all. And right around graduation with so much on our minds, it’s especially hard to keep up with all of the requirements and deadlines. Hang in there, and just follow that checklist on the AIS. My son is up to his eyeballs in end of year projects, studying for AP exams, and graduation preparation, but I’ve had him take over some of the checklist things for TAMU just to keep him on his toes and keep me in check so that we can have two sets of eyes on it all. It’s such a learning curve since this is our first time going through it. Last thing to remember: no calculator on the MPE. Best of luck!!!
FWIW, last year, my son knew about the May 20 deadline for the MPE, and with all of the things @rvhappynow mentions above with end of year craziness plus he had an internship in engineering that he worked 15 hours a week, it slipped his mind and he ended up taking it cold. One the deadline date. Managed to score fine so while he would have done better if he had studied/practice tests, he was not in any jeopardy. If your kid is a good math student, I bet they will be fine, especially if he gets the chance to study/practice some.
One other thing. During our group advising session at NSC, the advisor said that they could take the MPE exam again. Of course, he still had not studied/practiced because no one knew this would be offered, so he just kept the score he had.
So, at this juncture, he has only one attempt to take it before May 20. If he doesn’t get the score he wants/needs, have him practice it more before his NSC and they may offer the MPE again. Or heck, just take it again anyway after May 20 and see what happens. The worse they can say is it won’t count.
Good Luck! Let us know how it works out.
Hello,
I am also going to attend Texas &M this Fall as Mechanical Engineering major. I have completed AP Calculus BC last year, and yes, my first reaction when I saw the requirement during my college research was same as yours. I took the MPE and passed with a 27 last week; it was a little confusing but the test won’t be so bad for a Calculus student. I highly recommend your son to do the practice test and go over the answers explanations. I would not have passed the test if I did not complete the practice problems. Oh, and you can’t really cheat; 1. Aggies don’t cheat. 2. Most problems are rearranging variables so calculator won’t help much. He will do just fine; there is no Calculus on there so don’t stress out
Best of luck!
My 16 yo is attending TAMU this fall at College Station as a MechE major in the engineering honors program. He’s finishing up AP Calc AB, with a good chance of getting a 5 on the exam.
He finished the placement exam last week. I think he scored 82%
Two things:
- He didn’t study or prep for it at all.
- It was more difficult than he anticipated.
I think is you are strong in math, you’ll be fine. If you are not, you better do some prep! You just need to pass. Your actual score doesn’t matter.
@Dgsgmom The score does matter. This is copied from the NSC Engineering PDF I downloaded from my son’s NSC last summer.
Math Placement Exam Scoring
MPE Score MATH Course Recommendation
22-33 = Enroll in MATH 151 (Engineering Calculus I)
15-21 = Enrollin MATH 150 (Pre-calculus and complete Personalized Pre-calculus Program-PPP)
<14 = Enrollin ENGR 289 (Algebra and Trigonometry)
•You may retake your MPE after your NSC to try and improve your score
•14 day wait period between exams
•You can only take it three times
Math Placement Exam
MPE score has shown to be the best single predictor of performance in PHYS 218
PHYS 218 Data –Fall 2012
1796 students
Grade A = MPE Average = 29.8
Grade B = MPE Average = 28.1
Grade C = MPE Average = 26.8
Grade D = MPE Average = 26.3
Grade F = MPE Average = 24.7
The university will use the MPE test score for the recommended schedule. Schedule A has a student taking Math 151 and Phys 218 first semester, while Schedule B has a student taking Math 151 and Chem 107/117 first semester. Schedule C has a student taking ENGR 289 and I don’t know which science. If a student had a schedule B, they were not restricted to it as far as the science was concerned, and could register as schedule A (physics 218 over chem 107/117 first semester) if they wanted to. It is just a suggested schedule based on their MPE score.
So…DS scored a 22. (Welcome to Aggieland!) I was wondering if it would be a good idea to enroll him in Math 150 in a summer online course through A&M. Same for Chem 107/117. He needs to keep a 3.5 GPA for scholarship.
From what I can tell, there are not many classes offered online through A&M. My son can only do night time classes or online in summer and he looked for some through A&M and couldn’t find any. He’s taking at our local CC to satisfy the remainder of ICD and UCC requirements not fulfilled by his major or AP.
Take the math 2412, that is the common course number for Math 150 at your local CC. I would not take the equivalent of Chem 107 at your local CC, because the GPA won’t transfer and he must take two of the sciences at A&M and it is highly recommended to take Physics 208 elsewhere.