Placement Exams?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Davis
1

<p>I have some general questions about the placement exams:</p>

<li><p>So we only have to take two from an option of three, correct? The options being: chemistry, pre-cal, & foreign language. Which ones are mandatory?</p></li>
<li><p>Out of the aforementioned options, which one would you recommend? In other words, which ones are the easiest ones? haha…I totally forgot chemistry!</p></li>
<li><p>Do you have to pay extra for these exams or are they included in the orientation price?</p></li>
</ol>

<hr>

<p>Now I have some general questions about the orientation itself.</p>

<li><p>Will we need to bring extra money for any reason?</p></li>
<li><p>Do we really need to bring a laptop? For what purpose?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>you only have to take the placement test if you want to take the corresponding class. more information about the tests can be found here <a href="http://www.lsc.ucdavis.edu/diagnostic_general.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.lsc.ucdavis.edu/diagnostic_general.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>you don't have to pay anything and you probably won't need extra money unless you go to town or something.</p>

<p>as far as I know a laptop is not necessary, I'm pretty sure they provide computers for you to sign up for classes. although it wouldn't hurt, you could use it during breaks and free time, or sign up for classes on your own.</p>

3

<p>^Thank you so much!</p>

<p>From experience, would you say that these tests are hard? Meaning, would you suggest that I study for them? I am a little bit worried about them, lol.</p>

4

<p>Oh great, now how do I know which math class I have to take? I am so confused...<again!>...</again!></p>

5

<p>This might be a problem for me. I don't remember a thing about precalculus =(
Should I review some key concepts again?</p>

6

<p>the tests aren't too hard and you don't need a really high score to pass, unless you want to take honors. if you look at the link i gave, i believe there are review material available like <a href="http://www.lsc.ucdavis.edu/math_pdfs/AlgebraWorkshops.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.lsc.ucdavis.edu/math_pdfs/AlgebraWorkshops.pdf&lt;/a> and <a href="http://www.lsc.ucdavis.edu/math_pdfs/Trig-Workshops(1-4).pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.lsc.ucdavis.edu/math_pdfs/Trig-Workshops(1-4).pdf&lt;/a>. if you should study depends on how much you remember, it's pretty basic stuff so you could probably do without studying. but even if you fail, i think you can take it again in the beginning of fall. so no biggie.</p>

<p>as for what math you need to take it's basically the 21 series for engineers and 16 for everyone else. there's also 17 for biosci people, but I'd just take 16.</p>

7

<p>Thank you so much yarold for being so helpful. It is much appreciated. :)</p>

8

<p>Can we opt out of the calc exam with a 4 or 5 on the AP test?
Also, how bad is the chem placement exam?</p>

9

<p>I'm pretty sure you do even if you pass the AP test.</p>

<p>From the site,
Who Needs to take the Placement Exams
* Students with Advanced Placement examination credit or transfer units for courses in mathematics.
* Students who wish to enroll in:
Math 12, 16A, 17A, or 21A</p>

<p>I wouldn't worry too much, since you only need a 21/44 for the regular chem class. But then again, I do know people who had to take the workload class... it's multiple choice, so you can always guess. if you can do basic chem calculations like unit conversion, density, molarity, and can read a periodic table, you should be ok.</p>

10

<p>If you are truly concerned go to the UCD bookstore web-site. You can order practice books for all of the placement exams online. They are very inexpensive.</p>

11

<p>...and you can find out the results on the same day right?</p>

12

<p>yup, cuz you'll need the results for picking classes</p>

13

<p><a href="http://www.lsc.ucdavis.edu/diagnostic_math.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.lsc.ucdavis.edu/diagnostic_math.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Students fulfill the MPR and are not required to take the Precalculus Diagnostic Exam when one of the following conditions are met: (a) Advanced Placement Calculus AB exam score of 4 or 5; (b) Advanced Placement Calculus BC exam score of 3, 4, or 5; (c) a score of 700 or above on the Mathematics section of the SAT Reasoning Test; or (d) in either of the SAT Mathematical Subject tests (Level 1 or Level 2) a score of 700 and above.</p>

<p>whoo! i don't have to take it! XD</p>

14

<p>^Wait, is the exam Pre-Calculus or Calculus?</p>

15

<p>well it says precalculus. the math placement consists of only precalculus</p>

<p>so wait.. if i'm exempt from the math placement at the orientation...and i'm not planning to take chem or continuing my language from hs...does that mean i don't have to take any placement tests at all??</p>

16

<p>it's pre-calc test to place into calc? lol</p>

<p>I guess I didn't have to take it, unless this is new, or I didn't know about it then. haha.</p>

<p>and to hoper, I guess so.</p>

17

<p>So if you fail a placement test on Orientation Day, can you re-take it that same day, or do you have to wait until the Fall Quarter?</p>

<p>^If the answer to the aforementioned question is Fall Quarter, then how do we register for classes?</p>

18

<p>you'd have to wait until fall quarter. you can still register for classes, they don't check until the start of the quarter. my friend was one point away from passing chem and signed up for chem2a anyway. he retook the test and passed it in the start of fall. or you could choose to sign up for the workload course and switch into the regular class when the quarter starts</p>

19

<p>but what about first come first serve? wouldn't the classes fill up fast?</p>

20

<p>it is first come, first serve, and popular classes/times/profs fill up pretty fast. I think they're pretty good at making sure people get the classes they need, it just might not be the time/prof that you want.</p>