Spanish Placement Exam - Please help clarify

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of South Carolina
1

OK so D has signed up for USC Spanish placement exam. She is taking Spanish AP this Senior year of high school and the AP test (I think this week or next) counts as her final exam, so she is well prepared and believes she will score very high. Part of the idea of taking so much Spanish in high school was to make the college foreign language requirement a breeze. However, USC says that her placement will be based largely on results of university placement exam plus some consideration given to extent of Spanish studied in high school.

Based upon what her results of placement testing would indicate, she is going to have to take more advanced Spanish classes in college. This is not her major and with added responsibilities of Honors College courses and Lab sciences (pre-med), she was really hoping to gain some breathing room by taking easier Spanish classes. That no longer seems possible

I jokingly suggested she could tank placement exam. However, if they are also considering your high school transcript and AP level Spanish course as claimed, I’m sure they would use those results to override placement exam and force higher placement. Of course, D doesn’t want to take something too easy like Spanish 100 level courses, but she was hoping to take more intermediate level courses similar to what she has already completed in high school. Given USC’s foreign language policy and requirements however, it seems like her original plan to go with easier Spanish courses is not going to something she can arrange in scheduling.

Any experience on this out there?

2

Your DD took the high school AP Spanish exam yesterday. :slight_smile: Has she already taken the USC placement test?? If so, can she take it again?? If your DD scores high enough on the USC placement exam, it is my understanding she would receive her credit for the lower classes and thus not have to take others – should the credit cover the classes she needs. My DD took scored a 5 on the AP German in high school. The USC placement test gave her credit for Ger 121 & 122 so her first course at USC was Ger 310, a conversion class. My DD is German major so obviously she needed to take classes beyond what her placement gave her credit for.

3

See how you do on placement test first. It depends on major as to how far in language you have to go. You don’t want to go back to beginning of Spanish since you have to continue thru a certain proficiency which in Spanish is usually 3 semesters starting from scratch (109, 110 and 122 is normal or start with 121 which combines 109/110 for people with experience that aren’t quite up to 122 level and then 122). Chances are you will either place out or place into 122 which is where you need to end up anyway.

If you decide to “start over” on languages there are some that condense the first two classes and so you only need two semesters. D did this (she only took Latin in HS) and took Russian and then liked it enough to go one class further than she needed to. Then did two semesters of greek. She is double major and in honors and it was doable so just wait and see how placement test works out.

Maybe Augirl will weigh in. She has lots of language knowledge. Based on AP table, a 4 or 5 will give her credit for 121 and 122 which is the highest she’ll need for any major.

4

Thanks for above. Based on above, and to better phrase the issue; Yes - pretty sure her AP results will wind up being a 4 or 5. Further, and to that same point, her Placement Exam (yet to be taken) will also likely demonstrate a higher placement as scmom noted above.

Here is the problem / issue; from what we understand, the foreign language requirements are rather unique in that unlike other general education requirements, receiving AP credit will not preclude you from still taking at least one year of foreign language classes at USC. So in the case of scmom’s example above, a score of 4 or 5 on AP test would give her credit for 121 and 122 which is highest she would need for any major. That means however, for her to continue with Spanish and meet foreign language requirement, she would have to start out with far more difficult Spanish courses as she would already have received credit for 121 and 122…

Spanish is not a first or second language at home nor is it her planned major. Rather, the purpose of her gaining Spanish AP credit in high school was to hopefully carry forward the credits and not be required to take a foreign language in college!

That AP course work, although enabling her to gaining additional credits, will still not preclude her from one year of foreign language study at USC. If you think about it, what’s really the point of gaining additional Spanish credits if it doesn’t satisfy the one year foreign language requirement? I don’t know, maybe we are just confused because she hasn’t met with advisor yet.

Bottom line, she really was hoping that her AP Spanish credit would give her a nice head start in getting some breathing room in honors studies by either not having to take courses in college, or simply repeating easy or intermediate courses at USC that she already took in high school. With most other subjects you seem to have that option - but evidently not with a foreign language.

In summary, is there anyway she could still deliberately take easier classes? Perhaps tank (just a little) on USC placement exam? Or, will the presence of her projected AP scores alone pretty much assure she needs to start out at higher Spanish course? Of course, the other option is to start off with totally new language, but I think that’s off the table in that she enjoys and excels at Spanish.

Thanks again for patience in reading and responding to what seems to be a confusing post!

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The highest requirement for any major at USC is 122. If your daughter isn’t a Spanish major and/or minor, there is no reason that she would have to take a Spanish class ever at USC if she receives credit for 121 and 122. IB students have to minor in a foreign language, but they’re the only ones I know of with that requirement.

I failed the AP French exam (got a 2) and turned around two weeks later and placed into 300-level French at USC. I easily made an A in my French 309 class as a freshman. If your daughter places high, then she’ll be fine. I’ve never heard of anyone placing higher than what they really could handle.

I don’t know where you’re getting “one year of foreign language” from. There is not that requirement in any major that I know of. What’s your daughter’s major? Usually the requirement says at least a 2, 3, successful completion of Phase II on the Placement test or through level 122 coursework. That’s between 0-9 hours depending on the student.

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I think you need to talk to someone to clarify. If my D had placed into 122 and then passed that would have been the end of it (unless as AUGirl noted you are a major or minor in language). So that would have only been one semester. What you’re describing sounds like using AP for placement rather than credit and the USC chart reads as credit. As AUGirl also notes, under requirement for your major, the foreign language usually says that 0-9 hours required depending on placement. The only way to have 0 as an option is to be able to place out.

We could be wrong but I think a phone call to Honors advisors or language department would be in order.

7

I agree with the others that you should check with Honors to clarify. That being said, my son got a 5 on his AP Spanish exam and then placed into Spanish 312. He is an International Business major, so he needs to have at least 4 semesters of 300 level language. His transcript indicates that he received AP Credit for 121 and 122. I would assume that in order to get AP Credit for 121 & 122, that your D would have to place in a level higher than 122.

8

Wow and thank you for the great insight from those in the know. Somehow, we were under the mistaken impression that regardless of AP credits earned in a foreign language (and placement exam results), a student in any major was still required to take at least 1 year of original credits, physically at USC, in a foreign language.

Again, without D meeting or speaking with advisor yet (coming up soon), its made for a little guess work on this end. D is our oldest attending college so we have been out of the game on this for a while and making heads or tails of how AP credits carry forward, the exceptions to general rules and when to apply AP credits vs. retake has all been just a little confusing at times. On the Spanish front however, this helped quite a bit in clarifying.

Thanks to all of you for taking time to help sort out.