<p>IMO, generally speaking the placement tests are not meant to be too easy, but they're definitely NOT as difficult or challenging as AP exams. I would put them just on par with the SAT IIs.</p>
<p>I honestly didn't even know I was taking the exams until my OA led us to the exam rooms! Not sure what the scores I received meant, but I was definitely qualified at least to enroll in the correct math, chem, and physics class.</p>
<p>The website I listed above & your orientation materials & the orientation website at usc.edu can tell you whether you need to take placement exams. According to the USC staff I've spoken to, they use your grades, standardized tests & USC placement to figure out which classes to put you in at USC.</p>
<p>Thanks redski, appreciate your thoughts about the placement exams. I guess son should have most of the math & physics fresh in his mind, since his APs in those subjects are now & his placement exam will be 5/20. He hasn't seen any chem since junior year, so I guess he'll be reviewing that. </p>
<p>Most folks have to at least take the language placement exam (engineers generally don't, except CS does). If you need ANY math, you'll have to take that placement exam. Folks whose CR scores were low may have to take an English placement. If you're taking ANY physics or chem, you need to take that placement exam as well. For engineering, you need to take all the exams except language (unless you're a CS engineer, who will need language).</p>
<p>if you passed the AP Chem test (i got a 5) and it gets rid of a GE requirement but you do poorly on the placement exam, do you have to go back into a chemistry class?</p>
<p>i could probably do well on the placement exams given that i study, but i know that a LOT has slipped my mind in the time i took chem and now.</p>
<p>You have to check with your advisor about how AP credits & GE requirements work. It varies with your major, from my limited understanding. My son has also not seen or done anything in chemistry since 5/2005 & will hae to study/review next week to refresh him memory (never took AP chem or the AP exam or even the SATII for Chem).</p>
<p>Dont worry about the placement exams... in general, they are a joke... The chem placement exam had nothing to do with chem, it was just basic problem solving... math was also easy... I cant speak for the other tests, but they couldnt have been ridiculously difficult...</p>
<p>Don't worry about the placement exams. If you're doing AP-anything, the placement exam for it is going to be dead-easy even without studying. The purpose of the placement exam is to weed out the students who have little ability or experience in the subject and steer them into a simpler prereq course.</p>
<p>Basically, if you can't pass the placement exam cold, maybe you should be in the "catch-up" class.</p>
<p>Strangely enough, I never took any placement exams. I had to miss my orientation and for the first semester I didn't register for any classes that required placement exams. Afterward, my department advisor just lifted any prereqs I had outstanding.</p>
<p>The only thing that confuses me is the fact that we have to take math placement exams if we need to take ANY math in college, and yet for Marshall, for example, they wave you out of Math 118 if you get a 4 or 5 in AP Calc AB/BC. So what I don't understand is -- why do you have to take BOTH the placement exam and get a good score on the AP exam?</p>
<p>^ I asked a Marshall advisor this, because I'm hoping to place out of Math 118 and 218 --both are waived if you got 4s or 5s on either AP Calc exam (replaces 118) and the AP Stats exam (replaces 218).</p>
<p>...and you don't need to take the math placement exam at orientation if you place out of your math requirements</p>
<p>I THINK the same goes for AP Chem: you don't need to take the placement exam if your AP score waives a GE, tho I'm not sure for Chem majors and other majors that require chemistry.</p>
<p>For our 5/20 orientation, I'm sure there is no AP scoring available by that date. Still, the placement exams don't sound all that rigorous & they will look at your SATII & other testing. They would have your prior year AP scores as well. For other orientation sessions, I read that AP scoring can be faxed or e-mailed to the school by CB before it is received in the mail, but I don't have details. According to the folks at USC I spoke with, you MUST take the placement testing, but from posts here, it appears there may be some flexibility, particularly depending on your major/school.</p>
<p>For me, the placement exams were very easy, and I definitely didn't study for them. I took (I think), math, Chem, and Spanish, and did fine on all of them. Got normal placement for Chem and Math. I hadn't taken chem since 10th grade and still did fine. I had taken Calc AB, but hadn't really studied anything for a month, and got to the normal math classes. (Math 125). I had only taken three spanish classes, and had forgotten more in my third one (in eleventh grade), than I had learned. I still passed up to spanish 3, so I only have to take one language class.</p>