Ready to make the most of your class schedule?
Placements are an integral part of your class schedule! Starting October 1, the Placements: Road to Your Class Schedule tile in Next Steps Center will be available for you to begin taking placements. This tile is customized to you & will help facilitate your placements journey. So, even if students are expecting college credit or other scores to fulfill placements, all first-year & transfer students still need to complete the placements module in your Next Steps Center!
For most students, the University of Arizona requires that you complete three different placements prior to your Academic Connection date: Writing, Math and Second Language. Placements are a great way for us to gauge your knowledge within these three subject areas and ensure that you’re set up for the best courses for you as you begin your academic journey. Find more information below about what to expect for each subject!
Writing Placement
The Foundations Writing Evaluation (FWE) is a survey – not an exam – that will ask you a series of multiple-choice questions to help you decide which Foundations Writing Course is best for you. You can also use the survey to let the Writing Placement office know about any past dual enrollment / transfer credit or AP / IB / CLEP scores you may already have. If you’re a transfer student, it will check the credits you have submitted to us to see if you need to take a Writing course at all! After taking the survey, you will find your course selection and/or follow-up information back in the Next Steps Center. Questions? Contact the Writing Placement office at writingplacement@arizona.edu
Math Placement
Did you know that all students on campus must satisfy the foundation math requirement, regardless of major? To find out how to complete your math placement, head to the Placements tile of the Next Steps Center, Math Placement section. Entry into Math, Science or other courses at the University of Arizona requires a Math Placement.
In your Next Steps Center Math Placement section, first check what score / credit information we may already have on file. Next, answer any “Yes/No” questions in order to find out if you actually need to take the PPL Assessment (Math Placement). If the section prompts you to take the PPL Assessment, you'll be given a link to begin the process of taking the assessment. The PPL Assessment itself has 25 questions and usually takes less than 90 minutes to complete. Your results will be posted in the Next Steps Center within 12 hours of completion. Questions? Contact the Math Placement office.
The PPL Assessment is not an exam that you pass or fail. It is designed to assess your background knowledge and place you into the right starting course based on your major and score. We have a course for all students at all levels.
Note: The Math Placement office uses recent SAT/ACT Math scores (First Year students only), certain college math credit through AP, IB, CLEP, or dual enrollment, or the PPL Assessment (math placement test) for entry into courses. Send all your College Transcripts and credit and scores to UArizona to determine if you need to take the PPL Assessment. Note that SAT/ACT is for math placement only.
Second Language Placement
Almost all students on campus must satisfy the second language requirement, regardless of major. To find out what placement assessment may be required of you, head to the Placement tile of the Next Steps Center & then to the Second Language Section. From there, you can select a language from the dropdown- it doesn’t need to be a language you have prior experience with! The chosen language will then display a few options to help you complete your placement. Options may include taking the Language Placement Exam, submitting scores or credit, or completing a Placement form. International students can indicate that they are a Native speaker of a non-English language. Questions? Contact cohadv@arizona.edu
Here is more information on the options for completing Second Language Placement section in Next Steps Center:
- The language selected will prompt you to take the Language Placement Exam or LPE, a 10-20 minute evaluation of your experience with the selected language. The results of the evaluation will populate in 24-48 hours and suggestions on a class level will be visible to you! Languages that have an LPE option are Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Russian or Spanish.
- You can send in past college credit or scores! For college credit that you hope to use, be sure to have the previous institution(s) send official transcripts to REG-transcripts@arizona.edu. For exams, make sure to send in any AP scores, CIE grades, CLEP scores, or IB scores. Once you have sent in scores or transcripts, you can verify their reception in your UAccess Student Center. Be sure to return to your Next Steps Center to mark the section complete, once the option is available!
Check out this video for more great tips on how to have a successful placements experience!