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DU Home > Academics > Rosary College of Arts & Sciences > SOAR > Placement Tests

Placement Tests

At the SOAR program, you will take three placement tests. The results of each test will be given to your advisor and will be required for registration for your classes on the second day of SOAR. Please bring a pen and pencil with you for the tests.

If you are a student with a documented disability requiring testing accommodations, please contact the Dean of Students office at (708) 524-6822.

The three placement tests are:

• Modern Foreign Languages
• English/Writing
• Mathematics

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Modern Foreign Languages

All students must study a language and culture to fulfill the university's language foundation requirement, and you can do this several ways. If you place in the intermediate level or above on the language placement exam, you have met this requirement. If you place lower, you may take a course in the language you have studied previously, building upon what you already know to complete the requirement. If you have studied a language that Dominican University does not offer, you may be able to take an independently administered proficiency test (for a fee) and, depending upon your results, fulfill the language foundation requirement.

If you have previously studied French, Italian, Spanish, or German sign up to take a placement test during SOAR in the language you have studied. The test will determine your level of proficiency in order to place you in the appropriate course. The test consists of grammar and reading exercises, and it will include some writing.

If you are heritage speaker of Spanish, the placement test will most likely place you in Spanish 210, a course developed to make certain that you are as fluent in writing and reading as you are in oral use. It also serves as a survey of the riches of the Hispanic heritage.

For more information about the modern foreign language requirement or placement test, please contact Veena Carlson, chair of Modern Foreign Language Department, at (708) 524-6977 or veencarl@dom.edu.

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English/Writing

You will have 60 minutes in which to write an essay in response to an assigned topic, making use of two short articles as sources. Both the assignment and the articles are provided at the time of the exam, along with a set of guidelines for citing the source articles. You can view these guidelines here.

Possible English placements include:

• English 090/101/102
  Students whose writing indicates that they need additional instruction in English as a second language are placed into this sequence. After completing English 090, which focuses on the basics of reading and writing college-level English, students enroll in English 101 and English 102 to  complete the college's writing requirement. Upon recommendation of their English 090 teacher, they may be required to take English 103 in conjunction with English 101.
  
  
• English 101//103 / 102
  Students whose writing indicates that they need additional help are placed into this sequence. These students enroll in the regular 101/102 sequence but are also required to pass English 103, which they take in conjunction with English 101. English 103 is a one-credit-hour, pass/fail writing tutorial taught by the director of the Academic Resource Center.
  
  
• English 101/102
  Students whose writing indicates that they need two semesters of writing instruction are placed into this sequence. Students who pass English 101 may then take English 102 to fulfill the college’s writing requirement. 
  
  
• English 102
  Students whose writing indicates that they are ready for the level of writing and reading required in English 102 are placed directly into this course. Passing English 102 fulfills the college’s writing requirement for these students.

Students with very advanced writing skills may place out of the sequence, and thus are not required to take a composition course.

For more information about the English writing requirement or placement test, please contact Ellen McManus, Director of Freshman Composition, at (708) 524-6457 or emcmanus@dom.edu.

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Mathematics

You will have 60 minutes to complete a test including all aspects of high school math except calculus. The test consists of 36 multiple-choice questions. You are not allowed to use a calculator; scratch paper will be provided for you to work out the problems. Please bring a pencil with you for the test.

For more information about the Mathematics requirement or placement test, please contact Paul Coe, Associate Professor of Mathematics, at (708) 524-6640 or coepaul@dom.edu.