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Placement Exams and Assessments

The need to take placement exams depends on your school's unique requirements and your own course objectives. For those taking more than one exam or assessment, we encourage you to plan in advance so you take no more than one per week.

Do you need to take any placement exams or assessments this summer?

Review your school's page first for an overview of expectations. Then, view the expandable menus below for an overview followed by exam and assessment descriptions and access links.

For McCormick Transfer Students

  • If you need to take additional chemistry courses to fulfill your program's degree requirements or wish to have generic Chem 1XX credit rearticulated into specific equivalencies, please see the section below for information about the Initial Chemistry Assessment and Chemistry Placement Exam.
  • If you need to take additional mathematics courses to fulfill your program's degree requirements, please see the section below for information about the Mathematics Placement Exam.
  • For information about your degree program's specific chemistry and math requirements, please refer to your department's section in the current Northwestern University Undergraduate Catalog.

For Transfer Students Planning to Take Chemistry

  • Initial Chemistry Assessment
    • Required if you plan to take General Chemistry at Northwestern and have not taken chemistry at your previous institution. 
    • Transfer students with AP Chemistry credit do not need to take this initial assessment, but you will need to take the Chemistry Placement Exam if you plan to take any chemistry courses at Northwestern.
  • Chemistry Placement Exam
    • Required if you have taken college-level chemistry before and are seeking to receive other than generic CHEM 1XX credit. Rearticulation to Northwestern course credit may be needed if you are planning to take courses for which general chemistry is a prerequisite.  
    • Access the placement exam by accepting the email invitation to join the Canvas exam page. If you do not find the above exams in Canvas or if you have any questions, please contact f-northrup@northwestern.edu.  

Required for Transfer Students Planning to Take Calculus

Mathematics Placement Exam
  • Access the placement exam by accepting the email invitation to join the Canvas exam page.

Any questions? Email calculus@math.northwestern.edu.

Required for Students Planning to Continue Studies in Languages Other Than English or to Verify Language Proficiency

Regardless of your undergraduate school, if you have previously studied a language other than English, you are encouraged to visit the Weinberg College website to learn more about languages offered at Northwestern, language placement exams, and AP exam score applicability. If you have not previously studied the language you intend to take at Northwestern, the language placement exam is not required.

Exams and Assessments

Biology Placement Exam

This optional exam is recommended for students interested in taking a research-oriented introductory biology course sequence. The exam focuses both on content knowledge and problem solving related to key concepts in molecular biology. Successful scores on the placement exam enable registration into the Research Track Introductory Series starting with BIO239 offered each Spring quarter. The Research track series (BIO239/240/241) covers a similar range of topics as the main sequence (BIO201/202/203) and emphasizes learning and understanding how new discoveries in biology are made, through reading historical and contemporary primary literature. For more details on this program, see the Biological Sciences website at https://biosci.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/research-track.html.

Any student interested in taking this exam should sign up by July 10 through this link: https://forms.office.com/r/nPfExkQrEb. The exam will be offered July 14–27 and can be accessed via Canvas. 

Initial Chemistry Assessment

This assessment is required for transfer students who plan to take General Chemistry at Northwestern and have never taken any college-level chemistry courses nor earned AP Chemistry credit. The assessment can be found under the courses section on Canvas. Every student receives access to the assessment via Canvas and is invited by email. For more information, visit the Department of Chemistry website.  

Chemistry Placement Exam

This placement exam is required if you have taken college-level chemistry before and are seeking to receive other than generic CHEM 1XX credit. If you are planning to take Organic Chemistry at Northwestern, you need to take this placement exam. Transfer students who are required to take this exam do not need to take the Initial Chemistry Assessment. The Department of Chemistry Placement Exam can be found under the courses section on Canvas. Every student receives access to the exam via Canvas and is invited by email. For more information, visit the Department of Chemistry website. 

Language Placement Exam

The Language Placement Exam is required for any transfer student who plans to continue their study in a language other than English or needs to verify their proficiency in a language other than English. For information about the Language Placement Exam, proficiency requirements, AP exam score applicability, and language study at Northwestern, see the Weinberg College language requirement webpage. 

Mathematics Placement Exam

This placement exam is required for all transfer students who plan to take a calculus course at Northwestern. Every student receives access to the exam via Canvas and is invited by email. For more information, visit the Department of Mathematics website.

Computer Science Placement Exam

This exam is optional for transfer students. You may choose to take this placement exam if you have substantial Computer Science (CS) background covering the topics of the CS foundation courses AND are planning to pursue formal CS study through a CS major or minor at Northwestern. This exam is optional and used to verify whether students are prepared to begin their CS coursework at a point beyond the foundation courses. For more information and to sign up for this exam, visit the First-Year McCormick website. 

Exam Accommodations

If you need accommodations for an online placement exam or assessments, plan to initiate the AccessibleNU (ANU) application process four weeks in advance of your placement test. Please note that language placement exams are not timed.

Canvas Invitations

Canvas is commonly used at Northwestern for accessing course materials, turning in assignments, viewing grades, and handling other academic tasks. You'll use Canvas this summer if certain online placement exams and assessments are required for you. Every incoming student is emailed an invitation to join the Canvas exam page even if no exams or assessments are required.