Placement Exams and Assessments: Purple Prep for #NU2028

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Placement Exams and Assessments

Placement Exams and Assessments

Required for All McCormick Students

Department of Mathematics math placement exam (see below)
Department of Chemistry initial chemistry assessment (see below)
Department of Chemistry placement exam—required only for students planning to take CHEM 171, 215, or 217 (see below)
Other Assessments and Exams: See below for details about assessments and exams offered in areas such as language, biology, or computer science. Depending on your course objectives, you may opt to take one or more of these tests in preparation for the fall.

See McCormick's webpage for more information.

Required for Students Planning to Take Chemistry

How do you know if you need to take a Chemistry course at Northwestern? Review the June Purple Prep email for your school for a helpful breakdown.

Department of Chemistry initial chemistry assessment
- Required for all non-McCormick students planning to take any chemistry class in 2024–25 and all McCormick students, whether or not they have earned credit via AP or IB examination.
Department of Chemistry placement exam
- Required only for students planning to take Accelerated General Chemistry (CHEM 171), Organic Chemistry (CHEM 215), or Organic Chemistry for Majors (CHEM 217). Students must take the chemistry initial assessment prior to taking the placement exam.

Find information about accessing these in the Exams and Assessments section below.

Optional for Students Planning to Take Biology

How do you know if you need to take a Biology course at Northwestern? Review the June Purple Prep email for your school for a helpful breakdown.

Biology Placement Exam
- This optional exam is recommended for students with a strong background in biology who think they could be ready for BIOL_SCI 202 Cell Biology.

Find information about accessing this in the Exams and Assessments section below.

Required for Student Planning to Take Calculus

How do you know if you need to take a Calculus course at Northwestern? Review the June Purple Prep email for your school for a helpful breakdown.

Department of Mathematics math placement exam
- Required for any non-McCormick student planning to take a calculus course at Northwestern and for all McCormick students, whether or not they have earned credit via AP or IB examination.

Find information about accessing this in the Exams and Assessments section below.

Required for Students Planning to Study Languages Other Than English or Validate Language Proficiency

Regardless of your undergraduate school, if you have prior knowledge of a language other than English, your language level must be assessed prior to continuing study of the language. Prior knowledge can come from studying in high school, speaking at home, living abroad, or self-study. Online placement tests are available for most languages offered at Northwestern; however, in some cases, your AP/IB exam score can be used in lieu of the placement exam.

You are encouraged to visit the Weinberg Language Resource Center website to learn more about languages offered at Northwestern, language placement exam requirements, and AP/IB exam score applicability.

If you have no prior knowledge of the language you intend to take at Northwestern, the language placement exam is not required. Please enroll in the first-quarter course of the first-year sequence, which may be only offered in the fall quarter. Please check each department’s annual course offering schedule. Links are found in the table under Languages Offered at Northwestern.

Curious if language is a degree requirement for your school? Read more about school language requirements.

Exams and Assessments

Once you have reviewed the above section to determine which exams and assessments are relevant to you, find more information on each exam/assessment below, including deadline dates, access links, and contact information.

Biology Placement Exam

This optional exam is recommended for students with a strong background in biology who think they could be ready for BIOL_SCI 202 Cell Biology. The exam covers core competencies in the molecular biology subject area and goes further than most high school AP/IB biology classes. Any student interested in taking this exam should sign up by July 5 through this link: https://forms.office.com/r/GDKavZWtnG. The exam will be offered July 15–28 and can be accessed via Canvas.

Access the optional Biology Placement Exam under the courses section on Canvas.
The Canvas site will become available July 11. If you have signed up for the exam and do not see the site when you log into Canvas after July 11, please email biosci@northwestern.edu for assistance.

Initial Chemistry Assessment

This assessment is required for all students—including students with AP Chemistry credit—who plan to take any chemistry course at Northwestern and for all McCormick students regardless of chemistry plans. The exam is administered on Canvas. Invitations to the Canvas site will be sent directly to students starting on June 1. For more information, visit the Department of Chemistry website.

Access the Initial Chemistry Assessment under the courses section on Canvas.
If you do not see this exam when you log into Canvas after June 1, please email chemhelp@northwestern.edu for assistance.
Complete by July 31.

Chemistry Placement Exam

This placement exam is required in addition to the initial chemistry assessment for students planning to take Accelerated General Chemistry (CHEM 171), Organic Chemistry (CHEM 215), or Organic Chemistry for Majors (CHEM 217), regardless of any credit earned through AP or IB examination. The exam is administered on Canvas. Invitations to the Canvas site will be sent directly to students starting June 1.

If you do not see this exam when you log into Canvas after June 1, please email chemhelp@northwestern.edu for assistance.
Complete by July 31.

Language Placement Exam

Policies and procedures for language placement vary by department and apply to students with prior knowledge of languages other than English, acquired through high school study, home use, self-study, etc. Language Placement Exams are not administered via Canvas.

Review how your background in a specific language determines the need to take a language exam at Language Placement page. Click on a language name and carefully read ALL information on the page. Contact the placement coordinator for any inquiries.
Deadlines to complete the online language placement test vary:
- Arabic, Chinese, German, Hebrew, Portuguese, Turkish: by July 15.
- Japanese online test available only 7 a.m.-9 p.m. (CDT) from July 14 to July 20.
- Other online placement tests: by July 31.
- *Note that the Korean online test will open on July 1.
Complete follow-up testing as directed.

Department of Mathematics Math Placement Exam

The math placement exam is required for any non-McCormick student planning to take a calculus course at Northwestern and for all McCormick students. The exam is administered on Canvas. Invitations to the Canvas site will be sent directly to students starting on June 1. For more information, visit the Department of Mathematics website.

Access the Math Placement Exam under the courses section on Canvas.
If you do not see this exam when you log into Canvas after June 1, please email calculus@math.northwestern.edu for assistance.
Complete by July 31.

Computer Science Placement Exam

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 for all students and is 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.

Sign-up for this exam by July 31
Exam will be given online on August 30 at 2pm CST
Questions can be directed to advising@cs.northwestern.edu

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.