The placement exam will be offered during the fall orientation and then once a month during the fall semester, beginning in September, but those dates have not been determined yet.  When they are available they will be posted here and on the Testing Services calendar.

Mathematics Placement Exam

What math courses do I need to take?
Each undergraduate at WSU must pass a designated math course as part of the General Education Requirement. Courses taken at other colleges may fulfill this requirement, but transfer credit must be officially approved. Course equivalencies information for colleges in Washington and selected colleges out of state may be found at http://www.wsu.edu/advise/transfer-courses. You may also wish to consult a WSU catalog for math requirements in your intended field.

Which math courses may I take?
This depends on your score on one of several possible tests or what prerequisite courses you have taken.

1. Entering Freshmen. WSU accepts scores from any of the following tests:

• The Intermediate or Advanced Math Placement Exam, which is offered at numerous testing sites across the state
• The quantitative portion of the SAT
• Either the AB or BC version of the College Board Advanced Placement exam for calculus
• The mathematics portion of the ACT; see the note about ACT scores below

2. Continuing Students. Many college courses assume background from a previous course (or courses) and list that course (or courses) as prerequisite(s) for enrolling in the given course. Consult the current Washington State University Catalog for a complete listing of courses offered and their prerequisites. Most mathematics courses require a C grade or better in all prerequisites. Occasionally, a course will have more than one prerequisite, in which case, all prerequisites need to be satisfied.
3. Transfer Students. In order to place you correctly and enhance your chances for success, we strongly advise that all transfer students wishing to enroll in a math course take a math placement test. If you do not score high enough on the placement test, you may still qualify to remain enrolled in the math course based on the quantitative SAT score or math course(s) which transfer as an equivalent to a prerequisite(s) for the course. Transfer credit equivalencies for many institutions can be found at the following web site: http://www.wsu.edu/advise/transfer-courses. The WSU Mathematics Department does not have access to all your academic records. Thus, we recommend that you have these documents available before enrolling in math classes at WSU.

The Mathematics Placement Test

There are two types of placement tests: intermediate or advanced. Students planning to enroll in Math 107, 201, 202, 205, 206, 210, 212 or 251 may take either the intermediate or the advanced test. Students planning to enroll in Math 140 or 171 must take the advanced test. A $15.00 fee is charged each time the test is taken. Those who are not satisfied with their placement test score may retake the test, but only one retake per year at each level (intermediate and advanced) is allowed.

The Intermediate version covers intermediate algebra, and the Advanced version covers precalculus topics such as intermediate algebra and trigonometry. You are encouraged to review relevant material before taking the test. We have two web sites we recommend you visit.

This first web site has the ability to supply many different problems for various fundamental math concepts, as well as review material. This would be a good beginning place to review concepts, however it is recommended that you also look at the old exams available at the second web site, as the review material may not be exhaustive.

The second web site has one practice test for each of the Advanced or Intermediate Math Placement tests as well as information about test dates, locations (other than WSU) and topics covered.

For more information about test dates, location and registration, click here.

Verifying prerequisites. Currently, you may be allowed to register for any math course for which the prerequisites are not satisfied. In order to ensure that you have satisfied prerequisites and consequently are in a position to pass the course for which you registered, the Mathematics Department will run a prerequisite check before the semester starts. Unfortunately, the check does not identify transfer credit or College Board AP scores. If the prerequisite check indicates that you may not be eligible for the course in which you are enrolled, you will receive notice from you instructor during the first week of class. That notice will give you detailed instructions on how to provide documentation of your prerequisites and the dates by which the documentation must be submitted. If a notice is sent to your instructor and you do not submit documentation, then you will be dropped from the class.

An important note about ACT scores. The ACT score available in your WSU records is not broken down into components, and only the mathematics component is considered for math placement. If you wish to use yourr ACT math score for math placement you must provide the Department of Mathematics with a copy of your ACT score report.

(1) Math Placement Test scores for tests taken prior to May 2000 will still be accepted.
(2) A copy of the ACT score report must be provided for the Department of Mathematics in order to use ACT scores for placement.
(3) Listed are criteria for entry into the class, not class credit. Student must provide documentation to the Department of Mathematics.
(4) The equivalent of Math 101 is offered on the Pullman campus through Spokane Falls Community College. For more information visit http://www.iel.spokane.edu/mla/.

Back to:Advising (SALC)