The primary purpose of placement exams is to ensure that you are taking courses appropriate to your level of preparation. It is strongly recommended that you take them when there is a question of placement or if we lack sufficient information in the form of standardized test scores to evaluate advanced preparation during high school. All students, and particularly international students whose academic credentials are not easily interpreted within the American academic setting, are urged to take all relevant placement tests, even if you do not plan to continue in that area of study. While a few departments offer additional placement exams or interviews later in the first term, most departments will give you only this one chance to take their placement exam. It is often useful to review material in these subjects during the summer, in preparation for the placement exams.
Placement exams are offered during Orientation in several foreign languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and Russian). The Spanish placement exam is offered online and should be taken before arriving to Dartmouth. Students with proficiency in a foreign language that is not offered at Dartmouth can usually arrange through the dean's office to be examined in that language for purposes of placing out of the language requirement. International students who have been schooled in a language other than English may be able to use that language in lieu of Dartmouth's language requirement. Questions about language placement or credit should be directed to the dean's office before the end of the first term.
Students with a verbal SAT score of (to be determined this summer) and below are required to take the Writing placement exam for purposes of placement in the required writing sequence. Students whose native language is not English are strongly urged to take this exam.
Students who believe that they may be entitled to more credit in these areas than their standardized test scores would suggest (or students lacking such test scores) may take departmental placement exams in Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, or Physics.
The Department of Music offers an exam during Orientation for those who may be eligible for placement out of the introductory Music 5 course
