International students follow the same policies and procedures as any other new freshman or transfer student. The only difference concerns your English language ability.
ESL Placement Testing for Non-Native Speakers of English
If English is not your native language, you had to meet certain MINIMUM requirements to demonstrate your competence in English in order to be admitted to Illinois. For those international students who would benefit from additional study of English as a Second Language (ESL), there is the English Placement Test.
Some ESL courses focus on academic writing, other ESL courses focus on pronunciation, while still others address both oral and written communication. The results of the English Placement Test ("the EPT") will indicate which ESL courses you should enroll in, if any. Your score report will recommend a particular course for you.
- If you receive an email stating that you must take the EPT, then you are required to take the test. The ACT or SAT scores that you submitted will not be used to place you into an academic writing course. The only exception that allows you to ignore this email is if you have already fulfilled the General Education 'Composition I' requirement with transferred coursework from another post-secondary institution or with test-based credit for RHET 105 (which is our introductory course on academic research and writing) based on sufficiently high ACT, SAT, AP, or IB scores.
- If you do not receive an email stating that you must take the EPT, you may choose to take it if you wish to enroll in ESL courses, or you may choose not to take it.
For some non-native speakers of English, it is possible that you received the email stating that you are required to take the EPT and yet you know that your official ACT or SAT score is high enough to earn you credit for RHET 105 and was submitted to Illinois with your application. In this situation, contact PNP and include your UIN in your message. You may ignore the requirement to take the Written EPT only if the 'Composition I' requirement is marked as "completed" on your official academic record.
Remember, all undergraduate students must fulfill the 'Composition I' General Education requirement. Taking the Written EPT simply determines which 'Comp I' class is appropriate for you. Completing ESL 111-112 or ESL 115 fulfills your Gen Ed 'Composition I' requirement just as RHET 101-102, RHET 105, or CMN 111-112 do.
EPT test dates
Please see the EPT website for more information, including the registration form. You must register in advance.
Be sure to discuss your course enrollment decisions with your academic advisor. If you earned RHET 105 credit based on an ACT, SAT, AP or IB test score, and yet your TOEFL or IELTS scores indicate that you would benefit from additional instruction in the academic communication that will be expected of you in your classes, whether it be written communication or oral communication, you might want to take an ESL class even though it is not required. It can help you prepare for success in future classes.