Departmental Proficiency Exams

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Placement and Proficiency
Room 247 Armory
(217) 244-4437
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Subjects with Departmental Proficiency Exams (last updated February 8, 2021)

We are doing our best to provide you with the most updated information possible during this COVID-19 epidemic. Please check this website often, feel free to call PNP at 217-265-6248 during business hours, or email us your question.

There are many exams that allow an incoming student to try to earn proficiency credit. In addition to the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams that you can take in high school, you have ample opportunity to demonstrate your proficiency in the sciences and the humanities by taking a departmental proficiency exam once you come to campus. Currently enrolled students are also allowed to take a departmental proficiency exam if they have not already earned credit for the course or for a higher-level course in the subject.

Departmental proficiency tests are usually given at the beginning of each fall and spring semester. Usually you are permitted to attempt an exam only once, but there are a couple exams that you are allowed to take twice. Given that different departments have different policies, you should always check with the department first.

If you are a new incoming student who deferred your Fall 2020 admission to Fall 2021: you will be eligible to take a departmental proficiency exam when you come to Illinois, i.e., you may take the August exams.

Click on a subject below for more specific information.

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Integrative Biology

Spring proficiency testing has ended. The next opportunity to test will be at the start of the Fall 2021 semester. For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Molecular and Cellular Biology

Spring proficiency testing has ended. The next opportunity to test will be at the start of the Fall 2021 semester. For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Chemistry

Spring proficiency testing has ended. The next opportunity to test will be at the start of the Fall 2021 semester. For general information,go to the department's webpage.
Computer Science

Early-semester proficiency testing has ended. The next opportunity to test will be in mid-semester. Please check back for updates. For general information, go to the department's webpage.

Please consult the course-specific information on the department's webpage to learn about the exam you wish to take. If you have questions about the CS proficiency exams, you can email undergrad@cs.illinois.edu or you can visit their virtual drop-in hours at http://go.cs.illinois.edu/csadvising.
Economics

April 19, 20, and 21 - Registration is not yet open. Please check back. You may sign up to take only ECON 102, only ECON 103, or ECON 102 on one day and ECON 103 on another day. To take the exams, you will need an active Moodle account and either Chrome or Firefox as a browser on your computer, both of which support ProctorU.

For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Languages other than English (LOTE)
Math

Spring proficiency testing has ended. The next opportunity to test will be in June 2021. Please check back for details. Options will likely be MATH 220, 225, 231, 241, 285, 286, and 415. You may take only one exam on test day. To take the exams, you will need the Chrome browser with Proctorio installed and a webcam. You will also need the ability to scan your free responses into PDF files and upload them to Moodle.

For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Music

Spring proficiency testing has ended. The next opportunity to test will be at the start of the Fall 2021 semester. For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Physics

The next opportunity to test will probably be in May 2021 during Final Exams Week. Please check back for updates. For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Psychology 100

Spring proficiency testing has ended. The next opportunity to test will be at the start of the Fall 2021 semester. For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Rhetoric

There is no departmental proficiency test for 'Composition I.'

To fulfill the Composition I General Education requirement by earning test-based credit for RHET 105, which is our introductory academic "Writing and Research" course, you can submit your sufficiently high score on the ACT or SAT, either of the two AP English tests, or any one of seven different IB tests. Email PNP if you have any questions or concerns about your test scores. Learn more about the 'Comp I' requirement and the test scores that can earn credit for RHET 105.

To try to proficiency out of an introductory course not mentioned above, contact the department that offers the course.

SHOULD YOU SIT FOR A DEPARTMENTAL PROFICIENCY EXAM?

Any student who just missed earning proficiency credit from the AP Calculus exam, the IB Math exams, the AP Physics exams, or the IB Physics exams -- and any student who scores well on the Chemistry and/or Physics Placement Exam -- should seriously consider taking the departmental proficiency test. If you believe you know the material well, it is probably worth your while to attempt the proficiency exam. Your academic record is not affected if you fail the exam (most likely, you would simply enroll in the course that you attempted to proficiency). Remember, usually you are allowed only one attempt at any particular test.

If a departmental proficiency exam also offers course placement, you will need to check with the department for your placement results.

IMPORTANT!

Duplicate credit earned through AP, IB, departmental examinations, or any other means will not be granted. This means, for example, that if you already earned MATH 220 credit through the AP Calculus exam, you cannot earn MATH 220 credit again by taking the Math Department's MATH 220 proficiency exam. Credit for a particular course will be awarded only once.