Departmental Proficiency Exams

Placement & Proficiency

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Placement and Proficiency
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(217) 244-4437
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Subjects with Departmental Proficiency Exams (last updated September 16, 2020)

Thank you for your patience during the COVID-19 epidemic. We will do our best to provide you with the most updated information possible. 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 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.

Click on a subject below for more specific information.

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Integrative Biology

Fall 2020 proficiency testing has ended. For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Molecular and Cellular Biology

Fall 2020 proficiency testing has ended. For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Chemistry

Fall 2020 proficiency testing has ended. For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Computer Science

Fall 2020 proficiency testing has ended. For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Economics

Final Exams Week, specifically December 14, 15, and 16, 2020. Options are ECON 102 and ECON 103. You may sign up to take only Microeconomics (ECON 102), only Macroeconomics (ECON 103), or ECON 102 on one day and ECON 103 on another day. Registration will open on December 1st.

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

It is expected that proficiency exams will be offered at the start of Spring semester. Options will be HIST 141 ("Western Civ to 1660") and HIST 142 ("Western Civ Since 1660"). For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Languages other than English (LOTE)
- Chinese: Online proficiency testing will not be available until probably early November. Please check back for updates.
- French: Click here for more information.
- Japanese: The next opportunity to test will be at the start of Spring semester (probably Friday, January 15, 2021). Strong performance can fulfill the Gen Ed language requirement. No academic credit is awarded. For more information, click here.
- Korean: The next opportunity to test will be at the start of Spring semester (probably Friday, January 15, 2021). Strong performance can fulfill the Gen Ed language requirement. No academic credit is awarded. For more information, click here.
- Spanish: Click here for more information.
- Less commonly studied languages: Illinois offers testing to UIUC students in nearly 40 other languages. Most are given at the start of each Fall and Spring semester. Due to COVID-19, some testing has been postponed to either later in the Fall semester or to Spring semester. Please check back for COVID-19 updates.
Math

Saturday, October 3 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Central Time. Registration opens this Friday, September 18 and will close at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, September 30. Options will be MATH 220, 225, 231, 241, 285, 286, and 415. You may take only one exam on a test day. If you want to take a second exam, there will be another opportunity in January 2021.

Fall proficiency testing is done online using Moodle. Before signing up for a math proficiency exam, you will need to make sure that on the test day, you will have a reliable Internet connection for the entire testing period and a computer system that is compatible with Proctorio. You will also need to be able to save your handwritten solutions to the free-response questions to a PDF format, scan the PDF, and upload it to Moodle.

For the link to the registration form and for general information, go to the department's webpage.
Music

Fall 2020 proficiency testing has ended. For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Physics

PHYS 214 ... Friday, October 9. Registration will open on September 28.

Other PHYS exams ... Final Exams Week. Please check back later for details.

For general information, go to the department's webpage.
Psychology 100

Fall 2020 proficiency testing has ended. 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.