Departmental Proficiency Exams

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning

Placement & Proficiency

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Placement and Proficiency
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Subjects with Departmental Proficiency Exams

FOR NEW STUDENTS ENROLLING IN THE 2025-2026 ACADEMIC YEAR (SUMMER 2025, FALL 2025 AND SPRING 2026)

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 of 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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Chemistry

For general information, please see the department's webpage.
Computer Science

For general information, please see the department's webpage.
Economics

For general information, please see the department's webpage.
Integrative Biology

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

For general information, please see the department's webpage.
Molecular and Cellular Biology

For general information, please see the department's webpage.
Music

For general information, please see the department's webpage.
Physics

For general information, please see the department's webpage.
Psychology 100

For general information, please see the department's webpage.
Rhetoric

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

Sufficiently high scores on the ACT English subtest, the SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing subtest, either of the two AP English exams, or any of the five IB 'English A' exams will fulfill the Composition I General Education requirement by earning test-based credit for RHET 105, which is our introductory academic "Writing and Research" course. Please note that ACT/SAT scores must have been submitted with your application to Illinois.

NOTE: If you chose to be test-optional (that is, you elected not to send in your ACT/SAT scores when you applied for admission), you cannot now send in a sufficiently high ACT or SAT score in order to get RHET 105 credit. 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.
Statistics

For general information, please see the department's webpage.

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.