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Placement tests help us assess which college courses you should take during your studies at Northeastern. It’s important that you understand the placement test sections and why you have to take the tests.
It’s also important to practice, practice, practice before you take the tests. Once you take the test, you can interpret your test scores to see which courses you can take during your first year.
Northeastern’s placement testing is composed of two tests: English (reading and writing) and math – for a total of three sections. Click on the tab "More about the Test" for further details.
By practicing for the English and math placement tests, you increase your chances of entering into higher-level English and math courses during your first year at Northeastern. This will be beneficial in both time and money, as you’ll be advancing in your studies earlier and saving tuition dollars along the way.
Northeastern uses the College Board’s Accuplacer to administer the placement tests in Math and English.
Math
English
Begin practicing today with Accuplacer’s practice tests – all tests and resources are free!
General Resources
When evaluating your essay, we are looking for a combination of elements including development of ideas (saying enough to not only convey the information, but give a sense of its importance), overall organization, and grammatical control.
Review these sample essays, along with the analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. There are many ways of obtaining a particular score, so these should not be taken as templates or models to follow. Yet, they provide some examples of the ways that the scoring criteria may be applied:
WritePlacer Guide with Sample Essays
Accuplacer is a popular testing platform, and has many resources on the web. Just google "Accuplacer Next Generation preparation" to see what other free resources are available.
After practicing with the above resources, you may also take advantage of Northeastern’s tutoring services for additional preparation. The Learning Success Center offers math and writing tutoring by appointment during their hours of operation. To make an appointment with a tutor at the Learning Success Center, please visit their webpage.
The math placement test places students in the appropriate math course so they can be successful in Northeastern’s coursework and requirements. Students cannot register for any math course without prior testing or college-level coursework.
All entering freshmen students are given several options for placement into a math course:
ACT/SAT math score OR
Math placement test
Students are encouraged to take the math placement test because Northeastern accepts the higher score. We encourage you to do your best to place higher so that you can save time and money.
Students who do not submit ACT or SAT scores must take the math placement test. Students who have submitted ACT/SAT math scores can be placed directly into a math course solely based on their ACT/SAT math score (see Interpreting Your Test Scores, click on the third tab).
The exemptions from taking the math placement test are:
Freshmen with an ACT math score of 28 or higher OR an SAT math score of 640 or higher cannot place any higher by taking the test.
Freshmen with an ACT math score of 25-27 OR an SAT math score of 580-630 have met the Math/Quantitative Reasoning Requirement without taking a course but can still place higher by taking the test.
Freshmen who receive a score of '3' or higher on the AP calculus test.
Transfer students who have not successfully completed college-level coursework in math at their prior institution are required to take the math placement test.
The exceptions to this policy are:
Transfer students who receive a grade of 'C' or better in Intermediate Algebra at their transfer institution. However, since Intermediate Algebra is not a college-level course, they will be required to provide proof of course completion in the form of an unofficial transcript to the Mathematics Department in order to obtain permission to register for appropriate math courses at Northeastern.
Transfer students who have submitted their ACT/SAT math scores can be placed into a math course solely based on their ACT/SAT math score (see Interpreting Your Test Scores, click on the third tab).
The Reading and Writing placement test and survey are tools used to place students in appropriate reading and composition courses that are needed to satisfy Northeastern’s English composition requirement, and enhance the skills needed to be successful in general education and major courses
The Reading and Writing placement tests are given to all incoming freshmen with a high school GPA below 3.25, as well as international and transfer students, who have not completed ENGL 101 or an equivalent course with a grade of “C” or better at their previous institution.