CAS Placement Examinations

To assist students and their academic advisers in wisely charting a course of study, the College of Arts and Science offers placement examinations in calculus, computer science, and numerous foreign languages. Please see below for information on how and when to take them.

NOTE: The College Board has permanently discontinued all SAT subject examinations effective January 2021 (in the USA) and after June 2021 (internationally).

Calculus, Mathematics for Economics, and Other Foundational Courses: Placement Information and Examinations

The Department of Mathematics has important information on the prerequisites and criteria for entering Calculus I (MATH-UA 121) and also for Mathematics for Economics I (MATH-UA 131; formerly MATH-UA 211). The latter course carries the exact same prerequisites and criteria for entry as Calculus I. There is also information on placing into higher levels of calculus and how Advanced Placement and other examinations may affect placement. Finally, the department also offers exams to place directly into Mathematics for Economics II (MATH-UA 132; formerly MATH-UA 212) and III (MATH-UA 133; formerly MATH-UA 213); AP or other advanced standing credit in calculus cannot substitute for any courses in the MFE sequence.

Discrete Mathematics (MATH-UA 120), Linear Algebra (MATH-UA 140), and Honors Linear Algebra (MATH-UA 148) have the same prerequisites as both Calculus I and Mathematics for Economics I, although in the case of MATH-UA 148 the required grade in Algebra and Calculus (MATH-UA 9) is an A-minus and not a C.

ARCHIVAL NOTE: The SAT general test changed with the March, 2016 administration. The minimum score on the mathematics section that is an acceptable prerequisite for Calculus I (MATH-UA 121), Mathematics for Economics I (MATH-UA 131; formerly MATH-UA 211), Discrete Mathematics (MATH-UA 120), Linear Algebra (MATH-UA 140), or Honors Linear Algebra (MATH-UA 148) is: 650+ for SAT taken before March 2016, and 670+ for SAT taken in or after March 2016. There is no change to the minimum score on either mathematics SAT subject exam that is accepted as a prerequisite for these courses (650+). These scores are only some of the acceptable prerequisites for these courses; see the Department of Mathematics website (above) for more information.

NOTE: courses that have Algebra and Calculus (MATH-UA 9) or equivalent as the prerequisite, such as Introduction to Macroeconomics or Microeconomics (ECON-UA 1 or 2), have the same placement criteria as Calculus I, Mathematics for Economics I, Discrete Mathematics, Linear Algebra, or Honors Linear Algebra.

Schedule of upcoming calculus placement exams. Pre-registration is required for all placement exams in the Department of Mathematic.

Computer Science Placement Information and Examinations

Students with no programming knowledge who are considering a major or minor in computer science should begin with Introduction to Computer Programming (No Prior Experience) (CSCI-UA 2). Students with experience using variables, conditionals, and loops to write small programs (in any programming language) should enroll in Introduction to Computer Programming (Limited Prior Experience) (CSCI-UA 3), as should students with a score of 1 or 2 on the AP Computer Science exam. Students with any AP score in Computer Science are not permitted to register for CSCI-UA 2; Albert will block them from doing so. Students with any AP score in Computer Science are allowed to register for CSCI-UA 3, but if they have a score of 4 or 5 they will forfeit the credits.
 
Students considering the major or minor who have no AP credit or previous coursework but have gained a good knowledge of programming on their own and believe they can skip CSCI-UA 3 are strongly advised to take a placement examination in the Department of Computer Science for possible waiver from CSCI-UA 3 and admission to CSCI-UA 101.

In all cases, all students interested in taking Introduction to Computer Science (CSCI-UA 101) must first either (1) complete CSCI-UA 2 or 3 with a grade of C or higher, (2) pass the departmental placement exam, or (3) present a score of 3 on the Computer Science AP Exam.

Students with a 4 or 5 on the AP Computer Science exam are encouraged to skip Introduction to Computer Science (CSCI-UA 101) and enroll in Data Structures (CSCI-UA 102). Any student with an AP Computer Science score of 4 or 5 who chooses to enroll in CSCI-UA 101 as a refresher will forfeit the AP credits.

Information about our placement exam can be found at:
http://cs.nyu.edu/webapps/content/academic/undergrad/placement

Sample placement exam questions:
http://cs.nyu.edu/web/Academic/Undergrad/freshmen.html

For more information, or if you would like to sign up for a placement exam, please contact undergrad@cs.nyu.edu  and in the subject line write "Placement Exam." You must write to the department 48 hours before you are to take your exam, and you must include in your note: your NYU Net ID (or NYU email); your NYU student ID number; your full name; and the specific departmental exam you will take.

Foreign Language Placement and Exemption Examinations

The College Board has permanently discontinued all SAT subject examinations effective January 2021 (in the USA) and after June 2021 (internationally).

The CAS Bulletin lists all the subject exams we use for placement in language and mathematics courses, as well as for exemption from the Core requirements in these two areas, here. (SAT subject exams are only relevant in these two curricular areas and, of course, do not exist for many languages.). Students who matriculated in fall 2020 or earlier can still use their SAT subject exam scores for placement and/or exemption.

Please note that CAS students who complete both EXPOS-UA 4 and EXPOS-UA 9 with a passing grade satisfy the CAS foreign language requirement (as well as the Expository Writing Requirement) and no exemption exam is necessary. Also exempt are CAS students whose entire secondary schooling was in a language other than English, as well as CAS students in the dual-degree engineering program. Students attending schools at NYU other than CAS should contact their school-specific academic adviser to determine the foreign language requirements (if any) in their home school of record.

The exams below are for NYU students only. Students who are not matriculated at NYU should contact the Center for Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts (212-998-7030) at the NYU School of Professional Studies to inquire about foreign language courses and examinations.

For further information on language exams, NYU students, faculty, and administrators should contact the Office of Academic Affairs in 726 Broadway, 7th Floor via email cas.placementexams@nyu.edu (students please include your NYU ID # in your email).

If you want to petition to retake a foreign language examination, you must fill out this Google form and provide as much detail as possible. If you email, call, or visit CAS Academic Affairs to request a retake, we will refer you to this form.

Spring 2023

NYU offers both “placement exams” and “exemption exams.” Please read the entire section. Students cannot take an exemption exam without first earning a qualifying score on a placement exam. NOTE: Online placement and in-person exam results are valid for no more than 18 months.

IMPORTANT: Students of Spanish, especially native speakers and/or those with credit for AP Spanish Literature, must first review departmental policies and procedures.

I. For placement in (and possible eligibility to later take an exemption exam in) Cantonese, French, German, Greek (Modern), Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Mandarin (simplified and traditional), Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Tagalog (Filipino), students must go to the College of Arts and Science’s language exam website and take the online exam of their choice. 

You cannot take the online exams on an iPad, tablet, or smartphone. It can only be taken on a desktop or laptop computer, and only in Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Do not open up any other browser tabs or browser windows while taking the exam. If you attempt to open up a new tab/window, a warning will be given. If you do this again, the exam will shut down and your case will be reviewed by a dean for academic dishonesty. This security feature prevents students from searching the web for answers. You should also (a) shut down all apps (Facebook, Skype, Hangouts, Whatsapp, Viber, etc.) and (b) disconnect all smartphones and other devices from your computer, because if you receive a message or text, phone call, push, warning, etc., it will have the same effect of shutting down the exam.

II. Exemption-only paper exams in the following languages are offered in person (one hour long) for students who score above the specified cutoffs on the online placement exams:

Students who score above these cutoffs on the placement exams and who wish to continue their study of the language at NYU rather than exempt from the Core requirement should consult the score and placement results of their online exam and/or consult directly with the language departments or visit their websites.

III. Online placement exams are not offered for the following languages; only exemption exams are offered (one hour long):

IV. Signing up for exemption exams (rsvp required by deadline)

To rsvp for the April 11 exam, you must have received a qualifying score on an online language exam (see above) and complete this google form no later than 5:00 p.m. on April 10.
To rsvp for the April 28 exam, you must have received a qualifying score on an online language exam (see above) and complete this google form no later than 5:00 p.m. on April 27.

DATE
 Location
 TIME
Thursday, March 30 (full)
 726 Broadway, Room 794 12:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 5 (full) 726 Broadway, Room 794 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, April 11
 726 Broadway, Room 794 11:00 a.m.
Friday, April 28
 Silver Center, Room 207 2:00 p.m.

We offer the exams year-round; when we have more dates confirmed we'll post them above.

V. Other languages: To take the Arabic exam, students should contact Professor Amani Hassan at aqh2934@nyu.edu. To take the Farsi/Persian exam, students should contact Professor Yass Alizadeh at ya32@nyu.edu. To take the Hindi exam, students should contact Professor Gabriela Ilieva at gni1@nyu.edu. To take the Urdu exam, students should contact Professor Tahira Naqvi at tn9@nyu.edu. To take the Turkish exam, students should contact Professor Sibel Erol at sibel.erol@nyu.edu. To be evaluated in Gaelic (Irish), students should contact the Undergraduate Irish Studies Program (212-998-3950). To be evaluated in Swahili, students should contact the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis (212-992-9650).

VI. For languages offered through our agreement with Columbia University, please click on "Columbia Language Exchange" at the top right of this page.

VII. Policies: Under very exceptional circumstances, students who wish to petition to re-take the same language exam should contact the CAS Office of Academic Standards in 726 Broadway, 7th Floor. Language exam results are valid for no more than 18 months.

VIII. Advisers and departments: access to scores and placement results.

Results from all CAS-developed online placement exams. You first need to write Academic Affairs (below) with your NetID to gain access. We will grant access to one or two designated persons in each department.
 
For further information on language exams, contact the Office of Academic Affairs in 726 Broadway, 7th Floor via email at cas.placementexams@nyu.edu (students please include your NYU ID # in your email).