1. Placement Testing for College Courses College Exploration

2. Special Considerations Before we talk about the additional placement tests, you should know that you may avoid placement tests with your SAT, ACT, or TAKS. SAT: Overall Score – 1070 or higher, with a minimum of 500 per section. ACT: Composite Score – 23 or higher, with at least a 19 in English and Math TAKS: 2200 in Math exempts you from remedial math 2200 in Language Arts exempts you from remedial English.

3. Other tests… No one wants to take remedial classes if they can avoid it. To place out of those classes, you will have to take a test (if you didn’t qualify for exemption). Why? Because colleges want to gear you for success, not failure. If that means you have to sit through remedial classes, then they’ll make you do it. That’s why you have to look over the placement tests. These are the most common ones in Texas: THEA, COMPASS, ACCUPLACER

4. COMPASS This test is made by the ACT people. It will be administered on the computer, so you may need to get used to looking up and down, from the computer screen to your handwritten notes. The test is computer adaptive. This means that the questions get harder as you go forward, to find out what you know. There are COMPASS tests in Math, Reading, Writing, and ESL.

5. THEA THEA stands for Texas Higher Education Assessment. It is only given in Texas, which means it is written by the Texas Board of Education. It tests basic knowledge in three areas: Math, Reading, and Writing. The THEA is administered on paper, and you have to take all of the sections at one sitting. The THEA costs $29.

6. THEA Dates for the THEA that are coming up in the near future: October 16, 2010 February 26, 2011 April 23, 2011 June 18, 2011 July 23, 2011

7. ACCUPLACER This test is made by the SAT people. Like the COMPASS, ACCUPLACER is given on the computer. The school you will be attending will choose which sections you need to take. Just like the COMPASS, this test is Computer Adaptive, which means that the questions get harder as you go through the test, finding out the limits of your knowledge.

8. Preparing for the Tests Honestly, your high school curriculum has prepared you to take these tests, but sometimes, we forget what we’ve learned. You should check with your college to see which test they want you to take. Then, review the question types and the subject matter that’s covered. Don’t go in there blindly; it will cost you a bunch of money in school because you will take classes that provide zero credit.