Placement Testing
If you received a score of 4 or 5 on an AP language or literature examination, a 6 or 7 on a Higher-Level (HL) IB examination, or a qualifying SAT II score (650 for Spanish), and have sent these results to the Registrar, you do not need to take the Carleton placement exam and you have completed the basic language requirement. This means you are eligible to take advanced courses in the language numbering SPAN 204 and above. We welcome you to explore these courses here.
Incoming first year students, as well as transfer students, who have had Spanish instruction prior to coming to Carleton, but who do not have the AP, IB, or SAT II scores listed above, must take the online placement exam by July 15 before they register for classes. This test is administered only once and determines your placement in our language sequence, regardless of the number of years that you have taken Spanish elsewhere or of the subjective circumstances that may have influenced your test score. The department abides by the placement results, and exceptions are made only in extremely rare cases. Placements are not a suggestion but rather the determination of where a student should enter the language sequence based on their level.
Understanding Your Score
After completing the test, it will either indicate which level of Spanish you should take (SPAN 101, 102, 103 or 204), or it will show a score of TBA. If you receive a score of TBA, you will then be required to take an in-person proctored exam on campus during New Student Week. You will be contacted in late August with further instructions. The exact time and date of the in-person exam will be found on the New Student Week site. The exam includes reading, contextualized grammar, writing and speaking and takes about 1-2 hours to complete. Only students who receive a TBA or have permission from the department will be permitted to take the in-person exam.
Placement scores are not a suggestion, but rather a clear indication of the course you should take based on your level. Note that SPAN 101 is offered every Fall, SPAN 102 is offered every Winter, and SPAN 103 is offered in the Spring. SPAN 204 is offered in the Fall with one or two sections in the Winter.
Petitions
A student can petition to take a second placement exam, only if since beginning the study of Spanish language at Carleton the student has enrolled and completed with a passing grade a Spanish language course, at the appropriate level, at another institution, for instance over the summer or while abroad. To petition to take a second placement exam, the student must send to the Chair of the department proper documentation (syllabus and transcript) confirming the level of the coursework and its successful completion. The Chair will review this information and, if approved, will help the student make arrangements to take an in-person, proctored placement exam called Avant Place. The results of this test are final, and the student must abide by the results.
Under no other circumstances will a student be allowed to retake a placement exam. Given these strict regulations, we advise students that once they are placed in a Spanish course they continue with their course sequence until they finish the language requirement.
The department will consider no exceptions to this placement test policy.
Click for more information on the Language Placement Test.
Questions?
Please reach out to Vera Coleman (Spanish Language Program Director), vcoleman@carleton.edu, with any questions about placement.