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Placement Tests

ESL Students

As of the Spring 2023 semester, all new students who have been identified as potential ESL will be required to take the Accuplacer ESL test. The Accuplacer ESL test will determine a student's writing level at the college. The overall test is untimed and has five components:

  • Writeplacer (60 minutes)
  • Reading
  • Language use
  • Listening
  • Sentence meaning

The first three components are used to determine a student's placement into the appropriate English or ESL level course. Students will receive a composite score that will determine their course placement. Below are the placement levels for the various courses offered at LaGuardia:

  • ENG 101*: combination of a minimum Writeplacer score of 5 and minimum composite score of 105
  • ENA 101: composite score of 96-104
  • ESL 099: composite score of 86-95
  • ESL 098: composite score of 66-85
  • ESL 097: composite score of 46-65
  • ESL 096 (CLIP): Writeplacer score of 0 or 1 regardless of composite score and/or composite score of 0-45 regardless of Writeplacer score

*The placement for English 101 is universal across all CUNY campuses.

Students math proficiency will be evaluated by the Admissions Office during the admittance process. Students' Regents, SAT, and ACT scores will determine proficiency. If students don't meet minimum proficiency scores based on their Regents, SAT, and ACT scores, their high school GPA and grades in Math courses will determine their placement.

If math proficiency cannot be determined based on the above, students will be eligible to take a self-reporting math placement survey. Contact the Testing Office to schedule an appointment to take the placement survey.

Non-ESL Students

Students writing and math proficiency will be evaluated by the Admissions Office during the admittance process. Students' Regents, SAT, and ACT scores will determine proficiency. If students don't meet minimum proficiency scores based on their Regents, SAT, and ACT scores, their high school GPA and grades in English and Math courses will determine their placement.

If math proficiency cannot be determined based on the above, students will be eligible to take a self-reporting math placement survey. Contact the Testing Office to schedule an appointment to take the placement survey.

If an English Proficiency Index (PI) cannot be determined based on high school transcripts, students will need to take a local writing test to determine English level proficiency.

Appointments for Placement Testing: If students are required to take the Accuplacer ESL test or a writing placement test, they will be notified by the College.

Please refer to CUNY's testing page or email Testing@lagcc.cuny.edu.


 

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