Step 2: Placement Assessment
Your second step in the orientation experience!
We will enroll you in the classes you need for the semester using your placement assessment(s) to identify the best options for you. If you are starting in the fall semester, complete your assessment(s) by May 15 to receive your schedule at Orientation where you can review it with university staff. If you are starting in the spring semester, complete your assessment(s) by December 1 to have your schedule at Orientation.
All undergraduate students must complete the ALEKS math assessment, which should be accessed from your applicant portal using the same email address you used to create your applicant portal. Use the dropdown below to access more information including FAQs.
Some students will also need to complete English, and/or Foreign Language assessments. If you need to complete the English assessment, you will see it in your applicant portal. If you need to complete the Foreign Language assessment, you must use your UMassD login for access. Once access opens, you will receive an email when you can activate your login. (You will need to set up multifactor authentication.)
Please read all instructions prior to taking the assessment(s). Links can be found after the corresponding instructions.
Math placement assessment
What is ALEKS?
UMassD requires an assessment called ALEKS PPL (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces Placement, Preparation and Learning) to determine readiness for mathematics courses.
ALEKS consists of three parts:
- an initial Placement Assessment
- the Prep and Learning Module, an individualized, self-paced online review
- access to additional Placement Assessments
UMassD encourages each student to spend time in the Prep and Learning Module, even if the desired score is achieved, because time spent in ALEKS will ultimately lead to better preparation and improved grades.
What is the purpose of placement assessment?
The Placement Assessment results are used to find the courses that will be the best fit to help you succeed in college coursework.
This is a “Placement Assessment,” not a test. The difference is that a Placement Assessment is designed to determine what you have mastered and what you need to work on. At the end of the ALEKS PPL Assessment, you will have a much better sense of your strengths and weaknesses in math. Then, you have a chance to brush up on topics that you may have forgotten or haven’t practiced in awhile.
Be honest. Our goal is your success. Take the Placement Assessment seriously and give it an honest effort. If you rush, you risk placing in a class that is too easy which may delay your degree progress. If you cheat, your account will be flagged and you will be required to come to campus to complete the assessment in person. While taking the Placement Assessment, do not consult any outside sources for help (friends/family, internet searches, textbooks, notes etc...). Doing so would constitute a violation of the UMass Dartmouth Academic Integrity policy.
The ALEKS math assessment is available from your applicant portal. Use the ALEKS FAQs link below if you have questions, and check the Math Course Placement Guide to see which course you’ll be placed into based on your score.
If you have additional question, please email placement@umassd.edu
More information
Foreign Language placement assessment
Students whose majors require the study of a foreign language, as well as anyone interested in taking a foreign language class at UMassD, must complete a language placement exam—unless they have never studied a foreign language previously. Students with no prior language experience will simply begin at the introductory (101) level. Your assessment must be completed in one sitting.
Majors that require the study of a foreign language:
- Art History
- Communication
- Crime and Justice Studies
- Economics BA
- English
- Health and Society BA
- History
- Liberal Arts
- Mathematics BA
- Philosophy
- Political Science
- Portuguese
- Psychology
- Public Administration BA
- Spanish
- Sociology/Anthropology
- Women's and Gender Studies
Note:
- If your major is not listed above but you are interested in studying a foreign language in college, you are encouraged to take a language placement exam at this time.
- If you have never studied a foreign language and are not a native speaker, you do not need to take a language placement exam. You will begin with an introductory (101) level course.
- Available assessments: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. If you are a native speaker or previously studied a foreign language for which an exam is not available, please discuss options with a professional advisor in the STAR Center.