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Department of Mathematics and Philosophy

student writing

°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²ÊÀúÊ·¼Ç¼ Mathematics Placement

Contact

Dr. Douglas Lafountain, Professor/Assistant Chair
Mathematics Placement Coordinator

Office: Morgan Hall 478
Phone: (309) 298-2315
Email: d-lafountain@wiu.edu

Department of Mathematics

Office: Morgan Hall 476
Phone: (309) 298-1054
Email: MathPhil@wiu.edu

Resources

Placement Categories

Students may take any course in the category they are placed, but should consult their advisor to choose courses that best fit their needs and major.

  • Category 1: Math 100 = Prerequisite for General Education
    Math 110 = Prerequisite for General Education, PreCalculus, and Technical Math
  • Category 2: Math 101, 102, 106, 123, Stat 171 + Category 1 courses
  • Category 3: Math 113, 128 + Category 2 courses
  • Category 4: Math 129, 137, 260 + Category 3 courses
  • Category 5: Math 133 + Category 4 courses

Default Placement

Each incoming student (freshmen and transfers) is given a default math placement of Math 100 or Math 110, depending on their major. Students also have the opportunity to place beyond the default placement into a higher category.

Improve Placement

  • SAT/ACT, High School Transitional or PreCalculus, College Transfer
    +

    Students can raise their placement to Category 2 (or higher) if they satisfy one of the following means:

    • SAT math score of 530 or higher (or ACT math score of 21).
    • High School Transitional Math Course - Transition to Quantitative Literacy/Statistics or Transition to STEM (for the later, they also may take Math 128).
      • Transition to QuantitativeLiteracy/Statistics placement in category 2
      • Transition to STEM placement in category 3
    • High School PreCalculus (which includes trigonometry) or Calculus course in high school. (C grade or better)
    • College Transfer course (including dual credit).
      • Stat 171 - placement in category 2
      • Math 128 (College Algebra) - placement in category 3
      • Math 133 (Calculus I) - placement in category 5
    • No College Transfer Course - Transfer students who have not had a math course at their previous institution, should consider taking the ALEKS Placement Test.
    • Other outside credit
      • Transfer credit from an another institution
      • CLEP scores
      • International Baccalaureate scores
    Request Review of Math Placement

    Students who satisfy requirements must fill out the following form. Please read before continuing to the form.

    • If you are transferring a college course to °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²ÊÀúÊ·¼Ç¼, you’ll need to know to which °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²ÊÀúÊ·¼Ç¼ course it will transfer as.
    • If you had a Transitional Math course in high school, you’ll need to know if it is Transition to Quantitative Literacy/Statistics or Transition to STEM or another.
  • ALEKS Placement Test
    +

    Students can raise their placement by taking the ALEKS Placement Test. The ALEKS placement test is taken prior to the student beginning classes at °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²ÊÀúÊ·¼Ç¼. This is highly recommended for students needing to take mathematics courses beyond general education (beyond Category 2). For example, Math 128: Precalculus Algebra or Math 137: Applied Calculus.

    • Deadline: August 12 for the fall semester
    • Deadline: January 6 for the spring semester
    • Provides review
    • Allows for three (3) retakes
    • Student's highest score is used for placement
  • AP (Advanced Placement) Courses
    +

    By taking advanced placement (AP) courses in high school, °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²ÊÀúÊ·¼Ç¼ awards college credit for a score of 3 or higher on the exam.

    • Calculus AB Exam (score 3, 4 or 5) equivalent to Math 133 and placement in Math 134
    • Calculus BC Exam (score 2, 3, w/AB subscore of 3) equivalent to Math 133 and placement in Math 134
    • Calculus BC Exam (score 4 or 5) equivalent to Math 133 and Math 134
    • Statistics (score 3,4 or 5) equivalent to Statistics 171