Your Placement Score

As you begin to think about undergraduate study, you probably have many priorities to manage. Nonetheless, if you studied French in high school, you should enroll in a college French course as soon as you can, just to see if you enjoy it. Whether you must complete the requirement or are thinking of pursuing French beyond the first year, it is a good idea to get started right away. It is not a good idea to skip a semester of foreign language if you can avoid doing so.

Your score on the French Placement Test may allow you to begin with a more advanced course. A higher placement score allows you to bypass the foreign language requirement and as many as two courses that count towards the French major.

If your score places you in a spring semester course (such as Fren 1002 or Fren 2002), you should consider enrolling in the preceding fall course. College-level French courses move quickly, so you may well find that a refresher course is a great springboard for your continued success.

Here are enrollment guidelines for the French Placement test:

If you score...	enroll in...
below 20	1001, Beginning I, in the fall semester
21-26	1002, Beginning II, in the spring semester. Consider reviewing your skills in 1001 in the preceding semester.
27-32	2001, Intermediate I, in the fall semester.
33-36	2002, Intermediate II, in the spring semester. Enrolling in 2001 in the preceding semester is a very good idea, since the intermediate course moves quickly and covers a lot of material. This is the most advanced course that can be bypassed with a high score on the placement exam.
37+	3001, Advanced Conversation and Composition. This is the first course in the advanced sequence, and essential to your skills. The emphasis from this point forward is on using the language you have learned.

If you find that the course indicated by the results of your placement exam is not quite right--the course you're in is either not challenging enough or too challenging-- talk with your professor about your options.