Placement Exams for Entering First-year and Transfer Students
Online placement exams are available in Math and Modern Languages (Chinese/Mandarin, French, German, Italian, Spanish). The purpose of these exams is to allow us to place you in the proper level of coursework at LMU.
If you are an incoming first-year student and have any questions about your registration process, including placement exams, please email registration@lmu.edu.
- First-year students complete the appropriate placement tests prior to their advising appointment; transfer students may take the exam after consulting with their advisor or Dean's Office.
- First-year students will receive their test scores at their advising appointment; transfer students should contact their advisor.
- It is up to the advisor to identify the appropriate course based on the student’s major, placement exam results, and the specific math requirement for that major.
- These tests are taken on the honor system, and they are timed. Using notes, textbooks, a calculator (on the Math test) or assistance from friends or parents may result in serious academic difficulty when the student is placed in a course beyond the appropriate level.
- Students may not take an exam more than once.
Accessing the Placement Exams
- Log in to MYLMU
- Click System Logins > Brightspace
- Open the "LMU New Student Placement Exams" course
- On the left side, click the link “Placement Exams”
- Choose Math or Modern Languages and follow the directions
- MATH
- FOREIGN LANGUAGES
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This exam is 90 minutes long and may be taken only one time. The following students must take the exam:
- All entering first-year students, regardless of major, academic history, or AP/IB exam results.
- All students transferring into the Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering or the College of Business Administration, or who are Economics majors or Liberal Studies majors, must take the mathematics placement examination unless they have transferred a college algebra, precalculus, or higher-level college mathematics class approved by the Mathematics Department, before entering LMU.
- All students planning to take a math course numbered higher than 104. No placement exam is required for MATH 102 or MATH 104.
- Any student, no matter the major, who plans to take MATH 106, MATH 112, MATH 120, MATH 122, or MATH 131, or another math course numbered higher than 104, and who has not transferred a college algebra or higher-level college mathematics class is required first to take the mathematics placement examination.
Accessing the Placement Exams
- Log in to MYLMU
- Click System Logins > Brightspace
- Open the "LMU New Student Placement Exams" course
- On the left side, click the link “Placement Exams”
- Choose Math Placement and follow the directions
Math Results: all possible course placements, in addition to MATH 102/103 and 104, are reported based on the student's score.
The language exams are untimed and adaptive, meaning the length will vary depending on your responses but should take no longer than 30 minutes.
- Entering Freshmen and Transfer Students who have previously studied a language and intend to continue must take the exam.
- Students starting a foreign language for the first time do not need to take the exam, but all students who wish to study Spanish must take the exam.
- Any student who wants to take Chinese/Mandarin, French, German, Italian, or Spanish, and has had previous study or experience in the language must take the exam.
- Any student with previous experience in Japanese should contact the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures for proper placement.
- Transfer Students: To determine if a language is required by the major program, please contact the Academic Coordinator for your college. A list of all Academic Coordinators can be found on your LMU admitted student website.
Accessing the Placement Exams
- Log in to MYLMU
- Click System Logins > Brightspace
- Open the "LMU New Student Placement Exams" course
- On the left side, click the link “Placement Exams”
- Choose Language Placement and follow the directions
If you have trouble accessing the language placement exam, please contact Erika Rycina, erika.rycina@lmu.edu.