Several courses commonly taken by incoming students require placement. Placement ensures that students enroll in courses appropriate for their level of preparation and increases their likelihood of success in those subjects. The courses requiring placement include English Composition, Calculus I, General Chemistry, and courses in French, German, Latin and Spanish.
Students should read the information below carefully to determine if they will need to take a placement exam for that subject.
Since all students are required to complete the General Education composition requirement, everyone should review the information on English Composition. For the other courses requiring placement, students should first determine if they will want or need to take those courses. There are three basic reasons for a student to enroll in these courses:
1) The course(s) are required for major or college requirements.
2) The course(s) are required or recommended for a non-major program the student wishes to pursue (for example, Calculus is required by medical schools, even though the student's major may not require it).
3) The student has a desire to study one of those areas even though the student is not planning to major in it.
To verify if the major or college requires a Calculus (MAC 2233 or 2311) or General Chemistry (CHM 2040 or CHM 2045) course, students should review the information on the major in the College section of this catalog. (For students unsure which college offers their major, there is an index of all majors at UF at the beginning of this catalog.) College-level foreign language is required by only two colleges (Liberal Arts and Sciences requires language proficiency; in Journalism and Communications, students may choose language proficiency as on option).
Pre-health students (students interested in attending medical, optometry, dental or veterinary school after graduating from UF) need to complete Calculus and General Chemistry to be admissible to those programs.
Most students take a 1000- or 2000-level English course during their first year to meet the General Education requirement (unless a student enters UF with college-level credit for composition through AP, IB, or dual enrollment). Students are placed into these courses on the basis of their SAT or ACT Verbal score.
Students with a score of 640 or lower on the Verbal section of the SAT exam or a score of 28 or lower on the Verbal section of the ACT exam should enroll in ENC 1101.
Students with a score of 650 or higher on the Verbal section of the SAT exam or a score of 29 or higher on the Verbal section of the ACT exam may not enroll in ENC 1101, but may enroll in any other 1000- or 2000-level English course (except those with a prerequisite other than ENC 1101).
No further placement is required, although SATII Writing, AP and IB scores may also be used for placement. Consult the charts that follow if you have AP, IB or SATII scores.
Students wishing to enroll in Calculus I (either MAC 2233 or MAC 2311) must demonstrate appropriate background before they may enroll in either course. Students who have completed MAC 1147 (Precalculus Algebra and Trigonometry) with a C or better may enroll in either Calculus I course. An AP score may also provide placement into Calculus I. Students who have AP scores should consult the AP placement charts that follow. IB exams do not provide adequate assessment of a student's background for enrollment in Calculus I.
Students who wish to enroll in Calculus I who have not completed MAC 1147 (and do not have appropriate AP scores) must take and pass the SATII Math Level II-C exam. (Consult the SATII Placement chart that follows for minimum scores for enrollment in MAC 2233 and MAC 2311.) No placement is required for enrollment in MAC 1147 (Precalculus) or other lower math courses.
Students wishing to enroll in Calculus II must have credit for MAC 2311 (if credit for MAC 2311 is earned through AP, consult the charts below for recommended course in which to register).
The first course in the General Chemistry sequences (CHM 2040 or CHM 2045) requires placement to enroll. There are two General Chemistry sequences: CHM 2040-2041-2045L-2046-2046L and CHM 2045-2045L-2046-2046L. Each sequence meets the pre-professional requirement for a broad range of science and engineering majors. Both sequences presume students have a functional command of high school chemistry and Algebra II. 1000-level Chemistry courses (CHM 1083 and CHM 1020) do not require any placement (and completion of these courses does not provide placement for 2000-level Chemistry courses).
Students' SATII Chemistry or SAT Quantitative scores may be used to place them in CHM 2040 or 2045. Students may wish to take the SATII Chemistry examination as it may provide a better assessment of their background.
Students with a score of 640 or lower on the Quantitative section of the SAT exam or a 28 or lower on the Quantitative section of the ACT exam should enroll in CHM 2040.
Students with a score of 650 or higher on the Quantitative section of the SAT exam or a 29 or higher on the Quantitative section of the ACT exam should enroll in CHM 2045.
Students who do not place into CHM 2045 based on SAT or ACT Quantitative score may choose to take and pass the SATII Chemistry exam to enroll in CHM 2045. AP or IB scores may also provide placement into CHM 2040 or 2045. Consult the charts that follow if you have AP, IB or SATII scores.
Students wishing to enroll in CHM 2047 must show AP or IB credit for Chemistry and a very high SATII placement score, and get the approval of the Chemistry department or the honors office.
Students who want to continue studying the same foreign language they studied high school must demonstrate placement. Majors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences must complete a foreign language requirement; students in the College of Journalism may choose to meet college requirements with the study of foreign language. In general, language placement is determined by a combination of placement scores and high school background in the language.