Placement Information

Please complete the Placement Information Form in PeopleSoft.

• Review the AP, IB and A-Level results recorded and add any that you have taken that are not yet listed.
• List any college level course work you have taken.
• Indicate if you plan to take any of the language placement exams during First Days.

You may place out of intro level courses based on AP, IB or A-Level exam results, or prior college level course work, or on First Days Placement exam results. You should preregister for the course-level that you think is appropriate for you. If you receive AP, IB or A-Level results later in the summer and decide you should change course levels, online registration will be open from July 11 to August 21 and you will be able to change courses. During First-Days, you may take department placement exams and you will have an opportunity to discuss your background with academic departments. You may make course changes during drop/add - the first seven days of classes at the beginning of the semester.

College Course Work - Some courses from other colleges have an obvious equivalent at Williams, while others may overlap but not be quite the same. Questions about prior college work and appropriate placement in Williams courses can be discussed with the academic departments during First Days. If you have not already submitted an official transcript of any college work for credit, please have one sent promptly to Office of the Registrar, PO Box 696, Williamstown, MA 01267.

AP or IB exam results - check our AP Guide and IB Guide for placement information. In general, you may opt to use your exam results to place into a higher level course or you may opt to take the intro level course, depending on your level of comfort in the subject. On the PeopleSoft Placement Information Form, please list all exams taken that are not yet reported. If you don't know your exam grade, leave that blank. AP and IB exam results are posted as we receive them - mostly in July. Check back by mid-July to make sure we have received your exam results. If you haven't already, please request that the testing service release your exam results to Williams. Please note that only Higher Level IB results can be used for placement.

A-Level exam results - we do not have a formal guide for A-Level exams, but in general an A or B on A-Levels will give the same placement as a 4 or 5 on the AP exams or a 6 or 7 on the IB exams.

During First Days, you will receive a report of all placement exams received and any equivalent courses you have received from exam results.

• Equivalent courses from placement test results may be used:
  • to fulfill a prerequisite course requirement
  • as credit toward the major with the approval of the major department, reducing the number of courses required for the major
• Equivalent courses from placement test results may not be used:
  • to accelerate graduation
  • to reduce the number of courses taken and passed each semester or to make up for courses dropped or failed.
  • to satisfy Distribution requirements

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