Language Placement

No, you are required to take the placement test. Language programs at different schools vary, and your old school might have covered more or less than we do in the same amount of time.

The evaluation of your language transfer credit by Admissions should be regarded as preliminary; it may be adjusted based on your placement result. If you place into a class you already have credit for, we’ll change the transfer credit to elective credit in that language (instead of a specific course), so that you keep the transfer hours but it doesn’t get flagged as repeating a course.

If you’ve had some formal education in the other language (at least 2 years of high school or 2 semesters of university), you should submit an Educational Experience Verification (EEV) request. Go to the Language Placement website and see item #5. If your EEV request is approved, that will satisfy the Global Language requirement and you won’t need to take a placement test.

If that is not the case for you (for instance, you immigrated to the U.S. before high school, or you went to high school in another country but the classes were taught in English, or you were raised and educated in the U.S. but you have learned another language from your family and speak it at home), then you will need to take the placement test.

If you have already satisfied the Global Language requirement (for instance, with test credit), there’s really no need to. If you change your mind later during college and want to take classes in this language, you can always come back and take the placement test at that point.

If you have not yet satisfied the Global Language requirement, then you really should take the placement test in your high school language. It may satisfy the language requirement for you; or even if you don’t place that high, it will let you know what level you are at in that language in case your plans change and you want to come back to it. Think of it as information to help you make more informed decisions.

However, regardless of your placement result, you are certainly not obliged to continue studying your high school language. There are dozens of  languages offered at Carolina, including quite a few that won’t have been available at your high school; for a complete list, consult languageplacement.unc.edu.

We strongly recommend taking the placement test in the fall. If you take the fall test you’ll already know your placement when early registration for spring begins, and thus can be sure you’re enrolling in the correct class.

Also, if you place into a class only offered in fall, you may choose to reconsider your decision and take the class now, rather than waiting a whole year. Or you might choose to wait till next fall, but either way, if you know your placement it’ll be your decision and not an unpleasant surprise (e.g. if you plan to start in spring but find out too late that the class you need is only offered in fall).

Absolutely! Many new students in the fall enroll for classes before they have an opportunity to take placement tests. We encourage you to tentatively enroll in whatever level you think you should be in; if you don’t place into that level, you will have to drop the course, but we’ll try to help you get into the correct level.

So do go ahead and enroll, but also make sure to register for the placement test.  Some of our languages have self-assessment guides available to help you estimate your placement; you’ll find these on the page where you register for the test.

No, you are required to take the placement test (and to make your best effort on it) if you have prior knowledge of the language.  Of course, you may be placed into 101 if your skills are not sufficient for you to be ready for 102 or higher.

No, not without permission from the department. If you don’t think your initial placement seems right, you may request reassessment, but you can’t just enroll in a different class.  To find the right person to contact with concerns about your placement, please refer to the FAQ for the individual language (using the language links above).

That can certainly happen. Because almost all of our language classes are offered either in fall only or in spring only, new students in the fall may place into a level that won’t be offered until spring.  In that case, you will have to wait a semester to resume your language study. If you are concerned about keeping your language skills fresh, we recommend attending some of the events we sponsor or getting involved with some of the related student organizations.

No, not in the sense of receiving actual credit hours for them.  Current University policy is that BE (by-exam) credit is awarded only for standardized test scores, not for departmental placement tests.  You can, however, fulfill the Global Language requirement without actually receiving credit hours.

If you place into level 4, you’ll get PL “credit” (zero hours) for level 3.  If you place above level 4, you’ll get PL credit for levels 3 and 4.  If you need PL credit for additional levels to meet the requirements of your major, please contact Lori Harris.  Include your name, PID, when you took the placement test and in which language, and explain your situation.

The autoreply goes to the email address you put in the form for yourself, so the most likely cause is that you may have made an error in your email address. Also check your spam or junkmail folder to see if the autoreply went there. If you are a new student, make sure your UNC email is set up and working (send a test email to yourself and see if you get it).

If you think you did make a mistake in putting your email address in the form, just submit the form again with the correct email address. If you’re positive that you entered it correctly and yet you still have not gotten the reply, please email Lori Harris.

Results from tests taken from approximately February through September should appear in your Tracker by the end of October.  Results from tests taken from approximately October through January should appear by the end of February.

If this schedule means your result wouldn’t be processed by the time you intend to graduate, please contact Lori Harris for emergency help. Include your name, PID, when you took the test and in which language, and when you hope to graduate.