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Step 2: Placement Assessment

Your second step in the orientation experience!

We will enroll you in the classes you need for the semester, using your placement assessment(s) as a guide on the best options for you. You’ll review your schedule at Orientation with university staff who can answer any questions you may have.

Your UMassD login is required in order to access the Chemistry and Foreign Language assessments. Once access opens, you will receive an email when you can activate your login. (You will need to set up multifactor authentication.) Math is separate and does not require a UMassD login.

Please read all instructions prior to taking the assessment(s). Links can be found after the corresponding instructions.

Math placement assessment

What is ALEKS?

UMassD requires an assessment called ALEKS PPL (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces Placement, Preparation and Learning) to determine readiness for mathematics courses.

ALEKS consists of three parts:

  1. an initial Placement Assessment
  2. the Prep and Learning Module, an individualized, self-paced online review
  3. access to additional Placement Assessments

UMassD encourages each student to spend time in the Prep and Learning Module, even if the desired score is achieved, because time spent in ALEKS will ultimately lead to better preparation and improved grades.

What is the purpose of placement assessment?

The Placement Assessment results are used to find the courses that will be the best fit to help you succeed in college coursework.

This is a “Placement Assessment,” not a test. The difference is that a Placement Assessment is designed to determine what you have mastered and what you need to work on. At the end of the ALEKS PPL Assessment, you will have a much better sense of your strengths and weaknesses in math. Then, you have a chance to brush up on topics that you may have forgotten or haven’t practiced in awhile.

Be honest. Our goal is your success. Take the Placement Assessment seriously and give it an honest effort. If you rush or cheat you risk placing in a class that is too easy or too difficult, jeopardizing your chances of success in your first semester. There is no benefit to cheating – the only result is that you will be enrolled in a class that is too difficult and risk failing a class in your first semester, costing you time and money. While taking the Placement Assessment, do not consult any outside sources for help (friends/family, internet searches, textbooks, notes etc...). Doing so would constitute a violation of the UMass Dartmouth Academic Integrity policy.

The ALEKS math assessment is available from your applicant portal. Use the ALEKS FAQs link below if you have questions, and check the Math Course Placement Guide to see which course you’ll be placed into based on your score.

If you have additional question, please email placement@umassd.edu

Log into applicant portal

More information

Chemistry placement assessment

The following programs need to take the Chemistry assessment:

  • arts & sciences undeclared: pre-engineering & pre-science
  • biology
  • bioengineering
  • chemistry
  • civil engineering
  • engineering undeclared
  • medical laboratory science
  • mechanical engineering
  • nursing
  • pre-health track

The Chemistry assessment will help us identify your strengths and weaknesses in math that could affect your success in chemistry. We ask you to complete it to the best of your ability. Based on your score, you may be offered some support strategies in the form of summer programming. Be on the lookout for an email from the Academic Resource Center.

The assessment consists of 20 arithmetic and algebra questions. You will have 40 minutes to complete the assessment. You may use a calculator and scrap paper.

take the chemistry assessment

Foreign Language placement assessment

Students whose majors require the study of a foreign language, as well as anyone interested in taking a foreign language class at UMassD, must complete a language placement exam—unless they have never studied a foreign language previously. Students with no prior language experience will simply begin at the introductory (101) level. Your assessment must be completed in one sitting.

Majors that require the study of a foreign language:

  • Art History
  • Communication
  • Crime and Justice Studies
  • Economics BA
  • English
  • Health and Society BA
  • History
  • Liberal Arts
  • Mathematics BA
  • Philosophy
  • Political Science
  • Portuguese
  • Psychology
  • Public Administration BA
  • Spanish
  • Sociology/Anthropology
  • Women's and Gender Studies

Note:

  • If your major is not listed above but you are interested in studying a foreign language in college, you are encouraged to take a language placement exam at this time.
  • If you have never studied a foreign language and are not a native speaker, you do not need to take a language placement exam. You will begin with an introductory (101) level course.
  • Available assessments: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. If you are a native speaker or previously studied a foreign language for which an exam is not available, please discuss options with a professional advisor in the STAR Center.

take the foreign language exam

Register for Orientation

Orientation is a required part of your Corsair experience to help prepare you for the transition to UMassD. You will need to use your applicant portal login to register, not your UMassD account login.

Applicant portal