Why do I need to take the exam to register for classes?

The University System of Georgia policy requires a non-traditional or non-traditional transfer student, who has been out of high school at least 5 years; holds a high school diploma or GED; and has earned fewer than 30 transferable semester credit hours to take the ACCUPLACER to determine placement into English and math.

Or, if you are a traditional student who has been out of high school less than five years and are admitted based on SAT and/or ACT scores only on the Statesboro & Savannah Campus. However, Admissions may admit you as a presidential exception which will require you to take the ACCUPLACER to determine your placement into English and/or math. Georgia Southern University – Liberty Campus can admit students using ACCUPLACER scores regardless of your classification.

Which tests will I need?

The Admissions Office will determine which components of the exam are needed and can be reviewed on your Admission status page. If you are transferring ENGL 1101 with a C or better, you may only need to take the math portion of the ACCUPLACER. If you are transferring MATH 1001, 1101, or 1111 with a C or better you may only need the English portion of the exam. If you are not transferring any course from another college, you will be required to take all three parts of the ACCUPLACER. For Presidential Exceptions, it may depend on your SAT/ACT scores and if they meet the state minimum requirements.

Remember: You must test prior to attending SOAR or registering for classes!

Testing Components

The University System of Georgia requires the Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, & Statistics; Reading; and WritePlacer exams to be administered to complete a student’s admission into the system. Click here for additional test preparation information. Be Prepared by reviewing for the exam prior to testing. This will allow you to understand the format of the exam and review the required math concepts.

Next-Generation Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics (QAS) consist of 20 questions to assess the following knowledge and skills:

The Next-Generation Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics placement test is a computer adaptive assessment of test-takers’ ability for selected mathematics content. Questions will focus on a range of topics including computing with rational numbers, applying ratios and proportional reasoning, creating linear expressions and equations, graphing and applying linear equations, understanding probability, and set notation, and interpreting graphical displays. In addition, questions may assess a student’s math ability via computational or fluency skills, conceptual understanding, or the capacity to apply mathematics presented in a context. All questions are multiple-choice in format and appear discretely (standalone) across the assessment. The following knowledge and skill categories are assessed:

• Rational numbers
• Ratio and Proportional Relationships
• Exponents
• Algebraic Expressions
• Linear Equations
• Linear Applications and Graphs
• Probability Sets
• Descriptive Statistics
• Geometry Concepts

Next-Generation Reading consists of 20 questions to assess the following knowledge and skills:

The Next-Generation Reading test is a broad-spectrum computer-adaptive assessment of test-takers’ developed ability to derive meaning from a range of prose texts and to determine the meaning of words and phrases in short and extended contexts. Passages on the test cover a range of content areas (including literature and literary nonfiction, careers/history/social studies, humanities, and science), writing modes (informative/explanatory, argument, and narrative), and complexities (relatively easy to very challenging). Both single and paired passages are included. The test pool includes both authentic texts (previously published passages excerpted or minimally adapted from their published form) and commissioned texts (written specifically for the test). Questions are multiple-choice in format and appear as both discrete (stand-alone) questions and as parts of sets of questions built around a common passage or passages. Four broad knowledge and skill categories are assessed:

• Information and Ideas (reading closely, determining central ideas and themes, summarizing, understanding relationships)
• Rhetoric (analyzing word choice rhetorically, analyzing text structure, analyzing point of view, analyzing purpose, analyzing arguments)
• Synthesis (analyzing multiple texts)
• Vocabulary

WritePlacer (Essay)

The WritePlacer test measures your ability to write effectively, which is critical to academic success. Your writing sample will be scored on the basis of how effectively it communicates a whole message to the readers for the stated purpose. Your score is based on your ability to express, organize and support your opinions and ideas, not the position you take on the essay topic. The following five characteristics of writing will be considered:

• Focus: The clarity with which you maintain your main idea or point of view
• Organization: The clarity with which you structure your response and present a logical sequence of ideas
• Development and Support: The extent to which you elaborate on your ideas and the extent to which you present supporting details
• Sentence Structure: The effectiveness of your sentence structure
• Mechanical Conventions: The extent to which your writing is free of errors in usage and mechanics