Placement Exams
Why does Stony Brook require placement exams?
In order to facilitate your enrollment in certain courses for your first semester at Stony Brook, our office will be identifying which placement assessment(s) you must complete, and contacting you through your Stony Brook email with placement assessment information tailored to your specific needs.
Completing the necessary placement exams can also help ensure you stay on track for timely graduation. Not all students need all placement exams; it depends on the courses you’ve already completed at your prior school(s) and the major you’ve chosen to pursue at Stony Brook.
Note:If you require an accommodation for a placement exam, please contact the Student Accessibility Support Center (SASC) so they can coordinate your accommodation needs. Please call 631-632-6748 or email sasc@stonybrook.edu.
Math Placement Exam
All students are required to fulfill a mathematics general education requirement for graduation. However, depending on your major, you may need additional math courses.
Our office will review your transfer credits, choice of major, and expressed interest in clinical healthcare programs (if any) and email you with information about the Math Placement Exam if you need to take it.
If we inform you that you need the Math Placement Exam, please plan to do so as soon as possible. You need to trust that there is an important reason we’ve asked this of you.
Note: If you’ve completed only a Statistics course at your previous school, you will need to take the Math Placement Exam. The only exception would be if you have expressed interest in a major that has no math requirement (for example, English), and have no clinical healthcare interests.
Online Chemistry Placement Process (OCPP)
The OCPP process is intended to identify the appropriate general chemistry course for students interested in STEM majors and the clinical health professions. If you are majoring in a STEM discipline and/or have expressed interest in clinical healthcare, and are not transferring in the equivalent of Stony Brook’s CHE 131 (General Chemistry I), you will likely need to complete the OCPP.
Our office will review your transfer credits, choice of major, and expressed clinical healthcare interests (if any) and email you with information about the OCPP if you need to take it.
If we contact you and inform you that you need the OCPP, please plan to do so as soon as possible. You need to trust that there is an important reason we’ve asked this of you.
Note: Please be advised that the OCPP is an assessment that may take up to 10 hours to complete. The reason for this is that the OCPP is not a placement exam, but rather a supplemental instruction program designed to ensure you have the appropriate foundational knowledge needed for success in your first semester of general chemistry at Stony Brook. The Chemistry department has documented evidence that he OCPP works as intended and has helped students perform better in their first semester of general chemistry.
Foreign Language Placement Exam
All students are required to fulfill an elementary foreign language general education requirement for graduation.
Our office will review your transfer credits and choice of major and email you with information about the Foreign Language Placement Exam if you need to take it.
If we contact you and inform you that you need the Foreign Language Placement Exam now, please plan to do so as soon as possible. You need to trust that there is an important reason we’ve asked this of you.
If we determine that you do not absolutely need the Foreign Language Placement Exam at this time, we will let you know and you can plan to take it at a future date.
Writing Placement Diagnostic
All students are required to fulfill an English Composition general education requirement for graduation.
Students who need the Writing Placement Diagnostic will recieve an email directly from the Writing Program. No action is needed if you do not recieve an email.