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Department of Mathematics and Philosophy

student writing

WIU Mathematics Placement

Contact

Dr. Douglas Lafountain, Professor/Assistant Chair
Mathematics Placement Coordinator

Office: Morgan Hall 478
Phone: (309) 298-2315
Email: d-lafountain@wiu.edu

Department of Mathematics

Office: Morgan Hall 476
Phone: (309) 298-1054
Email: MathPhil@wiu.edu

Resources

Placement Categories

Students may take any course in the category they are placed, but should consult their advisor to choose courses that best fit their needs and major.

  • Category 1: Math 100 = Prerequisite for General Education and Technical Math
    Math 110 = Prerequisite for General Education, PreCalculus, and Technical Math
  • Category 2: Math 101, 102, 106, 113, 123, Stat 171 + Category 1 courses
  • Category 3: Math 128 + Category 2 courses
  • Category 4: Math 129, 137, 260 + Category 3 courses
  • Category 5: Math 133 + Category 4 courses

Default Placement

Each incoming student (freshmen and transfers) is given a default math placement of Math 100 or Math 110, depending on their major. Students also have the opportunity to place beyond the default placement into a higher category.

Improve Placement

  • SAT/ACT, High School Transitional or PreCalculus, College Transfer
    +

    Students can raise their placement to Category 2 (or higher) if they satisfy one of the following means:

    • SAT math score of 530 or higher (or ACT math score of 21).
    • High School Transitional Math Course - Transition to Quantitative Literacy/Statistics or Transition to STEM (for the later, they also may take Math 128).
      • Transition to QuantitativeLiteracy/Statistics placement in category 2
      • Transition to STEM placement in category 3
    • High School PreCalculus (which includes trigonometry) or Calculus course in high school. (C grade or better)
    • College Transfer course (including dual credit).
      • Stat 171 - placement in category 2
      • Math 128 (College Algebra) - placement in category 3
      • Math 133 (Calculus I) - placement in category 5
    • No College Transfer Course - Transfer students who have not had a math course at their previous institution, should consider taking the ALEKS Placement Test.
    • Other outside credit
      • Transfer credit from an another institution
      • CLEP scores
      • International Baccalaureate scores
    Request Review of Math Placement

    Students who satisfy requirements must fill out the following form. Please read before continuing to the form.

    • If you are transferring a college course to WIU, you’ll need to know to which WIU course it will transfer as.
    • If you had a Transitional Math course in high school, you’ll need to know if it is Transition to Quantitative Literacy/Statistics or Transition to STEM or another.
  • ALEKS Placement Test
    +

    Students can raise their placement by taking the ALEKS Placement Test. The ALEKS placement test is taken prior to the student beginning classes at WIU. This is highly recommended for students needing to take mathematics courses beyond general education (beyond Category 2). For example, Math 128: Precalculus Algebra or Math 137: Applied Calculus.

    • Deadline: August 12 for the fall semester
    • Deadline: January 6 for the spring semester
    • Provides review
    • Allows for three (3) retakes
    • Student's highest score is used for placement
  • AP (Advanced Placement) Courses
    +

    By taking advanced placement (AP) courses in high school, WIU awards college credit for a score of 3 or higher on the exam.

    • Calculus AB Exam (score 3, 4 or 5) equivalent to Math 133 and placement in Math 134
    • Calculus BC Exam (score 2, 3, w/AB subscore of 3) equivalent to Math 133 and placement in Math 134
    • Calculus BC Exam (score 4 or 5) equivalent to Math 133 and Math 134
    • Statistics (score 3,4 or 5) equivalent to Statistics 171