Math Skills Assessment and Placement

To assess the math skills of our incoming students we use the Math-Index. This score is computer from your high school GPA and ACT math score (or SAT math score). We base our placement advice on five years of data.

We differentiate between students who only need one course. This could be a student who just needs to take one math course to satisfy the core requirement for mathematics. We refer to those students as being in non-math intensive programs. There are also students who are in math intensive programs. Examples are students in the sciences who will need to take several mathematics courses over the years. Students in the math intensive programs are advised to start conservatively with their placement. If one needs to take multiple (sequential) math courses, it is a good idea to make sure one gets As and Bs in those early classes. The reason is that our statistics show that a student with a C only has a 50% chance of passing the next course.

Other factors that should be taken into account when placing a student besides the he Math-Index:

• The student’s academic goals, including the major and minor degrees.
• Time since the student's last math class. If students have been active mathematically recently, the new course will be easier.
  
• Semester course load.
• Outside obligations such as work.
• Reputation of the mathematics program at the student’s high school.
• General attitude towards mathematics, motivation and possible level of math
• anxiety.