Placement Exams

As you complete your dossier, you can start developing plans for a first-year schedule. Some students find that previous study and tests place them in advanced classes or even give them college credit. As you enter scores from AP or IB exams into your online dossier, you'll get feedback to help you start choosing classes.

For some classes, you may need to complete a Northwestern placement exam. Subjects for which you may be asked to complete a placement exam include:

• Math
• Foreign languages
• Chemistry
• Physics

The Wildcat Welcome office maintains detailed information about Northwestern placement exams, who should take them, and how to use the results. You can also find information about specific departments' exams on their webpages geared toward first-year students.

You can also consult our AP/IB credits chart and our foreign language placement chart for information about credit for specific scores. Curious about what courses you should take, based on your AP/IB scores? Consult our chart for some next steps!

Several rules limit how AP/IB credits can be used toward degree requirements; you need to familiarize yourself with them.

If you took college courses while in high school, you may be able to have those credits transferred to Northwestern. There are restrictions on the types of credits we accept and how those credits may be used, so read the policy carefully.