Writing Placement

If you score between 90 and 124, you are encouraged (but not required) to start with Writing, Identity, and Power before taking College Writing. If you score between 125 and 180, you are encouraged to take College Writing only. That being said, if you feel strongly that one course or the other would better support your growth as a writer, you should take that course. A score below 90 means your exam is incomplete or there was a technical issue. Contact @email for help.

The assignment list for placement testing in OWL is not customized for individual students. It lists writing placement as required because it is required for most students. If you are exempt, you can ignore what it says in OWL. You can tell your advisor that you have already fulfilled the CW requirement when you meet. (To graduate, you'll need to have your AP scores or transfer credits in SPIRE, so when you are on campus in the fall or spring, you can check your ARR to make sure UMass has your scores. You do not need to do this before you come to campus, and submitting AP scores or transfer credits will not change what it says in OWL.) You do not need to confirm your exemption with the Writing Program.

The questionnaire and the exam are the same thing. It’s called the Writing Placement Exam, but it’s more like a questionnaire than a formal essay exam. Clicking on “Writing Placement Exam” in OWL will take you to the questionnaire.

You should log in to OWL and submit a help request. Students who cannot log into OWL should select Login Help.

New students should follow the instructions from New Students Orientation about when to take placement exams. Current students who haven’t completed writing placement should do it as soon as possible.

You do not need to study or do any special preparation for writing placement besides setting aside time to do it. It might be helpful to have access to paper and a pen or pencil or a word processing program when you take it.

No. Completing writing placement will help you plan your courses at UMass Amherst. Students are encouraged to take College Writing in their first three semesters here, and you need to take College Writing before you take your Junior Year Writing course. Waiting to do writing placement can make planning your courses very difficult. Completing it will help you take courses that will help you grow and improve as a writer.

Yes! You can apply to waive the CW requirement, which means you wouldn't need to take College Writing to graduate. To apply, follow these steps:

1. Take the Writing Placement Exam.
2. Email @email and request waiver application instructions. Your email can be short: "I have completed writing placement and would like to request information about waiving the CW requirement."
3. Write an essay and reflection following the waiver application instructions.
4. Submit your application through the form provided in the instructions.
5. Email @email to let us know you've submitted an application.

It can take us several weeks to read applications, so please submit at least two weeks before you will need information about your waiver status.

You are exempt from the CW requirement, with credit, if you earned a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Exam; you do not need to do writing placement or take College Writing.

If you earned a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Test, you are not exempt from the CW requirement but will receive three English credits; you students should do writing placement.

If you took the SAT I before March 2016 (the "old" SAT) and scored a 1460 or higher on the combined Critical Reading and Writing Sections, you are exempt from the CW requirement with credit and do not need to do writing placement or College Writing. Guidelines about transferring credit through CLEP are available through the Registrar.

ACT, IB, and SAT II results are not accepted for exemption from the CW requirement. SAT I scores from March 2016 or later are also not accepted for CW exemptions.

Probably! Unless you scored a 4 or 5 on the AP English Language and Composition exam or have transfer credit fulfilling the CW requirement, you will need to take the Writing Placement Exam.

Maybe! If you received an email from UMass about your transfer credits that said you do not need to do the Writing Placement Exam, you do not have to do it —even if it is listed as required in OWL. (OWL lists writing placement as required for all students because the placement assignment list is not customized for individuals.) If you have questions about the transfer of course credits, you should contact Transfer Credit Services in the Office of the University Registrar.

If you haven’t fulfilled the CW requirement through transfer credit or AP scores, you will need to take the Writing Placement Exam.

If you are a current student and think you have fulfilled the CW requirement, you should confirm that you have by checking your Academic Requirements Report (ARR) on SPIRE. If you believe you fulfilled the CW requirement but your ARR shows that you have not, make sure you have sent your scores or transcripts to UMass Amherst. If your ARR still shows you have not fulfilled the CW several months after sending your scores or transcripts, contact Transfer Affairs in the Office of the University Registrar. Students who have not fulfilled the CW requirement will need to take writing placement and College Writing

College Writing is usually a good fit for students who have recently graduated from high school and for students who have been outside the academic setting for a while and want more practice with conventions of academic writing. Most incoming UMass students—including students who performed well in the highest-level writing course their high schools offered—should plan to take College Writing.

If, however, you have taken multiple writing-intensive courses at the college level or you have written across a range of professional or public contexts—and you feel confident about writing at UMass—you might consider applying for a waiver.

A waiver would allow you to fulfill the CW requirement without taking College Writing. However, waivers do not carry any credits, and you will still need to complete the Junior Year Writing requirement.

To apply for waiver, you need to:

• Take the Writing Placement Exam.
• Email @email and request waiver application instructions. The email can be short: "I have completed writing placement and would like to request information about waiving the CW requirement."
• Write an essay and reflection following the waiver application instructions.
• Submit the essay and reflection through the form provided in the instructions.
• Email @email to notify us about the submission.

You can contact @email if you have questions about applying for a CW waiver.