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IV. Proficiencies

Foreign language proficiency

Students whose first language is English fulfill this requirement in any of the following ways:

• Completion of a 211 course in a modern or classical language.
• Completion of a Modern and Classical Languages Department 212 course (HML).
• Successful completion of a departmental language proficiency test.

Incoming students who have studied a foreign language previously will take a placement test which will indicate whether they should enroll in 111, 112, 211 or above. Students who place above 211 may fulfill the foreign language requirement by taking 212 in a language (which also fulfills one of the two lower division humanities requirements for the core curriculum) or by successful completion of a proficiency test, administered by the Department of Modern and Classical Languages throughout the academic year. No student will fulfill the foreign language proficiency requirement simply on the basis of the placement test.

Students whose first language is not English fulfill this requirement in one of the following ways:

• Students who submit a TOEFL score result of 550 (old scale) or 213 (new scale) or higher when applying for admission will be interviewed by an English as Second Language (ESL) instructor before classes begin to determine if they have a speaking proficiency in English of "advanced plus" according to guidelines published by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Those who demonstrate this level of proficiency will have satisfied the foreign language proficiency requirement. (Students submitting test results other than the TOEFL, such as those who have taken English Language Services courses though level 109, will be evaluated individually by the ESL instructor.)
• Students with a TOEFL score of 550 (old scale) or 213 (new scale) or higher who have not achieved a speaking proficiency level of "advanced plus" will complete (with a grade of C or better) four mods of ESL, listening comprehension and speaking (ESL 101, 102, 105 and 106).
• Students who submit a TOEFL score result lower than 550 (old scale) or 213 (new scale) when applying for admission will complete (with a grade of C or better) two semesters of ESL (ESL 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108). 

Mathematics proficiency

Students fulfill this requirement by demonstrating proficiency in basic knowledge of the number system; the properties, skills and operations of arithmetic and algebra; algebraic equations and inequalities; and applications. This can be done through a sufficiently high ACT-math or SAT-math score or satisfactory completion of the Math Proficiency Exam. The staff of the Math Skills Center provides students assistance in preparing for this exam, which is administered throughout the academic year.

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Last revised on January 16, 2006.