Reading and Writing Placement Testing Info

Reading and Writing Placement Testing Information

All new matriculated students will take the Reading Comprehension exam and will compose an essay during new student orientation; some students, mainly transfers, may need to take the Sentence Skills exam if they have never completed and successfully transferred a composition course. You will be informed which exams and assessments you need prior to registration. The Reading Comprehension and Sentence Skills exams are untimed so that you can give each question as much thought as you wish. You can change your answer to a particular question before moving on to the next question, but you cannot leave a question out or come back to it later to change your answer. If you do not know the answer to a question, try to eliminate one or more of the choices, and then pick from the remaining choices. Because the exams work this way, you must answer every question when it is first given.

Exam Topics

Reading comprehension

This 20-question test assesses students' ability to read and respond critically to sentences and passages; its questions are divided into two types:

  • The first type consists of a reading passage followed by a question based on the text. Both short and long passages are provided. The reading passages can also be classified according to the kind of information processing required including explicit statements related to the main idea, explicit statements related to a secondary idea, application, and inference.

  • The second type of question, sentence relationships, presents two sentences followed by a question about the relationship between these two sentences. The question may ask, for example, if the statement in the second sentence supports that in the first, if it contradicts it, or if it repeats the same information.

Sentence Skills

This 20-question test examines students' knowledge of sentence logic and structure; its questions are divided into two types:

  • The first type is sentence correction questions that require an understanding of sentence structure. These questions ask you to choose the most appropriate word or phrase to substitute for the underlined portion of the sentence.

  • The second type is construction shift questions. These questions ask that a sentence be rewritten according to the criteria shown while maintaining essentially the same meaning as the original sentence.

Essay Assessment

During new student orientation, all students will be asked to write an essay, which will inform English composition course placement. This essay measures students' ability to write effectively--a critical component of academic success. Essays will be read by a panel of English faculty members at BSU. Essay topics remain secret and are disclosed to students only during new student orientation.

Students will have 45 minutes to complete the essay. A satisfactory essay should develop a central idea in response to the prompt delivered on orientation day. Ideas in the essay should be organized into logical paragraphs that include specific details and connect to the author's central idea.

In addition, faculty readers expect students to:

  • Make a central claim about the topic;
  • Provide supporting reasons and evidence for all claims;
  • Recognize the complexities of the topic;
  • Display competence in logical development and organization;
  • Display competence in sentence variety, paragraph development, and usage.

Resources and Test Preparation

BSU offers official CollegeBoard sample questions for all ACCUPLACER exams. Students are also encouraged to visit the Writing Studio in the Academic Achievement Center for free tutoring in writing. Click on the links below to access a particular resource:

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Last Modified: November 2, 2012