Placement exams ensure that your Yale courses are at the appropriate level.
Online placement exams are offered three times a year: in the summer (in advance of registration for the following fall); in the late fall (in advance of registration for the following spring), and in the late spring (in advance of registration for the following fall). Most placement exam results are valid for one year.
Nearly all of the departments or programs listed below offer summer online placement exams during the month of July. Some of the less-commonly-taught languages offer placement exams by appointment only, and one or two programs have a placement procedure (not a placement exam).
The links below provide placement and contact information; additional information is available on the related departmental websites and, for languages, on the Center for Language Study website.
Please note that no placement exam is required for students who plan to begin a new language at Yale at the elementary level (“L1”).
Any student with previous study of a non-English language is advised to take the placement exam in that language, especially if planning to continue study of that language at Yale.
If, after you receive your placement exam results, you believe they are too high or too low, you may discuss your results with the contact person listed in each entry below. The late-August Academic Fair also provides an opportunity to discuss placement exam results with a departmental representative.