Math Placement Services
During Orientation Week (Welcome Week), all new and readmit students who will be taking any course with a math prerequisite must be placed in mathematics, which may or may not involve taking a math placement assessment or waiver exam in mathematics. To determine whether you need such an assessment, please come to the brief meeting called Introduction to Mathematics Requirements at MIU held during Orientation Week. The purpose of this meeting is as follows:
- To inspire you to take at least one math course at MIU, even if your major doesn’t require math: that mathematics is used by everyone during life and that the principles of mathematics are the same as the principles governing your own consciousness.
- To determine whether you need to take a math placement assessment.
- To describe math courses that do not have math prerequisites that are open to all students. In particular, BAAS students who are not taking a specialization are required to take at least one math course while at MIU. These courses help you get over any fear of mathematics and gain some math skills that will help you throughout life.
Students who must take the math placement assessment or a waiver exam remain after the meeting and take the assessment then.
All students are welcome to take the math placement assessment, even if not required. It will give you a great review of your math skills and will give you valuable information that will help you choose courses for your degree.
All undergraduate students must be placed before they can enroll for any course with a mathematics prerequisite.
If a student wishes to use his or her standing in a math placement assessment or waiver exam to satisfy the prerequisite for a course, that course must be taken within 18 months of the assessment. Otherwise, the assessment will need to be taken and passed at that level again.
Where does a placement assessment place you?
The online ALEKS Placement, Preparation, and Learning system (ALEKS PPL, for short) places you somewhere in the sequence:
- MATH 051 Basic Mathematics
- MATH 152 Elementary Algebra
- MATH 153 Intermediate Algebra
- MATH 161 Functions and Graphs 1
- MATH 162 Functions and Graphs 2
For example, if you place out of Math 153 Intermediate Algebra, that means you are ready to take the course Math 161 Functions and Graphs 1 or any course that has the prerequisite Math 153 Intermediate Algebra.
ALEKS PPL does more than just place you: it gives you a preliminary assessment online at home and on the basis of the results of that, it then gives you a module to study to try to place higher on the actual proctored assessment.
Optional in-house pencil-and-paper waiver exams may place you out of Math 281 Calculus 1 or Math 282 Calculus 2 or Math286 Linear Algebra. These can only be attempted once on arrival at MIU.
Who has to take the math placement assessment and who doesn’t?
Not all students are required to take a placement assessment. Sometimes math placement can be determined by factors other than the assessment, for example, official AP Calculus results. See the section Guide to ALEKS PPL Math Placement for details.
For additional information, contact Prof Igor Chepiga at ichepiga@miu.edu or Dr. Anne Dow at adow@miu.edu with questions about your math placement.