Please visit back throughout the summer, as placement exam information will continually be posted.
Chemistry
The placement exam will be available online from 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, August 27th through 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, August 28th.
Please email Dr. Vesna Gasperov at vg2231@columbia.edu to access the exam.
More information found here.
Mathematics
The Math placement exam will take place online ONLY for students looking to place into APMA E2000.
An information session will take place on Monday, August 26 at 11:00 a.m. Zoom link below:
https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/98454704941?pwd=cCX5viyObKW2pJEdc46nihychIBYKs.1
Meeting ID: 984 5470 4941
Passcode: 338921
A recording of the session is found here.
Please email Drew Youngren at dcy2@columbia.edu with questions.
For Columbia College:
For additional questions regarding course placement and equivalencies for Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Ordinary Differential Equations, please contact George Dragomir at gd2572@columbia.edu.
Inquiries regarding higher division courses and questions about the Mathematics majors and concentration may be addressed to the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Prof. Mu-Tao Wang at mw2007@columbia.edu.
Music Humanities
The Music Humanities Exemption Exam will take place on Friday, September 6 from 10:00-11:30 a.m. in 622 Dodge Hall
- Part I: Identification of works by composers in the syllabus, based on played excerpts
- Part II: Questions about musical techniques and styles, based on played excerpts from the Middle Ages through the present
- Part III: Short-answer questions on musical terms, concepts, genres, forms, and composers
Physics
The Physics information session and placement exam for accelerated Physics will take place on Wednesday, August 28 from 4:30-6:00 p.m. in 429 Pupin.
More information on the different levels can be found here.
For general questions, please contact Professor Jeremy Dodd at jrd4@columbia.edu. For specific questions about Accelerated Physics only, please reach out to Professor Yuri Levin at yl3470@columbia.edu.
Foreign Languages
Language placement at Columbia is determined in one of two ways. Students who wish to continue with a language they studied in secondary school MUST either take a Columbia language department placement exam in order to register for a course in that language OR submit results from SAT II Subject Tests or Advanced Placement exams. Those students who have demonstrated proficiency in a language via SAT II or AP should refer to the Academic Planning Guide for New Students for specific course placement information. Students who have not taken an SAT II Subject Test or an AP exam must take a Columbia departmental exam in order to determine appropriate placement.
Please note that many languages offer a course sequence for heritage speakers. Please see each department's website for more details.
Language exams will take place during orientation. The information below will continue to be updated throughout Summer 2024. Please continue to check back.
To request an exemption or placement exam in Akkadian, Aramaic, Cantonese, Ancient Egyptian, Filipino, Haitian Kreyol, Irish, or Quechua please contact Professor Stephane Charitos at sc758@columbia.edu.
To request an exemption or placement exam in Burmese, Cherokee, Khmer, Nepali, Sinhala, Yoruba, or Zulu please contact Vera Felder at vf2321@columbia.edu.
African Languages
By appointment. Please contact Mariame Sy at sms2168@columbia.edu.
Arabic
The Arabic Placement Exam will be on Friday, August 30, 10am-1pm in Knox Hall 101 and 103.
Please contact Taoufik Ben Amor at tb46@columbia.edu to register. Students may register for the course that they estimate would fit their level pending the results of the exam. Guidelines for registration are found here.
More information found here.
Armenian
By appointment. Please contact Charry Karamanoukian at ck2444@columbia.edu.
Chinese
Part I of the exam (essay writing and multiple-choice) is available to take via Courseworks on Thursday, August 29 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please note you must register before.
Part II of the exam (speaking) will take place on Friday, August 30. Student will pre-register for a ten minute slot.
More information and registration found here.
Dutch
Please contact Professor Wijnie de Groot at wed23@columbia.edu to arrange a time to take the exam. There will be oral and reading components.
French
The French placement exam will take place online. Students can take the exam at any time but only once. A link and further information is found here.
Additional information about advanced placement and exemptions is found here.
Questions? Please contact Professor Pascale Hubert-Leibler at ph2028@columbia.edu.
German
Placement exams will take place online. An oral interview over Zoom will follow the written exam.
Registration for the exam will take place from Tuesday, August 20 to Thursday, September 12.
More information can be found here: https://germanic.columbia.edu/content/germanplacementexam or here.
Questions? Please contact Jutta Schmiers-Heller at js2331@columbia.edu
Greek (Ancient)
Wednesday, August 28 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in 618 Hamilton Hall
This will be a sight exam; no dictionaries or grammatical aids may be used.
Please contact Professor Kakkoufa with any questions at nikolas.kakkoufa@columbia.edu
Greek (Modern)
Wednesday, August 28 from 11:00 to 2:00 p.m. in 618 Hamilton Hall
Requests for accommodation should be sent to Professor Kakkoufa at nikolas.kakkoufa@columbia.edu
Hebrew
The Hebrew placement test will be held Thursday, August 29th, 10:00am-1:00pm. in Knox Hall 101 and 103.
Please contact Naama Harel at nh2508@columbia.edu to register.
Hindi-Urdu
Friday, August 30 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in 114 and 115 Knox Hall. More information found here.
Please contact Rakesh Ranjan at rr2574@columbia.edu to register.
Italian
The exam can be taken at any time in the weeks prior to registration. Information found here: https://italian.columbia.edu/content/language-placement-exam
Japanese
Registration for the Fall 2024 placement exam will take place through Sunday, August 25. Students can register here.
The exam will be open from 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 17 until 11:59 p.m. on Monday, August 26.
More information is found here.
Questions? Please contact Naoko Sourial at nns2111@columbia.edu
Korean
An online, multiple choice test will be available from Monday, August 12 to Tuesday, August 27. The writing and speaking portion will take place Thursday, August 29 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
More information found here.
Questions? Please contact Professor Joowon Suh at js604@columbia.edu.
Latin
Wednesday, August 28 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in 618 Hamilton Hall
This will be a sight exam; no dictionaries or grammatical aids may be used.
Please contact Professor Kakkoufa with any questions at nikolas.kakkoufa@columbia.edu
Persian
The Persian placement test will be held Friday, August 30th, 1:00 – 4:00 pm in Knox Hall 101.
Please contact Saeed Honarmand at sh3468@columbia.edu to register.
Portuguese
Thursday, September 5 at 6:00 p.m. in 201 Casa Hispánica (612 west 116th Street)
There will be a written and oral portion of the exam
Students interested in taking the exam should contact Professor Ana Paula Huback at aph2129@columbia.edu.
Russian
The written portion of the exam will take place online anytime between Wednesday, August 14 and Tuesday, August 20. To be added to the Canvas page to access the exam, please email Marina Tsylina at mt3750@columbia.edu.
The oral portion of the exam will take place on Wednesday, August 21 and Thursday, August 22. The interviews will be conducted via Zoom and in 709 Hamilton.
More information found here.
Sanskrit
By appointment. Please contact Jay Ramesh at jr3203@colubmia.edu.
Spanish
Questions? Please feel free to contact Lee B. Abraham at lba2133@columbia.edu and/or please feel free to schedule a meeting from this webpage before and/or when you are on campus.
Tamil
By appointment. Please contact Jay Ramesh at jr3203@colubmia.edu.
Turkish
Turkish and Ottoman Turkish placements exams will take place individually on Zoom during the last two weeks of August.
To schedule an exam, please email Zuleyha Mary Fikret at zc2208@columbia.edu. The format will be an ACTFL speaking interview followed by a written exam.
Vietnamese
The exam will take place on Thursday, August 29 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in 502A Kent Hall.
Questions? Please reach out to Chung Nguyen at cn2496@columbia.edu
Yiddish
The exam is available online now until Friday, September 13. However, it is recommended that students take the exam before the first day of classes. The exam can be accessed here.
Questions? Please reach out to Dr. Agi Legutko at a.legutko@columbia.edu.