Placement may be required to evaluate your skill levels in English, reading and mathematics so you can enroll in the proper courses and be successful here at Waubonsee. Before taking a placement test, reach out to an Admissions Advisor or visit our Course Placement page to learn more about ACT, SAT, GED, HiSET, GPA, or other alternate measures you may be able to use for placement.
If you do have to test in one or more areas, here are the basics:
Waubonsee uses the College Board's ACCUPLACER® suite of assessments.
The ACCUPLACER® Reading and Math tests are untimed, computer-adaptive tests, while the WritePlacer test is a typed essay using a computer-generated prompt. Students have 90 minutes to complete the WritePlacer test.
No matter how you test, an X-number (student ID #) and a current photo ID is always required. If you are taking all three tests (reading, writing and math), allow approximately 3 hours. Accommodations approved by Access Center for Disability Resources.
Appointments are not required for placement testing. If preferred, appointments can be scheduled online but are not required for placement testing.
Math and reading placement exams will not be started less than 30 minutes before closing.
Writing placement exams will not be started less than 90 minutes before closing. All other exams will not be started less than 30 minutes before closing.
Requests received after 4 p.m. or on weekends and holidays will be processed the next business day.
Each subject's exam is approximately one hour long. Plan to complete each exam without stopping.
Preparing to do your best on the placement tests
While taking the right courses in high school is the best way to prepare, there are also some study aids you may find helpful leading up to your ACCUPLACER® placement test(s).
Students requiring placement into math courses must take an ACCUPLACER® Next-Generation Math test. All students will begin by taking the ACCUPLACER® Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics test. Depending on the results and mathematical skills assessed on this test, students may then be required to take the ACCUPLACER® Arithmetic or Advanced Algebra and Functions test. The following list provides a brief description of each ACCUPLACER® Math test.
All three ACCUPLACER®Next Generation Math tests are untimed, computer-adaptive tests and have twenty multiple choice questions.
Next-Generation Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics (QAS) – Assesses the following knowledge and skills:
Rational numbers, Ratio and Proportional Relationships
Exponents, Algebraic Expressions
Linear Equations, Linear Applications and Graphs
Probability Sets, Descriptive Statistics
Geometry Concepts
Next-Generation Arithmetic – Focuses on computation, order of operations, estimation and rounding, comparing and ordering values in different formats, and recognizing equivalent values across formats. The following knowledge and skills categories are assessed:
Whole Number, Fraction, Decimal Operations
Percent
Number Comparisons and Equivalents
Next-Generation Advanced Algebra and Functions (AAF) – Assesses the following knowledge and skills:
Linear Equations, Linear Applications and Graphs
Factoring, Quadratics, Functions
Radical and Rational Equations
Polynomial Equations, Exponential and Logarithmic Equations
Trigonometry
Note: You are not allowed to bring your own personal handheld calculator. There is an online calculator embedded into the test.
Geometry Requirement
If you are planning to enroll in one of the following STEM-Pathway math courses:
Algebra for Business and Social Sciences (MTH 109)
Precalculus I (MTH 129)
Precalculus II (MTH 130) or
Mathematics for Elementary Teachers I (MTH 201)
you are required to have a qualifying ACT, SAT, GED, HiSET test score; ACCUPLACER® math placement QRAS score of 262 or higher; geometry placement score of a 70 or higher; or you can meet the Waubonsee Geometry requirement by having a grade “C” or better in each semester of your high school geometry course. You must submit your official high school transcript to Waubonsee's Registration and Records Office so that your high school geometry course can be reviewed.
ACCUPLACER® Reading and Writing placement tests
Waubonsee offers an Integrated Reading and Writing (IRW) curriculum for English courses. Students requiring placement into English courses must take the ACCUPLACER® Next Generation Reading and WritePlacer test.
The ACCUPLACER®Next Generation Reading test is an untimed, computer-adaptive test and has twenty multiple choice questions.
Next Generation Reading assesses the test-taker's ability to derive meaning from a range of tests and to determine the meaning of words and phrases in short and extended contexts. Passages on the test cover a range of content areas, writing modes, and complexities. Both single and paired passages are included. Four broad knowledge and skills categories are assessed:
Information and Ideas
Rhetoric
Synthesis
Vocabulary
The ACCUPLACER®WritePlacer test is a typed essay, with computer generated prompts. Please Note: There is a 90 minute time limit for the WritePlacer test.
The WritePlacer test measures your ability to write effectively, which is critical to academic success. Your score is based on your ability to express, organize, and support your opinions and ideas. The position you take on the essay topic doesn't affect your score. The following five characteristics of writing will be considered:
Focus: The clarity with which you maintain your main idea or point of view.
Organization: The clarity with which you structure your response and present a logical sequence of ideas.
Development and Support: The extent to which you elaborate on your ideas and the extent to which you present supporting ideas.
Sentence Structure: The effectiveness of your sentence structure.
Mechanical Conventions: The extent to which your writing is free of errors in usage and mechanics.
After the Tests
How do I find my placement testing scores?
You will receive your results upon completion of the test(s) and your scores will also be posted to your personal mywcc portal. To see what courses you are eligible to enroll in, view our guides:
Placement Test Retest Policy Change - Effective January 1, 2022
Initial attempt at placement test is free of charge.
Second attempt is also free of charge. There is a 24-hour waiting period after the first attempt.
Third/final attempt requires a one-week waiting period after the second attempt and carries a $15 fee per subject test.
As always, subject matter review is encouraged before all attempts at placement testing. Please take advantage of our test preparation resources before taking your placement tests.
Retest fees
WritePlacer Placement $15.00
Next Generation Reading Placement $15.00
Next Generation Math Placement: QAS, Arithmetic, or AAF $15.00
Geometry $15.00
How to send ACCUPLACER® scores to another institution
If you completed ACCUPLACER® placement testing at Waubonsee Community College and wish to have an official copy of your scores sent to another institution, log into the Accuplacer Student Portal to complete the request.
Send Accuplacer placement scores to Waubonsee
Completion of the Accuplacer placement tests in Reading, Writing or Math at another institution may permit for eligibility of courses at Waubonsee Community College. Please submit test scores through the Accuplacer Student Portal. Scores are valid for a 3 year period from the date of testing.
Appointments are not necessary for placement tests.
Please Note: Department hours for all test centers will be enforced and all testing must conclude at time of closing. No new tests will be allowed 30 minutes prior to closing with the exception of The ACCUPLACER® WritePlacer test which will not be administered 90 minutes before closing.