Math Placement Exam

The Math Placement Exam is now available (link provided below).  This replaces the previous Algebra and Calculus Placement Exams.

All Marywood students are required to take the Math Placement Exam.  You are only exempt if you have: 

  • already taken and passed one of the prior placement exams
  • have already taken all of the math course(s) that are required by your major
  • have transferred in a Math course from another institution that was accepted to cover what is required by your major

Students:  If you do not know what math course you need to take to satisfy your math requirement, please contact your advisor.

If you score at least 40%, then you can register for the following Math courses.  If you score less than 40% on the exam, then you must take MATH 095 and earn an S (Successful) before you can register for these courses. 

MATH 130 - Mathematics for Contemporary Society

MATH 155 - Statistics for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

MATH 160 - Analysis of Functions (Pre-calculus)

Please note that MATH 120 does not require a minimum score on the Math Placement Exam.

If you score at least 75%, then you can register for MATH 170 - Applications of Calculus to the Life Sciences or MATH 211 - Calculus I.  If you score less than 75%, then you must take MATH 160 and earn a C or better in order to register for MATH 170 or MATH 211.

The Math Placement Exam is an online exam and you may choose to take it at any time. You only have one attempt allowed. Once you start the exam, you must finish it within 90 minutes.You are expected to complete the exam independently, WITHOUT a calculator, and without the use of Google, etc. This is for your own benefit! By following these guidelines, both you and the Math program will have a better feel for how prepared you are for the class. Most importantly, you will be able to determine if you really know the material. It is always frustrating for a student when they end up in a college-level math class for which they are not prepared. We hope for all of our students to avoid this situation.

What does the Exam cover?

Some of these topics are:

  • Percentages
  • Rounding
  • Functional notation 
  • Factoring
  • Basic arithmetic of integers, fractions, and real numbers in general, absolute values, interval notations;
  • Rules of exponents, and Scientific Notation;
  • Proportions, ratios, and word problems involving ratios and basic algebra;
  • Basic geometry, including area, perimeter, and volume of simple shapes;
  • The coordinate system (xy-plane), distance between points;
  • Equations of lines and circles, and related concepts such as slope, x- and y-intercepts, center and radius;
  • Intersection of lines;
  • Solving linear equations and inequalities, including ones with absolute values;
  • Polynomial operations and factoring;
  • Solving quadratic equations through factoring or using the quadratic formula;
  • Solving linear systems of equations (two by two);
  • Functions and related concepts, such as function composition, inverse functions and graphing;
  • Identifying graphs of common functions;
  • Identifying horizontally/vertically translated function graphs;
  • Logarithmic expressions and rules of logarithms;
  • Exponential functions and logarithmic functions, including the natural exponential function and the natural logarithm function;
  • Solving simple equations involving exponential and logarithmic functions;
  • Trigonometric function definitions, trig. function values at special angles, the unit circle;
  • Identifying trig. function graphs and their horizontal/vertical translations;
  • Using trig. function concepts and identities to find trig. function values.

Your username is the first part of your Marywood email (example:  jsmith)  ([email protected])  Do not use the @m.marywood.edu portion of your email address to log in to this exam

Your password is your Marywood ID # (example:  0123489)  Please be sure to include the zero at the beginning.

Please click on this link to take the exam:  http://www.marywood.edu/dash/student.html

Exam Results

Your score will be sent to the Registrar's Office and you will be able to access your results on the MarywoodYou portal:

Self-Service Menu

  • Student
    • Academic Planning
      • Student Planning
        • Test Summary
          • Placement Exam

If you have any technical difficulties with the exam, please contact Mark Pitely 570-348-6211 ext. 2926.  ([email protected])