Placement Exam FAQ

Placement exams will be given on the evening before your scheduled Orientation Session (June 15, June 22, July 6 and July 10) in Blackington Hall on the UPJ campus.  You should arrive to register for the Math Placement Exam between 6:30 and 6:45 PM.  The math exam will begin at 7:00 PM.  You should arrive to register for the Chemistry Placement Exam between 5:30 and 5:45 PM.  The chemistry exam will begin at 6:00 PM.  The foreign language exam will not be given at this time.

• All incoming students are required to take the math placement exam.
• The Chemistry placement exam must be taken by students who plan to enroll in Biology, Chemistry, Secondary Education Sciences, Geology and Planetary Sciences, Pre-health or Pre-Pharmacy Professions, or Engineering Technology.
• Foreign Language placement exams are offered in German, French, and Spanish for any student who plans to take a foreign language class in college.

General education requirements at UPJ require all students to show competency in quantitative reasoning before they graduate. The math placement exam will give students a chance to satisfy that requirement and test out of a basic competency course. All of the exams help us place you in classes that match your level of preparation, thus increasing your chance to succeed.

You can't!  This is not an exam that you "pass" or "fail."  Scores are used to schedule you for the appropriate class and to see whether you already have the basic quantitative reasoning skills that satisfy our general education requirements.

You will still need to take the math placement exam. The test examhelp us assess your areas of strength and weakness, and schedule you for the appropriate classes.  At the end of your school year, depending on your scores and grades, your AP math or college math class may give you the college credits you need to satisfy our general education requirement.  After you have completed your College In High School class or have taken the AP exam, be sure to have the results sent to UPJ Admissions.

You will still need to take the chemistry placement exam. The test exam helps us assess your areas of strength and weakness, and schedule you for the appropriate classes.  At the end of your school year, depending on your scores and grades, your AP chemistry or college chemistry class may give you the college credits you need to satisfy our general education requirement.  After you have completed your College In High School class or have the results sent to UPJ Admissions.

You will have two hours to take the required math placement exam. Most students finish it in less time. The Chemistry exam is an hour long. You will have an hour and a half to complete the foreign language exam.

Please bring with you on exam day:

• A photo ID
• Your Student ID Number 
• A supply of #2 pencils
• A scientific calculator  NOTE: Programmable and/or graphing calculators are not allowed.
• The Reservation Confirmation page you print when you make your online reservation.

You should send a letter requesting accommodations and appropriate documentation of your disability (provided by an appropriate professional) to the following address: Theresa Horner, Coordinator of Disability Services, G-16 Owen Library, UPJ, Johnstown, PA 15904 (fax: 814-269-7177).  Additional information about testing accommodations and disabilty services is available by email (upjasc@pitt.edu) or by phone (814-269-7109).  To ensure the availability of appropriate accommodations, requests for accommodations with accompanying documentation should be received at UPJ at least one week before the date of the exam.

You will need your University computer account (username) and password to access these pages.

If you have difficulty with your University username and password, use the Submit a Support Desk Ticket at the site to send a request for help to UPJ's Information Technology unit.

Your score on  the chemistry exam will determine whether you place in Chemistry 0105 - Preparation for General Chemistry of Chem 0111 - General Chemistry 1. 

The exam consists of 60 multiple choice questions designed to test your knowledge on the mathematics and general chemistry concepts necessary  to succeed in a general chemistry class. There are three parts: 20 questions on general mathematics, 20 questions on general chemical knowledge and 20 questions on Specific Chemical Knowledge.

There are no practice problems as of yet.  The practice problems for the math placement exam will be a big help for the first part on general mathematics. Your tests and notes from your high school chemistry class should be helpful for the second and third parts.

There are a number of good web sites that have material for general chemistry.  Purdue University has a site that we use as a reference for the Gen Chem classes at Pitt-Johnstown.  The most helpful segments would be:
• States of Matter (http://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/atoms/states.html)
• Elements, Compounds & Mixtures (http://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/atoms/elements.html)
• Gases, Liquids & Solids (http://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/liquids/character2.html) -- don't worry about intermolecular forces
• Solutions (http://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/solutions/index.html)
• There are some sample test questions  (http://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/115exams/index.html) -- some of these will be challenging.