Placement Information

Students entering the University as First-Year Students are required to take a standardized Mathematics placement exam (e.g. SAT Subject Level 1 or 2, ACT, AP, IB) for Math 130, 152, or 231 before the end of their senior year of high school.  Please note these scores must be sent to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Office of Undergraduate Admissions, so that they will be available for placement purposes during summer registration. Students who do not have these scores in their Connect Carolina student account will not be able to register for the above courses. If you have not taken a standardized placement test in high school; you may enroll in Math 110.  Placement credit for Math 110 (Math 110P) is awarded as shown and may be used to fulfill a Math 110 prerequisite. No credit hours are awarded.

Placement is determined as follows:

Noteworthy Placement Consideration:

• Early college and transfer students from NC community colleges who have passed MAT 171 (Pre-calculus Algebra) with a grade of C or higher will get transfer credit for UNC-CH’s MATH 110P. Students who have passed community college MAT 172 (Pre-calculus Trigonometry) with a C or higher will get transfer credit for UNC-CH’s MATH 130. Transcripts must be submitted to UNC-CH Admissions.
• Math 116, 117, 118, and 119 all satisfy the General Education Quantitative Reasoning (QR) requirement and are open to all students (no prerequisites).
• The AP Statistics Exam is not accepted for math credit or placement.
• The International Baccalaureate, Mathematical Studies, Standard Level is not used for placement at UNC-CH.
• For SAT scores, only scores for the SAT 2 Math Subject Level Test (Level 1 and Level 2) are accepted for placement. Scores on the math portion of the regular SAT 1 are not accepted for placement.
• For students who enrolled prior to Fall 2019, different cut-off scores applied. In particular, a score of 520 on the SAT subject test Math Level 1 and 2 conferred credit for Math 110P, a score of 600 on the SAT subject test Math Level 2 conferred credit for Math 129P, and a score of 27 on the ACT Math test was needed to confer credit for Math 110.
• Students who do not already have scores on exams listed on the above chart that place them into their desired courses should take the SAT Subject Test, Mathematics Level 2, for the following reasons:

1. there is a chance that the AP or IB score may be too low for placement;
2. the AP or IB score may not be available in time for summer registration.

Placement Tests offered at UNC:

The Mathematics Department offers Calculus Placement Tests each semester on the last business day before classes begin. The departmental calculus placement exam is open only to students who already have been placed into MATH 231 or above.  This exam is not a means to award credit; rather, it is a means to appropriately place students within the calculus sequence.

The Math Department also offers an ALEKS placement test for Algebra and Precalculus each semester on the last business day before classes begin. This test is intended for students who do not already have placement scores via the ACT or SAT Math Subject Test.

For course-specific placement questions not answered here, contact Dr. Linda Green, greenl@email.unc.edu