Answers to Some Questions About Spanish Language Courses
A. How and when can I take the Spanish Placement Exam?
You can take the placement exam online: http://www.barnard.columbia.edu/spanish/placement.html. The exam will give you your placement results immediately. If you have good reason to believe that the results are not a good reflection of your skills and level you may speak with the Language Coordinator of the department. You may not choose to place yourself below or above your placement level without permission of the Language Coordinator.
B. I have had X years of Spanish in High School. What do I do?
If you do not have an SAT score or if you have an AP score below 4, take the online Placement exam and the exam will place you. If you have an SAT score or an AP score of 4 or 5 see C below.
C. You should not take the Placement Exam if:
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you have taken the SAT II exam in Spanish. If you have an SAT score your placement is the following:
above 780: you have fufilled the language requirement. You may elect to go on with Spanish and take a section of Spanish W 3300: Advanced Language through Content, and we recommend that you do so.
680-780: take Spanish W 1202 (Intermediate Spanish II)
570-679: take Spanish W 1201 (Intermediate Spanish I)
400-569: take Spanish W 1102 (Elementary Spanish II)
below 400: start at the beginning with Span W 1101 (Elementary Spanish I).
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you have acheived a score of 4 or 5 on the Spanish AP exam. With this score you have fufilled the language requirement. You may elect to go on with Spanish and take a section of Spanish W 3300: Advanced Language through Content, and we recommend that you do so.
D. I have placed out of Spanish but want to go on. What course should I take?
You may choose one of the many sections offered at Barnard or Columbia of Spanish W 3300: Advanced Language through Content. Note that this is the ONLY course you may take as your first course beyond the language requirement.