Accuplacer Test
Arithmetic Test
This test measures your ability to perform basic arithmetic operations and to solve problems that involve fundamental arithmetic concepts. There are 17 questions on the Arithmetic tests, divided into three types.
- Operations with whole numbers and fractions: topics included in this category are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, recognizing equivalent fractions and mixed numbers, and estimating
- Operations with decimals and percents: topics include addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with decimals. Percent problems, recognition of decimals, fraction and percent equivalencies, and problems involving estimation are also given
- Applications and problem solving: topics include rate, percent, and measurement problems, simple geometry problems, and distribution of a quantity into its fractional parts
- Questions from all three categories are always presented, although the number of questions from each category varies with a tester’s skill level
Elementary Algebra Test
This test measures your ability to perform basic algebraic operations and to solve problems that involve elementary algebraic concepts.
A total of 12 questions are administered in this test.
The first type involves operations with integers and rational numbers, the use of absolute values, and ordering.
A second type involves operations with algebraic expressions using evaluation of simple formulas and expressions, adding and subtracting monomials and polynomials, multiplying and dividing monomials and polynomials, the evaluation of positive rational roots and exponents, simplifying algebraic fractions, and factoring.
The third type of question involves the solution of equations, inequalities, word problems, solving linear equations and inequalities, the solution of quadratic equations by factoring, solving verbal problems presented in an algebraic context, including geometric reasoning and graphing, and the translation of written phrases into algebraic expressions.
Reading Comprehension Test
This test measures your ability to understand what you read.
There are twenty questions of two primary types on the Reading Comprehension test.
- The first type consists of a reading passage followed by a question based on the text. Both short and long passages are provided. The reading passages can also be classified according to the kind of information processing required including explicit statements related to the main idea, explicit statements related to a secondary idea, application, and inference.
- The second type of question, sentence relationships, presents two sentences followed by a question about the relationship between these two sentences. The question may ask, for example, if the statement in the second sentence supports that in the first, if it contradicts it, or if it repeats the same information.
Essay Test (Writeplacer)
This test measures your ability to write effectively, which is critical to academic success.
Your writing sample will be scored on the basis of how effectively it communicates a whole message to the readers for the stated purpose. Your score will be based on your ability to express, organize, and support your opinions and ideas, not the position you take on the essay topic. 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 details
Sentence Structure—the effectiveness of your sentence structure
Mechanical Conventions—the extent to which your writing is free of errors in usage and mechanics