Placement in French Courses
The majority of students interested in studying French must take the French online placement exam. Students will be directed to register on the basis of their result on this test.
Exceptions:
- those who have never taken French before and plan on enrolling in FREN0101
- entering students with an AP score of 5, an SAT score of 750 or higher, or a higher-level IB in French with a grade of 6 or 7. Instead of taking the test, they should attend an information session presenting their course options during orientation week.
When to take the test
Incoming students:
As a general rule the online placement test is activated at the beginning of August for use by students matriculating in September, and again at the beginning of January for students matriculating in February.
Before new students can take any online placement exam they must activate their Middlebury user account. If you have not already done so, please go to http://segue.middlebury.edu/sites/activate.
Continuing students:
The test will also be activated shortly before current students register for fall and spring semesters.
Any student who takes the exam and is placed in a course but does not register for it for the semester immediately following will need to ask the chair of the French Department for a prerequisite waiver if he or she decides to take the course in a later semester.
How to take the online test:
Once you have activated your Middlebury user account, open a Web browser and go to the following web page: http://moodle.middlebury.edu/course/view.php?id=168
1. Please make sure you select the test for the French Department of the academic year, not that of the Summer French Language School. Click on French Department within the column on the right side of the page (beneath the heading, Academic Year Assessments).
2. Log in with your Midd username and password on the left side of the page.
3. Take the test. You have 75 minutes to complete it, but most students need approximately 45 minutes to do so.
NOTE: The purpose of this exam is to assist in optimal placement at Middlebury, so do not use a dictionary or other materials to assist you. You may take the exam only once, so be sure to plan on having enough uninterrupted time to complete it (normally under an hour, but the time limit is 75 minutes).
