Students come into college with a wide range of experience with writing – some may have received a lot of rigorous writing education in high school, while it may have been much less of a focus for others. Throughout your whole college education, though, strong reading and writing skills are going to be critical to your success.
In order to ensure you have the college-level reading and writing skills you will need as you enter this new phase of your education, Illinois Tech’s core curriculum requires students to fulfill a Basic Writing Proficiency (BWP) requirement. The BWP requirement is met by either 1) achieving certain standardized test scores per the core curriculum, 2) taking an introductory-level communications class (COM 101 or COM 111), or 3) testing out of the BWP via the writing placement test. After fulfilling the BWP, all students must take a section of HUM 200, which builds upon BWP skills.
The communications program at Illinois Tech recognizes that you know your comfort and skill levels with writing the best, and as such, the placement test is designed to take into account both your own beliefs and experiences about your skills, as well as your performance on a few exercises.
Taking the test
The writing placement test is available via Blackboard. Most newly admitted students who have not met the BWP requirement through standardized test scores will be automatically enrolled into the Blackboard organization where you can take the test. If you need to take the test and do not have access to it, please contact Hannah Ringler to gain access.
Scoring
Your submission will be evaluated by faculty, and you’ll receive a placement score to determine whether you should take a section of COM 101 or 111 before entering into a HUM 200 course. Within a few weeks after submitting your test, please look for your placement score in Degreeworks—a score of 101 indicates you have not met the BWP requirement and will need to take either COM 101 or COM 111, while a score of 102 indicates you have met the BWP requirement and can enter directly into a section of HUM 200.
International students
If you were required to submit TOEFL or IELTS scores for admission to Illinois Tech, your placement may be determined by those test scores and thus you may not need to take the placement test. Please see the below table for instructions on how to proceed.
| If your TOEFL score is | If your IELTS score is | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Reading or Writing <16 | Reading or Writing <6.0 | Do not take this placement test. Enroll in COM 111. |
| Reading or Writing 16-19 | Overall <6.0 and Reading and Writing ≥6.0 or Overall ≥6.0 and Reading and Writing =6.0 | Do not take this placement test. Enroll in a HUM 200 section which starts with E. |
| Reading or Writing >19 | Overall ≥6.0 and Reading ≥6.0 and Writing ≥6.5 or Overall ≥6.0 and Reading ≥6.5 and Writing ≥6.0 | Take the placement test |