Math Placement Exam
With a few exceptions, all undergraduate students must take the MPE to fulfill the General Education Mathematics requirement, or to register in any mathematics course.
Exceptions: the following students do NOT have to take the MPE:
1) Students who have, at the time of their first enrollment at Andrews University, transferred credit from an accredited college in a College Algebra, Precalculus, Precalculus Algebra, Trigonometry, or any Calculus course. All these courses, when evaluated and accepted by the University, will satisfy the General Education Mathematics requirement.
2) Students who have taken AP Calculus and have passed the AB test with a score of at least 3, or have passed the BC test with a score of at least 4.
3) Students transferring from a four-year college into Physical Therapy or Clinical Laboratory Science and are classified as Seniors in their first year at Andrews are deemed to have met the mathematics requirement of the college or university from which they are transferring. The Andrews mathematics requirement is waived and these students do not have to take the MPE.
4) Students enrolled in the English Language Institute are not required to take the MPE until the first semester of enrollment in regular college level courses.
Courses named Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, College Mathematics, Beginning Algebra, will generally not be sufficient to meet the General Education requirement, although taking them can help you score well in the MPE.
It is EXTREMELY important that you take the MPE promptly upon enrolling at Andrews. It is also to your advantage to score as well as you can. Without the MPE score, you do not know whether it will take one, two, or three semesters to complete your mathematics requirement. This is information you do not want to discover in your Senior year!!
About the test: The MPE has five pages; page 1 is arithmetic, pages 2 and 3 are elementary algebra, and pages 4 and 5 are precalculus. It is a multiple choice timed test (1 hour). You may not use a calculator, and there is a penalty for guessing. The first page of the test is quite easy, and each successive page gets harder. You are not expected to know everything on the test--it is "theoretically" possible to escape remedial courses without scoring much from its last two pages. You should, however, read all the pages in case you know something from them. There is a charge of $17.00 for taking the test, which will be charged to the accounts of Andrews students.
Scoring: The letter score indicates arithmetic level and is determined by your performance on page 1 of the test: P = proficient in arithmetic (no deficiency); M = moderate arithmetic deficiency; E = extreme arithmetic deficiency. The number score indicates algebra level; this is determined by your performance on pages 2 through 5: 0, 1 = deficient in algebra; 2-5 = not deficient in algebra.
Specific scores, and what they indicate: The course numbers refer to the following courses: MATH 145 = Reasoning with Functions; MATH 166 = Precalculus Algebra; MATH 167 = Precalculus Trigonometry; MATH 168 = Precalculus; MATH 182 = Calculus with Applications; MATH 141 = Calculus I; STAT 285 = Elementary Statistics.
With a score less than P2 (that is, any E score, any M score, or P0 or P1), you will need to improve your arithmetic or algebra skills before taking mathematics course other than developmental courses. Most students enroll in MATH 091 to accomplish this, but there are alternatives. For more information, click here.
With a score of P2 you may enroll in MATH 145, 166, 168, or STAT 285.
With a score of P3 you may enroll in MATH 145, 166, 167, 168, or STAT 285.
With a score of P4 you may enroll in MATH 145, 166, 167, 168, 182, or STAT 285.
With a score of P5 you may enroll in MATH 145, 166, 167, 168, 182, 141, or STAT 285.
If you score P4 or P5, you may be able to fulfill your General Education math requirement by taking the CLEP test in Algebra and receiving credit for either MATH 145 or 166. Arrangements for taking a CLEP test may be made at the Counseling and Testing Service in Bell Hall.