Directed Self-Placement For Mathematics
To Incoming Students of Union College,
I would like to welcome you to Union College of Union County, NJ and the educational
journey that you are about to begin. Please know that all the Faculty and Staff at Union
College are committed to supporting your studies as you work towards your degree.
The first step of any journey is the most important one and thus we want to get all of
you “off on the right foot.” The courses you select for your first semester will be both
challenging and rewarding and are the foundation for the rest of your studies.
To help you select the math course that is the best for your degree program, we have
developed a Directed Self-Placement (DSP) process. DSP will help you determine which
initial Union College math course is best for you based upon your math experience and
future goals.
The DSP process consists of three simple steps:
1. Review Math Course Expectations and Course Descriptions;
2. Complete the Math Directed Self-Placement Questionnaire;
3. Select your preferred Math course(s).
The questionnaire will ask you about your previous math classes and your goals. All
three of the above steps should take about 15 minutes to complete.
I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you that the College offers free tutoring
services in the Academic Learning Centers that are located on all campuses.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the STEM Division at
(908) 709-7467 or [email protected].
Again, welcome to Union College and sincere wishes for your academic success!
Dean William Dunscombe
STEM Division
Union College
of Union County, NJ
Transforming Our Community... One Student at a Time
Union College
Academic Affairs
College Placement for Mathematics
Multiple Measures Exemption Score Explanation
High School GPA 3.0 or higher Student took three years of mathematics
SAT Mathematics score 530 or higher on previous SAT;
500 or higher on current SAT (March 2016 or later)
ACT Score 20 or higher
A.A./A.S. or B.A/B.S. degree
Transfer credit for one semester of
college-level mathematics
Satisfactory completion of Advisor will review transcript for
developmental courses in equivalency
mathematics at another institution
Visiting student
Qualifying Accuplacer scores Previous or current (NextGen) test
scores accepted
Other Test Score Exemptions Score Explanation
Advanced Placement scores 4 or 5 on AB Calculus placement into MAT 171
4 or 5 on BC placement into MAT 172
PARCC Mathematics 11 4 or higher (raw score of 750)
IB test scores 4 or higher on Mathematics SL for MAT 119;
4 or higher on Math (further) for MAT 125;
5 or higher on Mathematics HL for MAT 155;
6 or 7 on Mathematics HL for placement into MAT 171
Other Exemptions Score
Direct Self Placement Survey Student agrees/strongly agrees with #1-4 (developmental math
Non-STEM / Non-Business recommended)
Student agrees/strongly agrees with #1-5 and 7+8 and took and passed
three years of math in high school (MAT 125 or 127 recommended)
Student agrees/strongly agrees with #1-6 and took and passed three (3)
years of math in high school (MAT 119 recommended)
STEM / Business Student agrees/strongly agree with #1-10 and took and passed 4 years
of mathematics in high school (MAT 143 recommended)
Student agrees/strongly agrees with #1-11 and has passed 4 years of
math and has taken pre-calculus and passed with a B or better
(MAT 155 recommended)
Student strongly agrees with #1 – 12 and has taken calculus in high
school and received a grade of C or better (MAT 171 recommended)
Transforming Our Community... One Student at a Time
Mathematics Course Expectations:
Which is the best fit for you?
The sequence of these courses is appropriate for liberal arts majors
(NON-STEM AND NON-BUSINESS)
MAT 017* MAT 125 MAT 127
• You have not taken a • You have taken 2 or 3 • You have taken 2 or 3
math class in more than years of math in high years of math in high
5+ years and need a school school
math refresher
• You are able to apply • You like analyzing data
math and like to apply it and looking at graphs
• You would like help with to every day concepts
skill development in • You are familiar with
basic math operations • You are familiar with standard deviation,
probability, geometry, mean, median, and
and logic mode
Transforming Our Community... One Student at a Time
* Courses beginning with a 0 are part of the developmental course sequence and do not count towards degree requirements.
Mathematics Course Expectations:
Which is the best fit for you?
The sequence of these courses is appropriate for
STEM and Business (AA) majors
MAT 019* MAT 119 MAT 143 MAT 155 MAT 171
• You have not • You took 3 • You took 4 • You have taken • You agree with
taken a math years of math in years of math and passed everything for
class in more high school in high school pre-calculus with MAT 155, and...
than 5+ years a B or better
• You took calculus
and need a • You like math • You agree with
• You agree with in high school
math refresher everything for
everything for and earned a “C”
• You can solve MAT 119, and...
MAT 143, and... or better
equations with
• You would like two variables • You can draw a • You do not need • You are familiar
help with skill and are familiar parabola to use a graph- with derivatives
development in with quadratic ing calculator and can apply
basic math equations • You can solve them to solve real-
• Add – You have
operations equations with world problems
a strong algebra-
exponents and
ic background • You are familiar
square roots
with limits, asymp-
• You like the
totes, extrema,
• You can work challenge of a
and points of
with relations, fast paced
inflection
domains, func- course
tions, and
• You are familiar
ranges
with logarithmic
functions and
various graphing
techniques
Transforming Our Community... One Student at a Time
* Courses beginning with a 0 are part of the developmental course sequence and do not count towards degree requirements.
Mathematics Course Descriptions:
What will you learn in a specific course?
MAT 017* MAT 019* MAT 125 MAT 127 MAT 119 MAT 143 MAT 155 MAT 171
Introduction Introduction Survey of Elementary Algebra Elementary Elementary Unified
to to Special Statistics Mathematical Mathematical Calculus I
Elementary Elementary Topics for Analysis I Analysis
Algebra Algebra for Mathematics
Advanced
Math
Students
5 credits 5 credits 4 credits 4 credits 4 credits 4 credits 5 credits 4 credits
This course is This course is This course is This course is This course is This course This course is This course is
designed for designed for designed to an elementary for students introduces the an accelerat- a college
non-STEM STEM majors give students course in who have concepts and ed one level study in
majors and and covers an apprecia- descriptive mastered techniques semester Calculus.
covers introductory tion of the statistics and basic alge- needed Pre- Calculus
introductory algebra and beauty and statistical bra, to teach to proceed to course
algebra and mathematical utility of inference. the students more designed for
mathematical concepts to mathematics, more complex advanced students with
concepts to prepare and to algebra mathematics sufficient
prepare students for provide a topics, and to and science mathematics
students MAT 119 and better idea of prepare the courses, such background
for MAT 125 beyond. what mathe- students to as calculus. but in need of
or MAT 127. matics is and take next level a review of
where it can mathematics material prior
be applied. courses. to taking
Calculus.
ALC hours are ALC hours are ALC hours are
required for this required for this required for this
course. course. course.
STEP 2: Take the Directed Self-Placement Questionnaire
&
STEP 3: Select your preferred course placement.
Math Directed Self-Placement Questionnaire
By clicking the link below, you will be redirected to the Self-Placement Survey for Math.
This Survey must be completed by the student.
www.ucc.edu/dspmath
The Directed Self-Placement may only be taken once per subject (math and English).
Transforming Our Community... One Student at a Time
* Courses beginning with a 0 are part of the developmental course sequence and do not count towards degree requirements.
Directed Self Placement for Mathematics:
Basic Algebra, College Algebra,
Liberal Arts Math, and Statistics
Strongly Dis- Strongly
Agree
Agree agree Disagree
1) I enjoy mathematics.
2) I can easily add, subtract, and multiply
in my head.
3) W
hen I am shopping, I can easily
figure
out a 10% or 20% discount on items
that
are on sale.
4) I know how to solve a linear equation.
5) I know how to graph linear equations.
6) I know how to solve equations using
two variables.
7) I can solve for mean, median, and
mode
8) I like games of chance and understand
probabilities.
If student only agrees/strongly agrees with #1-4 (developmental math recommended)
If student agrees/strongly agrees with #1 – 6 and took and passed three (3) years
of mathematics in high school. (MAT119 recommended)
If student agree/strongly agrees with #1 – 5, 7-8 and took and passed three years of
mathematics in high school (MAT 125 or MAT 127 recommended)
Directed Self-Placement Questionnaire
By clicking the link below, you will be redirected to the Self-Placement Survey for Mathematics.
This Survey must be completed by the student.
www.ucc.edu/dspmath
The Directed Self-Placement may only be taken once per subject (math and English).
Transforming Our Community... One Student at a Time
Directed Self Placement for Mathematics:
Pre-Calculus and Calculus
Strongly Strongly
Agree Disagree
Agree Disagree
1) I enjoy mathematics.
2) I can easily add, subtract, and multiply
in my head.
3) W
hen I am shopping, I can easily figure out
a 10% or 20% discount on items that are on
sale.
4) I know how to solve a linear equation.
5) I know how to graph linear equations.
6) I know how to solve equations using
two variables.
7) I can draw a parabola.
8) I can solve equations with exponents and
square roots.
9) I know how to work with functions, relations,
domains, and ranges.
10) I don’t need to use a graphing calculator.
11) I feel I have a strong algebraic background
12) I took calculus in high school
If student agrees/strongly agrees with #1-10 and took and passed four (4) years of mathematics in high school
(MAT143 – Elementary Mathematical Analysis (Pre-Calculus recommended)
If student agrees/strongly agrees with #1-11 and has passed 4 years of math and has taken
pre-calculus and passed with a B or better (MAT 155 – Accelerated Elementary Mathematical Analysis recommended)
If student strongly agrees with #1-12 and has taken calculus in high school and received a grade of C or better
(MAT 171 – Unified Calculus recommended)
Directed Self-Placement Questionnaire
By clicking the link below, you will be redirected to the Self-Placement Survey for Mathematics.
This Survey must be completed by the student.
www.ucc.edu/dspmath
The Directed Self-Placement may only be taken once per subject (math and English).
Transforming Our Community... One Student at a Time
