Welcome to the Language Placement Information Page, where you will find detailed information about language requirements and placement into Spanish and Portuguese classes.
Students in the College of Arts and Science (CAS) need to demonstrate proficiency through Intermediate II level of a language as part of their College Core Curriculum (CORE). They can also fulfill their requirement with several placement and exemption exams. In-person exemmption exams in Spanish and Portuguese will be available for CAS students during the Summer and throughout the Fall and Spring semesters: See In-Person Exemption Exams.
Portuguese
Spanish speakers with no formal training of Portuguese can register directly for PORT UA 11 Portuguese for Spanish Speakers.
Other students with no training in Portuguese can register for PORT UA 1 Elementary Portuguese I or PORT UA 10 Intensive Elementary Portuguese.
Students with previous formal training and/or familiarity in Portuguese must go to the College of Arts and Science’s language exam website and take the online exam, picking Portuguese among the choices: http://www.nyu.edu/cas/flpexam/. Students will receive a score placing them in a certain level and must register for that level.
Students who score above the cutoff can take a written in-person exam for exemption from the CORE requirement. They must sign up in advance for the exemption exam. Information on dates and signing up can be found at Placement Exams. If they wish to continue their study of the language at NYU they must consult directly with the Director of the Language Program at spanish.dlp@nyu.edu
Spanish Placement Guidelines – Spring/Summer 2021
Students with no previous study of Spanish should enroll in SPAN-UA 1 Spanish for Beginners I.
Students with 1 year of High School Spanish may enroll in SPAN-UA 1 or take a placement test.
All other students must either: show proof of placement through one of the following: a) the SAT II Placement Test, IB exam, AP test or A Level exam; or b) the NYU Online Placement Exam. Students who have not taken a placement test and have taken Spanish before will not be allowed to stay in a course. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Note: All students studying in NYU Madrid or NYU Buenos Aires must take the placement test.
Students with college Spanish from institutions other than NYU also need to take a placement test if they intend to register for language courses at NYU. Transfer credit at or above the Intermediate Two level satisfies the Core graduation requirement (but is not used for placement). Transfer credit below the Intermediate Two level requires students to take our Online Placement Test for placement in our courses.
PLACEMENT GUIDELINES
NYU Online Exam Score |
PLACES STUDENT IN |
0-20 |
SPAN-UA 1 Spanish for Beginners I |
21-26 |
SPAN-UA 1 Spanish for Beginners I or SPAN-UA 10 Intensive Elementary Spanish |
27-38 |
SPAN-UA 2 Spanish for Beginners II or SPAN-UA 9015 Spanish for Advanced Beginners (NYU Madrid or NYU Buenos Aires only) |
39-42 |
SPAN-UA 3 Intermediate Spanish I |
43-46 |
SPAN-UA 3 Intermediate Spanish I or SPAN-UA 20 Intensive Intermediate Spanish |
47-58 |
SPAN-UA 4 Intermediate Spanish II |
59-66 |
Eligible to take in-person exam for exemption from the CAS language requirement. |
67-74 |
Eligible to take in person exam for exemption from the CAS language requirement. For placement in advanced courses, you need to take a written advanced language assessment at the Department, please contact spanish.dlp@nyu.edu or 212-998-8770. |
SAT II Placement Test Score |
PLACES STUDENT IN |
0-350 |
SPAN-UA 1 Spanish for Beginners I |
350-430 |
SPAN-UA 1 Spanish for Beginners I or SPAN-UA 10 Intensive Elementary Spanish |
440-500 |
SPAN-UA 2 Spanish for Beginners II or SPAN-UA 9015 Spanish for Advanced Beginners (NYU Madrid or NYU Buenos Aires only) |
510-540 |
SPAN-UA 3 Intermediate Spanish I |
550-600 |
SPAN-UA 3 Intermediate Spanish I or SPAN-UA 20 Intensive Intermediate Spanish |
610-650 |
SPAN-UA 4 Intermediate Spanish II |
660-710 |
SPAN-UA 50 Advanced Spanish, also exempt from language requirement. |
720 or above |
Students are exempt from the CAS language requirement. Students wishing to take advanced classes in Spanish will need to take a written advanced assessment at the Department to finalize placement, please contact spanish.dlp@nyu.edu or 212-998-8770. |
AP Score |
PLACES STUDENT IN |
AP 4 Language |
Students are exempt from the CAS language requirement. Students who are not native speakers and wish to continue studying Spanish should take the online placement test http://www.nyu.edu/cas/flpexam/ to confirm placement into SPAN UA 50 Advanced Spanish. If the score is less than 59, then register for SPAN UA 60 Advanced Conversation instead. On the first day of classes students will take an in-class exam to finalize proper course placement. This may occasionally result in being asked to drop to a lower level and losing the AP credit. Students who are native speakers and intend to continue studying Spanish will need to take a written assessment with the Director of the Language Program spanish.dlp@nyu.edu to finalize placement. |
AP 5 Language |
Students are exempt from the CAS language requirement. Students who are not native speakers and intend to continue studying Spanish can register for SPAN-UA 50 Advanced Spanish. On the first day of classes students will take an in-class exam to finalize proper course placement. This may occasionally result in being asked to drop to a lower level and losing the AP credit. Students who are native speakers and intend to continue studying Spanish will need to take a written assessment with the Director of the Language Program spanish.dlp@nyu.edu to finalize placement. |
AP 4 or AP 5 Literature |
Students receive 4 credits for SPAN-UA 50 Advanced Spanish and satisfy the CAS language requirement. Students wishing to take advanced Spanish classes need to take a written advanced assessment at the Department for proper placement, please contact spanish.dlp@nyu.edu or 212-998-8770. |
AP3 and under Language or Literature |
Students need to take the NYU Online Placement Exam or show proof of SAT II or IB Spanish score. |
IB Score |
PLACES STUDENT IN |
IB6 or IB7 Higher Level (HL) |
Scores of 6 or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level examination are accepted as evidence of intermediate-level accomplishment and exemption from the CAS language requirement. |
IB5 and under (HL) Any IB Standard Level (ab initio) |
Students need to take the NYU Online Placement Exam or show proof of SAT II or AP Spanish score. |
Spanish Speakers: If you are a Spanish (native or heritage) speaker and your only goal is to fulfill the language requirement, you can, like any other student, take the NYU Online Placement Exam, and if you score high enough (59 and above) take the in-person Exemption exam. If you would like to take Spanish courses and/or if you do not score high enough in either of the above tests, you must take a test in the department (different from the Online Placement Exam) for appropriate placement into SPAN-UA 11 (Intermediate Spanish for Spanish Speakers) or SPAN-UA 51 (Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speakers). Completion of either of these courses will fulfill the language requirement for heritage speakers. Please call 212-998-8770 for more information, or write to the Director of the Language Program spanish.dlp@nyu.edu, or the instructors of either of the Spanish Speaker courses for further instructions.
NYU Online Placement Exam link: http://www.nyu.edu/cas/flpexam/ (about 45 minutes long, be ready to show your true current level).
NYU In-Person Exemption Exam instructions: http://cas.nyu.edu/academic-programs/academic-support-services/placementexams.html#flp (Foreign Languages section, parts IV and V).
Please be aware that students cannot take the placement test more than once every year and a half (18 months) without the permission of the Director of the Language Program. Call 212-998-8770 or send an email spanish.dlp@nyu.edu for an appointment. Once a student is placed into a given level they must complete the NYU course sequence without skipping levels.
When taking the Online Placement Exam, do not have any other windows or tabs open, or a device nearby (such as your phone) that may force you to click on any notifications or warnings. Clicking twice outside of your placement test window will result in the Placement Test shutting down, after the first warning.
Placement test results are not simple recommendations. Students must register for the course they have placed into. Only a Course Coordinator or the Director of the Language Program can override a placement test score. Students registered in the wrong course will be dropped from that class and placed into the appropriate course.
Student placement will be assessed by the instructor the first week of classes.
If inappropriately placed, the student may be asked to switch to a different class.
Incoming freshmen do not necessarily have to take NYU Online Placement Exam while they are waiting for AP, IB, A Level, or SAT exam results. If they do, results will only serve as a rough guideline, since the AP, IB or SAT II results will take precedence. However, for incoming freshmen, if the AP or SAT Spanish exam was taken in junior year of high school, students are advised to take the NYU placement exam for a more recent assessment.
If AP or IB exam results come in and they are not high enough to earn AP or IB credit, then a student must go ahead and take the NYU Online Placement Exam. For the SAT II, you do not need to take NYU’s exam, instead register according to the table above.
Placement test results (as well as AP, SAT II, IB or A level scores) are valid for 18 months maximum.
Likewise, if more than 18 months have elapsed since a student took a SPAN-UA course, it can no longer serve as an automatic prerequisite for the next course in the sequence. The student must take or retake the placement examination to determine the correct level of study. This may result in repeating SPAN-UA courses and loss of credit.
Students with college transfer credit from an institution other than NYU have to take the placement test and register for the class they place into. This may result in repeating a level for which they have credit and loss of some of the transfer credit.
(Updated 08/19/2021)