We encourage you to complete any required or recommended course placements prior to meeting with an academic advisor so they will be able to review your scores and make sure you register for the right course(s). All course placements are administered online.
Course placements may be required or recommended in any of the following:
Math
English Composition
Chemistry
World Languages (French, German, Japanese, Spanish)
Math Course Placement
Most students are required to take ALEKS. You are waived if:
- You transferred in a math course from another college or university that is equivalent to a 100-level or above math course at IU South Bend;
- You took an IU South Bend math course as a high school student and received college credit for it;
- You received a passing score on an Advanced Placement (AP) exam.
- You took ALEKS at another college or university within a year.
Continue to Math Course Placement
English Course Placement
You do not need to take this course placement if:
- You decide to take ENG-W130 to build reading and writing skills before taking ENG-W131. You do not need a placement score to enroll in ENG-W130.
- You already have ENG-W131 credit because:
- You have transferred in the equivalent of IU South Bend course ENG-W131 from another college or university.
- You took ENG-W131 as a high school student and received credit for it.
- You received a score of 4 or above on the Advance Placement (AP) exam for English composition.
Students may take the English course placement up to three times per testing session, provided they have not already enrolled in a First-Year Writing class. The Fall testing session runs from mid-October through early January and the Spring/Summer session runs from early March through late August. Once a student has enrolled in a First-Year Writing class, that signifies acceptance of the score and the course placement may not be retaken.
Note: students will also do a diagnostic writing exercise on the first day of their First-Year Writing class, at which point the instructor will either confirm the accuracy of the course placement or recommend moving the student to the appropriate level.
Continue to English Course Placement
Chemistry Course Placement
Jan 2024: The Chemistry Course Placement moved to a new site within the ALEKS system in mid-January. The old site has closed. Please enroll in the new site (GVJNE-MP46T) to continue.
The Chemistry Course Assessment is NOT required, but it may be advantageous for some students. If your major requires you to take either CHEM-C 102 or CHEM-C105/125 then our chemistry professors recommend the following:
| Your status | What should you do? |
| Enroll in CHEM-C 101 (lecture) and 121 (lab). You still need to satisfy the mathematics prerequisite for CHEM-C 101. |
| Enroll in CHEM-C 101 (lecture) and 121 (lab). You still need to satisfy the mathematics prerequisite for CHEM-C 101. … OR … Take the Chemistry Course Assessment to determine whether you can bypass the chemistry prerequisites for CHEM-C 102 or CHEM-C 105/125. |
| Enroll in CHEM-C 102 or CHEM-C 105/125 You will need your advisor’s help you to enroll in the appropriate course. |
Continue to Chemistry Course Placement
World Language Studies
Students who have previously studied French, German, Japanese or Spanish should take the World Language Studies course placement before enrolling in a language course at IU South Bend. This course placement will place you into a course at the appropriate level.
Continue to World Language Studies Course PlacementQuestions
If you have any questions, please call (574) 520-5005 or email sbinfo@iusb.edu