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Q: What is the purpose of the service?
A:
The service is designed to identify the MSU mathematics course
that best matches your current mathematical skill.
Q: Is this just an experiment, or is the result
from the placement service actually used for placement?
A: The results of the current
MPS Exam are 'real': they are used for placement into all entry-level
mathematics courses at MSU.
Q: Can everyone use the service?
A: No. The service is provided solely for use
by new freshmen, new Ag Tech students, new transfer students, and new
lifelong undergrads who have been admitted
to MSU for the first time. (Some of these students might not
have to take the exam. Read ["Who must
use the service?"].) To gain access to the 'Actual'
exam, students must use their MSUNetId and their MSUNet password.
Students who are (or have been) enrolled at MSU may write
only the proctored MPS
Exam. For more information, go to [Can
I use the MPS Exam to 'place out of' mathematics at MSU?]
Q: Who must use the service?
A: All students entering MSU as new freshmen
are required
to take the Mathematics Placement Service Exam (MPS Exam)
before attending their Academic
Orientation Program (AOP), with the following exceptions:
Students with MSU credit in at least one of the following:
MTH 103, MTH 116, MTH 124, MTH 132, MTH 133, MTH 234 or any
math course above MTH 234 need not take the MPS exam.
NOTE: On the other hand, students who transfer one of
the following: MTH 110, MTH 112, MTH 114, MTH 201, STT 200
or STT 201 alone, with no other math course above the level of
MTH 1825, must take the MPS exam (on-line prior to AOP or at AOP). Students who have already
been granted Advanced Placement Mathematics credit
by MSU
for Calculus
before
their Academic Orientation Program (AOP).
(Many students who are hoping to receive
AP mathematics credit will not know whether
it has been granted before their AOP; so, they should take
the exam!) Students who have ACT Math scores of 28 or higher or
SAT Math scores of 640 or higher, who WILL
be taking mathematics courses at MSU.
(PLEASE NOTE: Regardless of
a student's SAT, ACT, or MPS Exam score, to waive
the University Graduation
Requirement in mathematics, those students who
do not plan to take mathematics courses
at MSU must take a PROCTORED exam.
For more information, please read, "Can
I use the MPS Exam to 'place out of' mathematics
at MSU?")
New freshmen who have Statistics (MSU STT) course
credit but do not fit into one of the three preceding
categories must take the MPS Exam.
All new transfer students are
required
to take the Mathematics Placement Service Exam
(MPS Exam) except for those described in category
1 (above). Transfer students who have statistics
(MSU STT) course credit but do not have mathematics
course credit must take the MPS Exam.
Q: What benefits does the service provide?
When a student submits a completed MPS Exam for grading,
the service immediately displays both the student's
score and a link to a description of the corresponding
placement into mathematics courses at MSU.
Students who are not satisfied with their placement may
re-take the MPS Exam twice (for a maximum total of three
attempts). There is an enforced four week waiting period
between each pair of attempts. (We hope that students
will use the four week periods to sharpen their mathematical
skills.)
By providing an early warning plus the opportunity to
re-try the placement exam at a later date,
we hope to encourage as many students as possible
to work toward their best possible placement.
Q: What can I do to prepare for the MPS Exam?
A: The Department of Mathematics has provided a publicly accessible
[Diagnostic
Exam], which reviews the mathematics that appears on the MPS Exam.
In addition, when you are ready to take the actual MPS Exam, the
[MPS Exam Format Sample],
is available to prepare you for the look and feel of the real exam.
Q: To use the service, what kind of equipment
will I need?
A:
To access the MPS Exam, a student must use
a web browser program (like Internet Explorer
or FireFox) on a computer that has full
Internet access. Almost any modern Internet connection
(like those available from cable providers, DSL, dial-up,
etc.) provides these services.
Q: How can I reach the service?
A:
The service can be reached directly at:
http://mpsexam.msu.edu/Documentation/.
The service can be reached through the MSU Mathematics Dept. home page:
http://www.math.msu.edu/.
(On the MSU Mathematics Dept. home page, under the
line heading ‘PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS’, the first
entry, labeled ‘Mathematics Placement Service’,
is a link to the Mathematics Placement Service.)
The first page of the exam is the MSU Mathematics
Placement Service 'Basic Info' page. Students MUST
read this page carefully before proceeding.
In particular, the page contains links to a 'Diagnostic Exam',
a 'Format Sample Exam', and an 'Actual Exam'. Only
the scores from the 'Actual Exam' can be used
for placement.
To begin an exam, simply click on the appropriate hot link,
then read and follow the instuctions that appear.
Q: What if something goes wrong while I am using
the service?
A: We strongly recommend that students use
reliable equipment on reliable internet connections, such as are available
from most schools, libraries, MSU MSUE offices, etc. The
[Format Sample Exam],
which can be attempted a large number of times, can serve as a convenient test
vehicle to help students identify and avoid such problems on the Actual Exam.
While we hope that no one will experience technical difficulty while
writing the exam, glitches of various kinds do sometimes affect network
connections like those used by the MPS Exam. If such a problem
interrupts a student's exam session, the student must attempt to
reconnect and complete the exam immediately.
Q: Can I use the MPS Exam to 'place
out of' mathematics at MSU?
A: Because of security concerns, the result of
the current unproctored web-based MPS Exam cannot be used
to waive the entire University Graduation Requirement in mathematics.
To obtain such a waiver, a student must earn a sufficiently high
score on the Proctored MPS Exam:
The Proctored MPS Exam can be taken only once.
On the first day of each student's Academic Orientation
Program ('AOP'), a proctored exam is made available
to those new freshmen and transfer students
who have not taken it before. (In the
past, the proctored exam has been offered early
in the morning, before the official starting
time for AOP; however, the actual schedule for
this year's sessions is determined by the
Office of Admissions,
telephone: 517 355-8332.)
Alternatively, before your AOP, by special pre-arrangement,
you can take your proctored exam at one of several
MSU Extension (MSUE) sites spread around the State of Michigan.
[MSUE Offices]
To arrange to take your proctored exam before your AOP,
please contact the selected site directly.
Otherwise, access to the Proctored MPS Exam is solely at the
discretion of the Office of the Undergraduate Director for
Mathematics (517 353-0844).
Q: Can I take the exam after I have been enrolled
in classes at MSU?
A: No. The web-based placement
exam is available only to those students who have been admitted to MSU,
but have not yet enrolled in any class. (Students 'Pre-enrolled'
by the University during the Spring prior to their AOP are a special
case: see [below].)
Q: How is the potential for dishonesty on the
exam controlled?
A:
In answering an earlier question, we noted
that students cannot use the unproctored MPS Exam
to waive the MSU University Mathematics Graduation
Requirement. Consequently, dishonesty of any kind
on this exam can only result in placement into
a course in which the student is extremely
unlikely to succeed.
Q: Is there a deadline for use of the Placement
Service?
A:
Students should complete their use of the
service at least three (3) days before their scheduled
Academic Orientation Program (AOP) session.
This will ensure that their placement results
have been recorded and distributed prior to their
AOP session. Because of the enforced four-week
waiting period between the three possible tries
of the MPS Exam, we suggest that students should
plan to write the Exam for the first time at least
two months before their AOP date.
(There is an absolute official deadline for use of the Placement
Service. For most students, it is the start of their AOP session,
as described on the [basic information page].)
Q: Can 'Pre-enrollment' (which is scheduled
to occur in mid-May) affect my access to the service?
A:
No! Even if you are notified that you have
been pre-enrolled in an MSU mathematics course,
you will continue to be able to use the service,
as described in the answer to the preceding question,
"Is there a deadline for
use of the Placement Service?".
Q: What kinds of placement are available through
this service?
A:
Click [here].
To review your score(s), go to [MSU StuInfo].
Q: Why doesn't the service spell my name correctly?
A:
Unfortunately the University's primary database
was not designed to accept names which contain
apostrophes. For example, it uses Odonnel
instead of O'Donnel.
Q: Must I bring a printed copy of my MPS Exam's
result page to my AOP session?
A:
Regardless of what you might read (or hear)
elsewhere, we suggest that you print a copy of
your exam results ONLY for your
own records. Regrettably, since such pages
are remarkably easy to 'fake', MSU cannot accept
such printouts as verification of your MPS Exam
placement.
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