Online Placement Test

Colby’s placement test for French is accessed online and taken, for best results, on a desktop or laptop with no breaks. This exam may not be used for automatic exemption from the language requirement (see below**).

The test will be made available to first-year students from May 20-June 2 only. This test is required of all incoming students who have taken French before. Students who have never studied French do not have to take it.

Students can sign-up for and take the exam as soon as they obtain their username and password here. It takes a maximum of 65 minutes. Should you have questions, contact Prof. Valérie Dionne, [email protected].

LANGUAGE PLACEMENT SCORE CUT-OFFS FOR COURSE ENROLLMENTS:

A student can fulfill the language requirement at Colby in several ways:

1. By achieving a score of 640 or higher on a foreign language SAT Subject Test taken in the student’s high school, or on the Colby online French placement exam taken in June
2. or, by a score of 4 or 5 in an Advanced Placement exam,
3. or, a score of 6 or 7 in an International Baccalaureate higher-level exam,
4. or, a 7 on a standard-level International Baccalaureate exam.

SCORE   |  FRENCH COURSE
200-450  |  FR125*
460-530  |  FR126
540-610  |  FR127
620-630  |  FR128 or FR131**
640-800  |  FR231 and above

*Students who have completed two or more years of French cannot enroll in FR125.
**If you achieve a score between 620 and 630, in order to fulfill the language requirement, which requires a score of 640 or higher, you must complete either FR128 or FR131. Contact the Francophone Studies department chair for further information.
***If you achieve a score of 640 or higher, you will meet with the Francophone Studies department chair or designated faculty member to assess your skills in French and consider further coursework in Francophone Studies at Colby.