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WRITTEN COMMUNICATION PLACEMENT             

Transfer Students

All incoming transfer students are assessed by the Academic Advisement Center for placement into Written Communication based on transfer coursework.

Freshmen/First-Year Students

All incoming first-year students will be placed into a written communication path based on their critical reading/verbal SAT score unless you have AP credit or plan to transfer in college credit taken during high school.  You will have an opportunity to tell us what path you think you should be placed within the New Student Orientation Survey.  If your selection differs from your SAT placement, you will have an opportunity to discuss it with us during New Student Orientation. 

  • Check your composition path by referring to the chart below or online by following the steps on the Getting Your Scores page

 

Verbal SAT / AP Score Written Communication Path Fall 2011 Spring 2012
ESL - bilingual and non-native speakers
 1 ENG 119 ENG 110 or ENG 112
SAT 430 or ACT 17 or below 2 ENG 110 ENG 112
SAT 440-560 or ACT 18-24 3 INQ 101 ENG 112
SAT 570 - 800 or ACT 25 or above or AP Score 4* 4 ENG 112Eligible to take literature courses and writing courses
AP Score 5*   INQ 101 Only (waive written communication, ENG 112) 

All Written Communication paths include a first year experience seminar course, INQ 101, which is taught by faculty from a variety of disciplines, designed to help you develop the intellectual and creative inquiry skills that will be crucial to successful college study.  The course focuses on the essentials like reading, writing, thinking, research and inquiry skills, and frameworks for building an academic habit of mind -- in other words, thinking like a college student.

 

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION PATH DESCRIPTIONS:

PATH 1:  Written Communication for ESL Students

  • You are bilingual or a non-native English speaker.
  • You find some school reading material and other demanding material difficult to read and/or understand because of unfamiliar vocabulary or cultural references.
  • You think about what you read, but not always with a grasp of finer points.
  • You depend on teacher comments to revise and edit your work.
  • You produce written work that sometimes is not clearly organized or that may not have a clear argument.
  • You commit a significanct number of grammar and sentence-level errors and need to help to locate and correct those errors.

PATH 2: Fundamentals of Academic Writing

  • Begins with ENG 110 and INQ 101 for Fall semester.
  • You find school reading material and other demanding material difficult to read and/or understand.
  • You need help in analyzing what you read in order to write about it
  • You depend on teacher comments not only to revise your work, but to understand when it does and does not fulfill assignment requirements.
  • You produce written work that is sometimes poorly organized or lacking a clear argument.
  • You infrequently read outside of school.
  • You commit a significant number of grammar and sentence-level errors and need help to locate and fix those errors.
  • You will take ENG 112 in Spring semester.

PATH 3:  Intellectual and Creative Inquiry

  • Begins with INQ 101 only for Fall semester.
  • You read and understand most school reading material and other demanding material.
  • You think about what you read, but not always deeply or with a grasp of finer points.
  • You rewrite at times for both sentence-level and larger organization issues, but do not spend a significant amount of time polishing and rethinking your writing.
  • You read somewhat regularly outside of school.
  • You commit grammar and sentence-level errors, but can identify and fix at least some of them after proofreading your work.
  • You will take ENG 112 in Spring semester.

PATH 4:  Writing Arguments

  • Includes ENG 112 and INQ 101 for Fall semester.
  • You read, understand, and seek out demanding reading material in school and outside of school.
  • You analyze and question what you read, even to the point of proposing detailed counter-arguments.
  • You produce multiple drafts of your work not because the teacher requires it, or only when you need a higher grade, but because you take pride in your intellectual work and think writing well is important to your learning.
  • You read and write regularly outside of school, use research (print or online) to help inform your opinions, and display ongoing interest in intellectual or political issues.
  • You commit some sentence-level errors in your writing, but those errors are minimal and occur in the context of prose that is more polished, better organized, and more searching in its thinking than that of most students.
  • Upon completion of ENG 112, you will have fulfilled your composition requirement and will be eligible to begin taking required literature and writing intensive courses.

 

WHAT IF I have other concerns?

If you have general concerns or questions about composition, you should contact Professor Brian Johnson, Coordinator of English Composition and Placement at johnsonb2@southernct.edu or (203) 392-7049 for further discussion.