Placement Testing

Placement is necessary to put Oakton students in the best position to succeed in the classroom. Placement helps students and their advisors choose the right courses to successfully achieve their academic goals. For many degree-seeking students, testing is not necessary, depending on a number of factors.

Placement Areas

Oakton offers students the following options to meet Writing placement requirements:

  • High school unweighted cumulative grade point average of 2.75 or higher from a transcript including 7th semester grades. Student must have graduated from an Illinois high school within the past three years.  See Multiple Measures for Placement Program information below. Submit official high school transcript to the Enrollment Center for processing.
  • ACT with English and Reading sub-scores of 20 or higher; or SAT with a 480 or higher in Evidence Based Reading and Writing. Submit official or unofficial score reports to the Enrollment Center at esoperations@oakton.edu for processing.
  • AP Scores - a score of 3 or higher on the English Language and Composition AP exam.  This will also permit placement into English 102. AP score reports can be downloaded collegeboard.org. The PDF copy can be emailed to esoperations@oakton.edu.
  • College-level English from another school (e.g., English 101, Composition I, Rhetoric I) - submit official college transcript to the Enrollment Center or email an unofficial copy to esoperations@oakton.edu.
  • GED score of 165 or higher on 'Reasoning Through Language Arts.'
  • HiSet Score of 15 or higher on Language Arts (Reading and Writing) and a score of 4 or higher on the Essay.
  • International Baccalaureate (IB) - a score of 4 or higher on the Language A: Language and Literature IB exam. The student will receive credit for English 101 and permit placement into English 102. 
  • Writing Placement Test - take in the Testing Center on either campus or request to take remotely. 

Oakton offers students the following options to meet Reading placement requirements:

• High school unweighted cumulative grade point average of 2.75 or higher from a transcript including 7th semester grades. Student must have graduated from an Illinois high school within the past three years. See Multiple Measures for Placement Program information below. Submit official high school transcript to the Enrollment Center for processing.

• ACT with English and Reading sub-scores of 20 or higher; or SAT with a 480 or higher in Evidence Based Reading and Writing. Submit official or unofficial score reports to the Enrollment Center at esoperations@oakton.edu for processing.

• AP Scores - a score of 3 or higher on the English Language and Composition AP exam. This will also permit placement into English 102. AP score reports can be downloaded collegeboard.org. The PDF copy can be emailed to esoperations@oakton.edu.

• GED score of 165 or higher on 'Reasoning Through Language Arts.'

• HiSet score of 15 or higher on Language Arts (Reading and Writing) and a score of 4 or higher on the Essay.

• International Baccalaureate (IB) - a score of 4 or higher on the Language A: Language and Literature IB exam. The student will receive credit for English 101 and permit placement into English 102.

• Writing Placement Test
Take in the Testing Center on either campus or request to take remotely.

Students can earn an initial placement into math courses through a variety of methods.  These include recent ACT or SAT scores, previous developmental or college level math credit at other institutions, Transitional Math courses, GED scores, meeting certain criteria in High School work and the Oakton Mathematics Placement Test (ALEKS).

Placement into college-level math is earned by meeting one of the following criteria:

  • ACT Math score of 20 or higher
  • SAT Math score of 490 or higher
  • GED score of 165 or higher on 'Mathematical Reasoning' (MAT125, MAT131)
  • GED score of 145 or higher on 'Mathematical Reasoning' (MAT085, MAT087/125 [corequisites], MAT088/131 [co-requisites], MAT095)
  • HiSet score of 15 or higher on Mathematics (MAT125, MAT131)
  • ALEKS placement score of 37 or higher
  • A grade of at least C in both semesters of an approved Transitional Math course in High School
  • A grade of at least C in a college-level transfer math course at an approved institution
  • A grade of at least C in another approved higher education institution that meets the learning objectives of Oakton’s MAT085 or MAT095
  • An overall High School GPA of at least 3.0 (unweighted) with a grade of C in both semesters of a fourth year of High School Math
  • Specific agreements regarding coursework with most High Schools in Oakton’s district (Glenbrook, Maine, Northridge Prep, Evanston, Loyola or Niles Township).
Students should email their scores and transcripts to the Mathematics Department Placement Coordinator for review.
To meet the prerequisite of an Oakton course in Mathematics, students must have:

If you graduated from an accredited Illinois public or private high school within the past three years, you could be eligible for a multiple measures placement.  This is a placement in college-level English if you have an unweighted cumulative high school grade point average of 2.75 or higher.  To qualify for a multiple measures placement, you must be new to Oakton in fall 2018.

Why multiple measures?

Using multiple measures for placement is part of a national movement to increase students’ access to college-level English courses where data shows they have the capacity to succeed.  Prior academic performance, as measured by high school grade point average, is the single best predictor of success in college-level courses.  This program uses unweighted cumulative high school grade point average to place recent high school graduates in reading and writing.

Am I eligible for multiple measures for placement?

You must meet the following criteria to be eligible:

  • New to Oakton in fall 2018 (students who previously enrolled in dual credit coursework at Oakton while in high school are eligible)
  • Have an unweighted cumulative high school grade point average of 2.75 or higher
  • Graduated from an accredited public or private Illinois high school in the past three years (in fall 2018, eligible students must have graduated from high school in 2016, 2017, or 2018)
  • Not have enrolled in any ESL/ELL courses during your last two years of high school

How do I receive a placement under this program?

Please submit your official high school transcript to the Enrollment Center for processing.  If you are applying to Oakton before you have graduated from high school, please submit your transcript once at least your 7th-semester grades have been posted. 

Questions?

Please contact the Enrollment Center if you have questions about multiple measures for placement.