Writing placement is not about judging students but about making sure that they have the writing resources they need, when they need them. Because the College of Wooster curriculum values writing so highly, accurate writing placement is absolutely essential to student success. The Program in Writing has been developed toward meeting each and every student's writing needs, growth, and development.
Incoming students will have submitted SAT Verbal and/or ACT Composite scores. These scores are used not to assess student writing abilities but, based on more than a decade of data, to instead make the most appropriate writing placements possible based on correlations between test scores and student performance in writing courses. There are four possible writing placement decisions:
- Test at orientation: Some students will arrive before their test scores do; in the case of many international students, these tests are not available in their home countries. In the absence of SATV and/or ACTC scores (or inconclusive results), some students will be asked to sit for a brief essay exam at orientation in order for the Director of Writing to make an appropriate and timely placement. This testing does not mean that the student is in any way lacking; it simply means that more information is needed to make an accurate writing placement.
- Required to enroll in IDPT 110: College Writing: Based on SATV and/or ACTC scores (and/or the writing sample gathered at orientation and other data), students in this group benefit from a course that helps them to acclimate to college-level writing at the College. These students enroll in IDPT 110: College Writing Tutorial in the first semester after placement.
- Deferred placement: When available resources do not clearly indicate exemption or requirement, some students' writing placement will be deferred. These students will be assigned to one evening writing workshop during the first half of the fall semester, where they will learn about writing in response to an essay prompt and be asked to write a short essay. Based on this writing sample and the aforementioned test scores, a writing placement decision will be made before registration for the spring semester.
- Exempted from enrolling in IDPT 110: College Writing: These students, based on SATV and/or ACTC scores (or based on a writing sample collected at orientation and other data), are identified as ready to write at the first-year level at Wooster.
For any of these placements, students are welcomed to discuss their options and their writing with the Director of Writing. None of these placements are punitive; again, the point of writing placement is to ensure that all incoming students get the writing support and courses that they need to succeed. All students are encouraged to make use of the Writing Center as a means of continual development in writing.
