There are two tracks for placement and proficiency:

1. The Office of Instructional Resources (OIR) administers placement and proficiency examinations for incoming freshmen. In this procedure, which is governed by the College of Liberal Arts and Science rules (See LAS Handbook), students can obtain placement and proficiency credit for German 103 and 104 only. Students who feel that they are misplaced should consult with the special proficiency advisor (i.e., the director of undergraduate studies). The advisor will determine whether students who feel that they are placed too low should be permitted to go to a higher level course. Students desiring proficiency credit in a Scandinavian language or in Yiddish should consult the director of the Scandinavian or Yiddish Program respectively.

If students place into 101 or 102 and think they should have been placed higher, they can take a higher level class if they consider themselves qualified, but will receive no proficiency credit. If students place into 103 or 104 and think they should have been placed higher, they can take a higher level course and receive proficiency credit with departmental authorization and at least a B- in the course.

Students who think that they should be placed back need a recommendation from the advisor. They will lose their proficiency credit when they place back into 101 or 102 from 103, 104 or beyond.

2. Departmental proficiency credit can be awarded to all other students for all language courses (German and Scandinavian) by taking a proficiency test approved by the Department. This procedure is normally NOT open to incoming freshmen. For GER 101-104, the OIR test may be used, but credit for GER 101 and 102 has to be certified by a departmental advisor since OIR does not award proficiency credit for these courses (LAS regulation). For GER 211-302, special proficiency examinations will be administered by the appropriate advisor. No proficiency tests will be given to students taking courses in the regular sequence 101-104 unless there is substantial evidence of additional training (e.g. summer course in a German-speaking country). For proficiency credit in Scandinavian, see the director of Scandinavian studies.

Students with AP credit in German should contact the German Department to obtain and verify proficiency credit. Students with AP scores of 4 and 5 will receive credit for German 103, 104, and 211 (11 hours). Students with AP scores of 3 will receive credit for German 103 and 104 (8 hours).