Academic Center for Exploratory Students

Visit our ACES FAQ page to view common questions about the ACES program, ACES advisors, and major exploration. While our advising team will plan to cover a lot of this at your Orientation session, it's helpful to have a general understanding of this as you begin your ACES experience.

New students are advised to take the appropriate placement exams before they attend a New Student Orientation session to best prepare for the course registration process. Read below to see which placement exams you may be required to take:

English Guided Placement Survey (GPS): While taking the English GPS is advised for all students to help determine readiness for UConn writing courses, it is only required for international students and/or non-native speakers of English who have not yet earned UConn credits for First-Year Writing courses.

Math Placement Exam (MPE): This depends on the major(s) you may be interested in. STEM majors at UConn (e.g., Engineering, Mathematics, Health Sciences, Physical Sciences, Math Education) require a qualifying score on the MPE to be able to register for MATH 1060Q (Pre-Calculus), MATH 1131Q (Calculus I), and MATH 1132Q (Calculus II). If you are even slightly considering a STEM major, it is advised to take the MPE to determine readiness for the UConn MATH courses required for these programs.

• Note: If you are transferring in credit for MATH 1060Q (Pre-Calculus) and/or MATH 1131Q (Calculus I) and you plan to pursue a major that requires MATH 1132Q (Calculus II), you will still need to take the MPE and earn a qualifying score to be able to register for MATH 1132Q (Calculus II).
• Note: If you are considering a major related to economics or business, it is recommended to take the Math Placement Exam to gauge preparedness for quantitative coursework in these majors.

Chemistry Placement Exam (CPE): This depends on the major(s) you may be interested in. If you are even slightly considering a STEM major (e.g., Engineering, Mathematics, Health Sciences, Physical Sciences, Science Education), it is advised to take the CPE to determine readiness for the UConn CHEM courses required for these programs.

When in doubt, it is safest to take the placement exams, just to keep your options open! More information about UConn's placement exams can be found on the UConn Placement Website.

College-level classes that were taken in high school are not transferred over from your high school transcript. Please read instructions below on how to have those credits transferred into UConn:

AP: If you took any AP exams in high school, have your AP scores sent to UConn via the College Board website once they have been posted to have those credits transferred in. UConn will only accept AP scores of 4 or 5, with the exception of AP Calculus BC, for which a 3 is sufficient. More information can be found on the Undergraduate Admissions website.

IB or A Level: If you took any IB or A Level classes in high school, send appropriate transcripts to UConn's Office of Undergraduate Admissions to have those credits transferred in. More information can be found on the Undergraduate Admissions website.

Dual Enrollment: If you took any dual enrollment classes in high school, send an official transcript from the participating college or university to UConn's Office of Undergraduate Admissions to have those credits transferred in. More information can be found on the Undergraduate Admissions Transferring Credit page.